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cincy_city_garden

Hello, new container citrus addict here :)

cincy_city_garden
11 years ago

Hello,

When I usually post on Garden Web, it's in the Antique Rose forum, but here I am in Citrus. I think I'm now a "growing-warm-climate-trees-in-containers" addict now. :)

My gateway tree was a bay laurel I bought as a little foot tall twig. It's now 5ft tall. I have a 2 ft tall avocado tree started from a pit, a 7ft tall olive tree.

My first two citrus trees were bought on a lark 2 years ago, a Washington navel orange and Meyer lemon (doesn't say Improved). I also have to mandarins started from Cutie seeds. I just recently got a Bearrs lime.

I've been soaking up all the knowledge I can from the forum, and I've decided the 5-1-1 mix is the way to go for me. I also realized I'm an over potter :) My orange and lemon trees have been in the same pots since I got them, with the original soil. The only fertilizer I've gave them is the Osmocote time-release.

The trees have been growing steadily and my lemon tree has about 10 lemons. The orange tree blossomed, but only got two oranges that didn't make it past nickel size, but it's still growing. They're planted in the MG Organic Choice potting soil, and after reading about compaction, I took a closer look and the soil level had definitely come down from the rim of the pot. I decided to check the roots and carefully lifted up on the trunk...the whole think came out of the pot on both trees...they were/are very rootbound with a dense web of healthy white roots, no rot.

If I had the money right now, I would go out and buy even bigger pots and the supplies to make a bunch of the 5-1-1 mix, but it will have to wait until the Spring, getting too cold around here to repot. As hopefully an interim solution, I gently lifted the trees out of the pot, put a couple of inches of new soil, with some orchid bark and perlite mixed in, on the bottom of the pot, teased apart the roots a little, then set back in. The resulting gap around the sides was also filled in.

Hopefully this will enough of a band-aid until Spring when I'll remove as much of the old soil as possible and put them into their new home.

Sorry about the long post! Here's some pictures of my trees.

Orange, new baby lime, and lemon.

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and another view.

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My olive and bay trees.

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My first lemon, geeking out about it.

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One of the clementines started from seed.

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