If you have not purchased any trees. click on the link below and check out your options

This is the route I took and I still believe this is the best way for a newbie.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg101613462758.html?13

The soil mix, drainage, and aeration are very important . Its equally important to understand how and why it works and in some cases doesn't work

Click below for an excellent discussion on soil mixes and how they are prepared an used

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg1003543410646.html?12

I noticed that you mentioned limes. If you have room to plant in ground. Click below for and excellent choice.

The Thomasville Citrangequat has fruits that taste like limes if they are picked just before they are ripe

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg0413465229079.html

For lemons you can grow a calamondin orange orange and pick it a little early. They do well with less light.

The satsuma can be planted outside in zone 8 but get one that produces early to clear freezes and is very cold hardy. You will have to give it a little protection on the worst days.

As for grapefruit. Don't waste your time and money unless its a BLOOMSWEET on poncirus trifoliata rootstock

To see my trials on a seed grown Meiwa kumquat tree click below. DO NOT GROW KUMQUATS FROM SEED.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg0320572518736.html

mrshal07

Hi; I checked out your membership profile and noticed that you like square foot gardening and vegetable gardening. I do all of my vegetable as square foot gardening

If your interested in seeing my set up click the link below to my Google pics If you have any pics links, I like to look at what others are doing

Here is a link that might be useful: https://plus.google.com/photos/111099372377958308731/albums/5864651368775846321?banner=pwa&authkey=CI763rvAj8eLAg

mrshal07, first, if you can let us know where you live? Zone 8 is marginal for citrus in the ground, but I don't see any mention of putting anything in the ground - just containers - so I am assuming you would be able to bring your citrus inside at least to a garage temporarily, if you have a cold snap? Just need a little clarification regarding your zone and location. That might give us a better idea regarding cultivar recommendations if things are staying outside. If you can bring your container citrus inside during cold snaps, then cultivar selection based on weather restrictions isn't so important.

Okay, as far as potting mix, no, I would not suggest a mix of citrus soil and potting soil. Much too water retentive. Putting "something in the bottom" does not improve drainage, this is a misconception. We have a great recipe for either "511" or "Gritty" mix on our forum, so search for that and copy down how to mix your own very well draining and long lasting potting mix. Hopefully MeyerMike will add his perspective on container citrus, as he is one of our most successful forum members with container citrus in a less than ideal USDA zone (Massachusetts). His trees are gorgeous.

Fertilizing is usually done with each watering, 1/2 strength during non-growing season (late fall through early spring), then full strength. Most container citrus folks prefer to use DynaGro's Foliage Pro. I also use it, along with a time-release product with an NPK close to 5-1-3 ratio, along with micronutrients, even with my full-time-outside container citrus with very excellent results.

As far as cultivars - if you can bring your citrus inside during cold snaps, then I would pick cultivars you like to eat, or provide juice that you would drink or cook with. So, all are good choices. I would make a suggestion for your grapefruit, though, as grapefruits need some significant heat units in order to sweeten up. So, consider a grapefruit hybrid, such as Oroblanco, Melogold, or Cocktail (which isn't really even a grapefruit, but actually a pummelo/mandarin hybrid, but absolutely delicious, and does not need heat to sweeten.) I would consider a Bearrs lime, as it isn't quite as cold-sensitive as the Mexican (Key) lime. And a Meyer lemon would also be a better choice over a regular lemon as it is more cold tolerant that, say, a Eureka or Lisbon lemon. Satsuma mandarins are lovely, but slower to mature, so perhaps consider another mandarin cultivar, there are many excellent choices, such as Seedless Kishu, Gold Nugget, Page or Tango mandarins (or mandarin hybrids).

Rootstock are the "roots" that the cultivar scion gets grafted to, which can provide the cultivar with some significant benefits - size control, more resistance to disease, precociousness, sweeter fruit, more tolerance to cold temps, soil issues, etc. So, you'll find most citrus are grafted. For container citrus, you're better off finding citrus grafted to dwarf or semi-dwarfing rootstock. Four Winds Growers grafts most of the their citrus to a very semi-dwarfing rootstock called Cuban Shaddock, which makes them very suitable to container culture. And, they have every cultivar you've listed. They're a great company, grow beautiful citrus, and many of us on the forum have their trees. There are other good growers out there as well, but not many that you can find who graft to true dwarfing rootstock (which would be poncirus trifoliate 'Fly Dragon'), or certainly no one else I am aware of that uses Cuban Shaddock, probably the next most dwarfing rootstock out there.

So, I would definitely look for citrus on at least semi-dwarfing rootstock, if you're shopping locally. If your area can support in-ground citrus, I would suggest going to one of your better garden centers, or even better, a citrus grower if you have one, and talk to them about the cultivars that do the best in your area, especially if you plan on leaving them outside. Just remember, if you have temps in the winter that drop below 40 degrees, you need to consider bringing your container citrus inside or at least, into the garage (with sunlight) for short periods, as container citrus don't have the root protects from cold temps as in-ground citrus have.

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: Four Winds Growers