clones2: You sure are not one to dilly-dally around. But be careful and consider your moves. One of the best uses of potting soil is to germinate seeds. Seeds don't need the complex nutrition that plants and trees do. Seeds have all they need for life contained within the seed -- up to a certain point in their growth. Then the new roots are looking for nutrition to take over the life support function. Potting soils are sometimes sterilized so that there are no bogey-men microrganisms and pests to thwart germination and early seedling growth. Potting soils can be formulated so that they hold just the right amount of moisture for germination and early seedling growth. Once a seedling reaches a certain size, these benefits gradually become less important to the growing plant and other factors gradually become more important -- factors like nutrition and pH. So, potting soils are not really intended as a permanent growing medium for plants. This is why I use potting soil mainly to add organic material to natural soil. And potting soils are not usually thoroughly composted which means that they will demand nitrogen from the soil to complete the break down of the organic matter. You can usually see this in the light brown color of potting soils when they are dry. More thoroughly broken down (composted) organic matter is a much darker brown approaching black. That being said, the best mix IMO is good garden soil and homemade compost with a little bit of worm castings (worm manure) added. Roughly about 20% to 30% compost by volume and 3% to 5% worm castings by weight if the moisture of the castings is apporoximately the same as the moisture of the soil. Mix thoroughly. Commercial bagged compost is OK but not as good as homemade compost because it is mostly derived from "forest products" which is logging and lumber mill chips and sawdust. These "forest products" are OK but are limited in the plant nutrients they are composed of to begin with. And it is usually not thoroughly composted. If you see bits of wood, it is not thoroughly composted. Eventually, you will have your own earthworms living in your soil. They appear, seemingly out of nowhere, like weeds and flies, if the environmental conditions are to their needs. They like a certain moisture, temperature and organic matter to dine on. It's a good idea to give your citrus time to acclimate to their new diet and their new root environment in their new home before you start adding fertilizers. It's a major shock to the plant to repot it. It is as though YOU were suddenly transported to live in the Himalayas at a 10,000 foot elevation with an entirely new diet -- all accomplished in 15 minutes. And no one told you bring warm clothes. You didn't mention what part of the US you live in so I don't know what packaged fertilizers are available in your area. I use Whitney Farms Citrus and Avocado food. It's organic, generally slow releasing and lasts in the soil a while. It gives good results for me. It supplies "the big three" NPK nutrients plus some other things. Be sure to read the label of whatever you buy. And you may not even have to buy anything -- at least at first. It is possible that an organic mulch with some good homemade compost and/or composted manure in it can supply everything needed. The best way to know right away what's going on with your soil is to have a lab soil test. This will also tell you the pH. Home kits can get you by for a fifteenth of the cost. Home kits usually require two test kits, one for NPK and one for pH. But home kits won't tell you about the other nutrients like calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, manganese, etc. Look to the website pictures of leaves for clues about these minor and trace elements. Give support to your citrus after its trauma of repotting with attention given to temperature, moisture, wind, sun etc. Tony

Hi Dave, thanks for your reply. I used Kellogg Potting mix for this. Do you think I should add some bagged garden soil and some slow release fertilizer and re-plant?

Thanks for that. They are growing in direct sunlight for the most part. I water them every day. They are growing in small pots (4inch diameter) outdoors in potting mix. I tried feeding them some dynamic lifter to no avail. Diagnoses now for large splotches are sun-damage, inadequate water or fungal infection? Looking at the small little round black spots. There seems to be two categories: 1) Dry and can be brushed off. 2) Wet, and can be spread. Diagnosis for black spots now are insect related? Thanks for your help This post was edited by waldomed on Wed, Oct 16, 13 at 17:33

transplant shock ... wouldnt be surprised if all the leaves fall off ... track down another.. and mark it.. to dig it up.. in fall.. when the leaves naturally fall off trees.. and you odds of success will increase 99% ... see link on how to do it all ... next time you want to try something in the yard... ask first ... all this said.. its a maple ... it probably .. might .. survive ... if you water it properly ... see link ... ken ps: and if you did it leafless.. you wouldnt need the stake.. and the wire ... Here is a link that might be useful: link