Tam, I decided to also post my response to you for Laaz to read.... Tam, as you probably know I am the person that introduced Coconut Husk Chips (CHC) to the members of the citrus forum. I had experimented with them for a couple years, and worked out the formula that I thought best. I purchase 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch CHC from the Crystal Company of Saint Louis, MO. Here is the mix that I use on all of my citrus trees. 4-parts CHC, to 1-part peatmoss. To every 5-gallons of this mixture I add one cup dolomite, one cup Osmacoate Slow Release Fertilizer, and a SMALL hand full of STEM (Soluble Trace Element Mix). Sometime I use straight 1/4-inch CHC, and sometimes I use a mixture of 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch CHC depending on the size of the seedling or tree. Coconut Husks absorb seven times their weight in water, and more importantly release the water to the tree's root system as required. Another advantage of CHC is that they have a natural pH of 6.4 which is exactly the pH required by container citrus plants. I have over the years UN-potted citrus form time to time to check on the Osmacoate beads. I wanted to see if they washed out from the mixture, and they have not. The reason to use CHC's are: 1.) to obtain a medium that will hold a large reservoir of water, and yet also retain maxim aeration for the roots system. 2). To provide the proper medium pH for citrus. The pH of 6.4 is CHC's natural pH. 3). To provide a superb medium that is very light weight, enabling containers to be shipped or moved with less effort and at a greatly reduced cost. In your case the shipping charge should be greatly reduced. It has now been approximately 4 years sense I first used CHC's. Two years in my research and approximately 2 years by members of this citrus forum. There has not been any problems (NOT ONE) by members that have converted their trees to CHC's as their potting medium. I have found that CHC do not require any additional fertilization than normal potting soils and that slow release fertilizers work well. I would not add the water holding crystals that you asked Laaz about. I think it would cause the medium to hold on to too much moisture, and would also tend to lessen the aeration. However, you certainly can experiment if you wish. - Good luck to you, your new farm in Virginia and all that you hope to do. Take care Tam. - Millet

Hi All -- I have read questions about Harris Nursery and so wanted to let everyone know that I just had my first ordering experience and it was a very positive one. They had a plant I have been unable to find elsewhere and wanted very much. First plus! I corresponded with Ruth at Harris and she was very nice about answering my questions and getting back to me. I ordered two trees and they arrived within 5 days of my order being placed -- which was over the weekend. This would be from FLA to CT. The trees arrived in great condition and they are great! The shipping is a little more than some of the other sources, as I don't think you get a break on quantity unless you buy four. I have also had great luck with Briteleaf and I've ordered from them on a couple of occasions (Toni, thank you for that recommendation!)and will be ordering three from Anna this week. Stan MacKenzie and MacKenzie Farms are wonderful, too. I was also very pleased with World Wide Plants when I got my lemonquat and Eustis limequat some years ago. Trans-Pacific Nursery in Oregon is another one I have been very pleased with and they do ship small items, which I like, since I now have over 60 varities wintered primarily in one small sunroom. Since I live in CT, I can just take a ride to Logees -- I have been pleased with their plants as well, and like the fact that they offer small specimens. For you e-bayer's, I have been very pleased with the plants I got from Secret Garden, as well. They offer auctions, so you can get a gallon-size citrus at a fairly low price, and will give you a break on shipping if you order multiple items. Evergreen Gardenworks deals in plants for bonsai culture and I got some small flying dragons from them to try grafting at some point. They ship small, too, and these arrived in good condition and nicely packed. All in all, I have been very fortunate and very pleased with the plants I have ordered. An exception to this was Ty-Ty. My personal experience with that order was not good -- the plants died and they were not at all accomodating. If I recall correctly, they shipped bare root, and the plant was not in good condition when it arrived. I would not recommend bare root shipping for citrus based on this experience.

Ouch! Integrity is not yelling at GardenWebbers without getting all the facts. I wrote to Harris Seeds and they would be happy to have your order in either catalog. Check out Stokes Seeds too for bulk orders and a big choice, or Fedco Seeds in Maine for another company with integrity. Here is their reply: "Thank you for emailing us. Any customer may order from the commercial catalog and website; there are no minimum order requirements. The reason why we require a business name on the catalog request page of the website is that catalogs are expensive to produce and mail, and therefore we try to steer home gardeners to our home garden catalog since they only require smaller package sizes (packets). The commercial catalogs are geared more towards professional growers who need larger amounts of seed to grow, produce and sell. However because some home gardeners evolve into a commercial grower business, we do not want to discourage them by prohibiting them from using our professional catalogs. We are not trying to limit what home gardeners can order, but only trying to gear the catalogs to the customers' needs. So please feel free to order any products you are interested in (whether it be from the home garden or professional growers' catalog or website)! I hope this answers your question, and please don't hesitate to contact us if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, Cristina Mech Internet Marketing" of Harris Seeds Here is a link that might be useful: Harris Seeds Link

My New Zealand lemonade tree was very top heavy. While I am very much against trimming citrus I decided to because the top growth was in a bad zig zag form that might cause problems down the road. I mailed the twigs to pip for him to graft. The post office used their pony express mail system and it took just under 2 weeks to go 250 miles. The twigs arrived dead and moldy. To make matters worse I found out the PO sold their horses and bought donkeys for their Cincinnati to Troy high speed mail delivery system. I had been wrestling with to trim or not for about a month. I had a pole about 8 feet tall to tie a support string to aid the tree while it stiffened up for the summer.