Donas - I think that because nearly all of the experienced gardeners shy from most commercial soils based on fine particulates is a good indication that they recognize them as inherently flawed. Some growers feel they are salvable, and others don't feel they're amendable in the sense that you can effectively add a little of this and a little of that and come up with a soil that performs as well as one would if you recombined the ingredients on hand in a different ratio. For example, many growers amend soils like Miracle-Gro with pine bark and perlite to help them drain better and hold more air, two characteristics usually less than ideal in most prepared soils. If you envision a jar of fine particles, like sand, that represents a soil like Miracle-Gro, in your minds eye you can see that adding ;large particles like perlite or pine bark in small fractions isn't going to improve aeration OR drainage. The small particles simply surround the large particles and continue to work against what you're trying to accomplish ....... until, the larger particles become a very large fraction of the whole. Dori uses a bark-based soil because when you START with large particles, the drainage/aeration so conducive to good root health is already there. Many others see the same advantage and use soils based on large particulates instead of fine particulates like peat, compost, coir, sand, topsoil .... The soils with reduced water retention, better drainage, and more aeration allow you to water properly, so you can flush the accumulating salts from the soil at will without worrying about root rot, and they offer the grower, especially the growers that aren't as experienced, a much wider margin for error - they're simply easier to grow in and make it easier to consistently bring along healthy plants. I'll leave a link to a discussion about soils for containers that's been active since '05. There is a lot of information in it. Feel free to join the discussion if you wish. You'll get a good perspective of how a large group of growers approaches the container soil issue. In the end, you could still use up your MG soil in combination with some other ingredients (pine bark/perlite/garden lime). You'll end up with something much easier to grow in, more conducive to root health, and much less expensive than purchasing a commercially prepared soil. You can even watch a video (compliments of Josh) that shows how easy it is to make. Also - see link below. There's a LOT more info there. Understanding the water:air relationship in container soils is probably the largest step forward an aspiring container gardener can make at any one time. Best luck! Al Here is a link that might be useful: More info

The concerns about using organic ferts in a container environment is the typical lack of microorganisms in regular potting soil necessary to digest and process the fertilizers. There will be some present but generally not in the quantities necessary for the organic fertilizer to be used/metabolized efficiently. So one runs a risk of the container grown plants NOT receiving the nutrient needs they require. That's why the suggestion is for a liquid or water soluble fertilizer for container plants, however there are few organic ferts that are the slightest bit water soluble and they tend to offer less than a full range of nutrients. In this case, non-organic fertilizers tend to be a lot more efficient at delivering the goods :-)

June, mix up a lighter, well-draining soil. If possible, take your citrus outside, unpot, and gently remove old 'heavy' soil. Add a little fresh soil in the bottom of the pot you'll be using, then set citrus inside. Add soil in the container, sprinkling all sides so plant will stand straight. If your citrus is grafted, do not cover graft..You want that exposed, otherwise the plant can rot. It would be easier ridding muck if the soil was dry..does it stay wet for long periods? If the soil is dry, you can remove old soil w/your hands, but if wet it can be hosed off. Just work slowly and carefully so the citrus won't go into transplant shock. Is there fruit on your tree? If so, they 'might' drop. This is nothing to be alarmed about though..My only concern is repotting so late in the season. But like I said, if you do so carefully, there shouldn't be any problems. I've got 2 (and another coming in) new citrus that need repotting, but I think I'll hold off till spring. We'll see. Good luck, Toni

Well, depends on how thorough you want to be. If you just want to get rid of insects, it can be as easy as pouring boiling water into the dirt. That will generally get anything big enough to run away to do so. If you want to get really finicky about fungal spores and diseases, then a pressure cooker works really well for small quantities at a time (say an individual pot's worth). But yeah, for just getting rid of the bugs, get a really big soup pot, fill with water, bring to a raging boil, then pour it into the bag (careful not to splash yourself!). That'll get rid of just about everything you would want to be worried about.