How to Best Handle Meyer Lemon Indoor Transition
NemaDee Zone 7b NYC (5-10F)
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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poncirusguy6b452xx
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Is 30% humidity too low for an indoor meyer lemon?
Comments (2)Tbaleno, the higher the humidity, the better, but living in zone 5, we do what we can. Do you have a humidifer? There are many ways to increase humidity. There are also many reasons citrus leaves drop. Overwatering, underwatering, lack of light and humdiity, insects, etc. For the time being, place your citrus in a bright south or west window. How much light is it getting? As days lenghten, baby leaves should sprout. Test stems. Bend to see if they're flexible or break? If flexible then your tree is alive. Another way to test is by peeling a little bark. Just a bit. Use a sharp knife..the inside should be green. Proper watering is very very important. Pot should have drainage holes. Soil needs to dry between waterings; do not keep soil wet or soggy. Good luck, Toni...See MoreImproved Meyer Lemon - Indoors/Repotting
Comments (23)"The reason to remove the soil was so that the drainage and moisture retention would be consistant throughout the medium. The concern was that a mass of dense potting soil would not get wet enough (or would possibly stay too wet), as the water rushed through the faster draining CHCs or bark mix surrounding the old root ball/soil mass. But, with all the repotting I've done, I've seen that the roots naturally reach out, grow through and surround all the CHCs/bark with astounding speed. So the possible watering problem (by not removing old soil) has *not* manifested itself. The plant fills the new pot rapidly with healthy roots and gets nourishment and moisture easily. " Lisa: we are in sync of the reasoning why I have not done so removing the soil of the old pot. I believe that the citrus roots will seek out the moisture/water for survival so if the water is in the new sorrounding CHC mixture the plant will send out new roots to seek where the water is in a hurry. So in no time you have a tremendous new roots going everywhere for water search. I believe the plant can sense where the water is. A case in point- roots imbedded in the sewer joints inside the pipe. Also I've seen roots that travel 5 to 8 times its height....See MoreRepotting Dwarf Meyer Lemon-Indoor and Outdoor
Comments (3)Well, it says will require less watering which worries me. It may be a great mix for annuals? Don't you have access to pine bark? You could make your own.....How about a Lowe's...Do you have one near by? You do have plenty of options. It just depends on how much work you want to put in this. If you understand the concepts of mixes in containers, it will drive you to look for the best, make your own, or make do with what you are stuck with. I am not particularly fond of most bagged mixes with too many fine particles since they collaspe fast, draw bugs, hold to much moisture too long, suffocate roots with in a short time, deprive roots of much needed oxygen, accumulate salts, limit your frequent waterings, and the structure of it may start out fine, but fall apart with a short time. Of course the roots of a plant is the heart of it. So making your roots as happy as can be is a good start, especially with citrus. Let me know what you come up with, please. If you are limited to a bagged mix, you could always amend it to meet your trees requirements to remain healthy and strong. Here is what helped me understand how mixes work in containers. I hope this helps you decide what to do, use, look for. Mike:-) Here is a link that might be useful: Container Soils-Water Movement...See MoreHow Often Should I Fertilize a Meyer Lemon?
Comments (66)I think the comment about a new thread was directed at hottina44 and their question about indoor lighting. That was off topic. alex_g76, Some of those metals are perhaps toxic to mammals when ingested in too high a dose, but that is not the same as with plants. The plants will only take up what they need and leave the rest. Besides, if you look at the actual amounts of metals it is very tiny. Most are MICRO nutrients anyway, and are only needed by plants in very tiny amounts. They might be build up in the potting soil over time, but potted plants should be re-potted with fresh soil every few years anyway, long before the micro-nutrients will build up to any noticeable levels. So you need not worry about that imo. Btw, it's not commonly known, but almost all organic fertilizers are made for and will work best in In-Ground plantings. Organic fertilizers are made of raw ingredients, such as blood meal and bone meal, etc. Those components cannot be used by the plant as food itself. The fertilizer relies on the micro-organisms in the soil to ingest the raw ingredients and convert them to chemicals (yep, chemicals) that the plant can then uptake into it's roots. If those organic fertilizers are used in relatively sterile potting medium, not much happens. They pretty much just sit there. And your plant can starve while there is lots of food sitting right there. The components (nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus [NPK] and other macro and micro- nutrients) that the soil organisms produce from the raw ingredients in the organic fertilizer, is the same at a molecular level as what you find in a standard non-organic fertilizer. The benefits of organic fertilizers in the soil is that they feed and therefore increase the soil micro-organisms, which is great for the soil structure and the roots of the plants. Unfortunately this dynamic is very, very hard to reproduce in potted container plants. Therefore I always recommend standard non-organic fertilizers in container plantings, preferably a liquid type, or a slow-release pelleted type, such as Osmocote. Also, as a side note; the metals and minerals in fertilizers cannot by law be called “organic” because the law states that a component has to have Carbon in it and be derived from a once living source to be labeled “organic” Of course these items do not contain carbon and have never been alive. So if you see a fertilizer labeled “organic and natural”, the word “natural” is in reference to the mineral and metal ingredients only. In reading the posts on the thread that bmelz linked, about fertilizing in containers with organics, it does look like some have done it with success but do note that most of what they are talking about is seasonal vegetables and some short lived ornamental plants. Those are often re-potted annually with fresh mix and compost. That works quite well as there is a lot of micro-organisms in compost and manure. But that type of mix also breaks down very quickly, usually be the end of a growing season. When mix breaks down the speed of water drainage slows down a lot. If you're re-potting every spring that's no big deal and the old soil mix just goes back on the compost pile and new mix is made. But with a long lived plant like a citrus tree that soil break down is problematic. Citrus are very sensitive to soggy soil. Most will say they're sensitive to over-watering, but it's not really the water that's the problem, it's the lack of oxygen in an overly saturated, soggy soil. Plant roots need both water and oxygen, so in a long lived plant like citrus using an open and airy mix that lasts a long time and doesn't break down fast is very important. Unfortunately the components of those kinds of mixes, such as Al's Gritty mix and the 5-1-1 mix are pretty sterile. Hence the recommendations of standard non-organic fertilizers. Now if one was to re-pot their citrus trees annually or semi-annually with a compost based mix, then I do believe an organic fertilizer would work. But for myself, I would find that way too much work....See MoreNemaDee Zone 7b NYC (5-10F)
8 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
8 years agoNemaDee Zone 7b NYC (5-10F)
8 years agomyermike_1micha
8 years agoNemaDee Zone 7b NYC (5-10F)
8 years agoNemaDee Zone 7b NYC (5-10F)
8 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
8 years agojohnmerr
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojersey21
8 years agomyermike_1micha
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojersey21
8 years agoNemaDee Zone 7b NYC (5-10F)
8 years agoNemaDee Zone 7b NYC (5-10F)
8 years agopip313
8 years agoNemaDee Zone 7b NYC (5-10F)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoDave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoNemaDee Zone 7b NYC (5-10F)
8 years agoHoney Yousocrazy
2 years agoMeyermike(Zone 6a Ma.)
2 years ago
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