And I am still looking to buy a gold nugget mandarin to plant.

I wouldn't plant anything that has a house obstruction 5' away, it's only going to get sun during the summer months and little to no sun during fall, winter and spring. My suggestions are below.

1) no don't fertilize when you plant it, either potted or in ground.

2) south facing is good as long as it's not blocked, the more sun the better.

3) if you pot up I'd only go to about a 7 or 8 gallon pot. I may not be the best source for potted citrus advice since all my trees are in ground and the only potted tree I ever had died after its first season. I only know what I've read here on the forum about citrus in pots.

4) not of you put a moisture barrier between you slab and your plants, 10 mil plastic will work fine.

5) container, make some 5-1-1 or gritty mix and plant. In ground, dig a hole and plant with absolutely no amendments as long as you don't have clay or caliche soil.

6) see response above

the bottom line, if you can plant your trees in ground with full sun that is your best bet. Next best bet is make your own potting mix and plant in a pot and place in full sun.

Evan

Hi Evan, thanks for your response. If I plant the trees in the ground close to my house, do I need to dig very deep to put a plastic barrier against the foundation? I would love to plant them in the ground, otherwise I may end up killing the trees because I would most likely not do all the work necessary for the container tree.

Summerix, I would dig right up against the slab and go down at least 18" and extend the plastic 4' on either side of the centerline of where you want your tree to go. That will give you some room to extend your watering ring as your tree gets larger and the roots get further out. Then backfill the plastic and dig your tree hole as far out from the slab as your space will allow. Kishu's and gold nuggets are not that large naturally so those are good cultivars for your limited space and their fruit is some of the best around. Hope this helps.

Evan

I am back square one. We decided to plant more of the citrus on the south facing fence and two in container, I measured the distance of fence and house, it is 7'. I need a taller plant to catch the sun. Right now 3' up there is plenty of sun light. Questions:

1. Plant the trees in the containers and plant on the side yard next year when they are taller?

2. After reading 2 days with my limited spare time, I am not very confident to mix 5-1-1 potting mix. Please help me:

where can I get the material? I searched Home Depot website, they have mini pine nuggets and pine bark mulch (which one is acceptable?), miracle-glo peat moss (is it peat?) and miracle-glo perlite mix (is it ok?) .

do I just lay them out with 5:1:1 ratio and mix them up, then soak it in the container for a few hours and use it?