Hello Mani. It normally takes 7-14 years before a citrus grown from seed will flower/fruit. Pruning will not promote flowering. In fact, by doing so, if your citrus is about to bloom, there's a chance you'll remove the flowering stems by cutting back. Some fertilizers can by used by spraying leaves, (foliar feeding) but you have to read the package to see if your fertlizer can by used this way. Otherwise, if it's too strong, it might harm its leaves. Citrus fertilizer is best, but any Azalea/Rhododendron or Acidic fertilizer will do. I don't know the type of fertilizers sold in India, but if you can't find a fertilizer suitable for citrus, perhaps you can check Ebay.com? Toni

Hey all! (I apologize if this should be on a new thread?) I am trying so hard not to be annoying, but I find myself doubting almost every decision that I am making through this soil mixing process and could use a little bit more advice. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me so far. I attempted to post on the container forum to give you guys a break, and because I noticed that there are many conversations there about soil mixing, but my post went unanswered so far. I was hoping to mix some soil yesterday, but didn't dare move forward without any validation. So I have just a few more questions about my materials, if you all don't mind giving a little more input. I am wondering about the pine fines - So far I have opened two bags of material and sifted through them. The first bag is mountain magic premium grind bark mulch. It is made of Western fir and pine bark. The mix seems to be too big in general, with a lot of woody material. I am wondering if it is at all useable or if it should be mixed with the product below this one to create a mix with different sized bark pieces... Here is a picture after I ran it through a 1/2 inch grate and then screened out the tiny particles. I also attempted to pick out the woody material for a few hours, but as you can see, there is still a lot of it left. The second product I have tried is Soil Pep, also by Mountain Magic. It is Western Fir and Pine Bark plus composted forest materials. I would say that it is half really small particles and half good bark. It looks almost like soil right out of the bag but after I sift it to remove a lot of the small particles it looks pretty good. Almost no pieces that are too big, and not too much sapwood that I found. I am thinking it is probably the best option that I have. However, it takes forever to sift!!! I am about 2/3 way through the bag right now and I have spent about 8 hours on the sifting. It's killing me. There is no way that I can sift through a bag of this again. And I think that by the end of this bag there will only be enough for 2 of my trees. (I need to pot 4-5) Do you think it should be mixed with the bark above this which is made of bigger materials? Here is a picture of it after sifting. Then I have all of the tiny pieces and particles that came off during the sifting process. They may be able to be substituted for the peat moss I believe? Or is the moss better? I am thinking that maybe I can mix like 4 parts of the sifted bark in the second picture with 2 parts of the unsifted bark (not pictured.) Then I would only have the perlite and lime left to add in, which brings me to my next question. Should I try to substitute in Napa Floor Dry or Ultra Dri (yes I bought both after reading about them on the forums) for the perlite to help with water retention? I have read about people subbing in DE for the peat moss, which I could do if I used all sifted bark, thought I think that would end up like more of a gritty mix. Or I could sub it in for the perlite to aid in water retention since we are in the desert... I have already been needing to water some of my trees every day (and they are in super thick nursery soil.) THANK YOU for any advice you may have. I don't know why I am so petrified to take the next step and mix. I am terrified of doing something wrong, and I have spent so much money on these plants and all of the supplies that I just want to do things right. It will be a very costly mistake if I fail! To end on a happy note, this beautiful butterfly found my Meyer Lemon today. I love all of the new bees and butterflies who have been coming around! And the smell of the trees in bloom is so amazing! Emily

They can be vigorous, so prune them back later. I had a spice Zee Nectaplum grow 7 feet in one year. Semi-dwarf, yeah only to 18 feet instead of 25. Rootstock means little. Semi-dwarf is more a marketing term than reality. You can control size with summer pruning.

Hi greenman62, do you put green grass clippings, wait till dry before put wood chips? What is the reason amend the soil above the grade level not the hole? I heard the tree root will not go beyond the hole that has the amended soil and Also water will pool in the hole since surrounding dirt is clay, right?Would it be the same if amend the soil on hill/bump? I am also unclear about planter box. If I amend the dirt for the planter box, would a tree have shallow root? I am thinking of building a new planter box for a avocado tree. Unfortunately my husband amended all the dirt with compost including the hole. Hope my gold nugget will be ok. I have not transplant the two 1 new year trees yet.