I found an possible alternate to the almost impossible to obtain list of micronutrients I said to use above for foliar spray when leaf chlorosis is extreme as in the photos. I found a product at Home Depot that contains Iron, Magnesium, Zinc, and Manganese for use as a foliar or soil drench. The product is Chelated Citrus Nutritional by Southern Ag. I dont know if this is available on the West Coast and it is very hard to find here. The rate is one tablespoon per gallon. Always use it as a foliar in case of extreme micronutrient deficiency as in the above photos. I sprayed my trees with this stuff early last week. They were suffering from a medium case of winter chlorosis and are now showing some added color. At least one more application is indicated. The metals in this product are all chelated by a sulfonated lignin and thereby may have a somewhat similar effect as sulfate salts which I have used for years, in my home brewed mix. Since all citrus growing states are now under threat of citrus greening disease (HLB) attack it should considered good practice to keep our trees very green so any outbreak of the disease can be detected and eraticated ASAP. That is how commercial Florida growers are staying in business. Frequent inspection and spraying of the psyllids that carry this disease also figure into their programs.

You are right to leave them in partial shade for a while......let them settle into their new home.....I suggest you leave them for 2 weeks and dont fertilize at all....Did you add any slow release? I try to make the mix as boring as possible when i transplant and add inorgaanics...I like perlite......to improve the drainage.....I also keep them on trays with pot feet to keep the air flow under the pot and stop them sitting in water...citrus hate that. I water them with seasol(seaweed)...water first and then a weak solution of seaweed and thats it....the seaweed stimulates root growth.........Let the pots dry out between waterings......put a stick down the mix and if it comes out wet...dont water.....dont feed until you see top growth....this might be a while..esp if the roots arre doing their thing......They look healthy......in the long run...look for roots growing out the bottom of pot...then repot.....dont disturb the roots much next time....just tease roots out a bit and pick a pot that 2 to 3 inches bigger all around than the rootball. Some slow release osmocote with a npk 5/1/3 would be good on top when growth is going on....no need to mix into soil.....little and often is better...not up against the trunk............fish emulsion and seaweed make goodd organic liquid feeds...always water plant first before watering with the feed.....move to full sun gradually....in winter move to shelter from excess rain/cold winds.If you were careful with the trees they shouldnt drop their leaves.......you will know after two weeks if you pissed them off!...remove any growth from below the graft(presume they are grafted trees)...are they dwarf? because if they are not....they will fill those pots pretty quick.Good luck

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

preppystud's question is a good one. I would also like to know what it is recommended for a tree that is not grafted (that grew from seed and it's just at the start of the maturity age): to let or to cut away new branches that grew from the lowest part of the trunk? That branches will start at very low node count, so there are few chances to fruit anytime soon, isn't? But also that branches are offering supplementary food for the roots, so in a way it will help the development of the tree.