Hi Foofoo, The loss of any tree is heartbreaking especially one that gives you tasty fruit. Cotton (Texas) Root Rot gets blamed for many plant failures but it may not be the reason your trees died. Did you have your tree's roots analyzed at a laboratory for a diagnosis? It is impossible to confirm TRR from a soil sample. Instead pencil to finger-sized roots must be examined under a microscope for the tell-tale fungal strands that grow on them. TRR is indegenious in our soils and affects many non-native plants. Most natives are resistant - there has never been a confirmed case of TRR on mesquite for example. Palms, yucca, agave, lilys, and grasses are immune. TRR does not migrate through the soil, but if roots grow into a zone where the fungus is it can travel on roots and if roots touch neighboring palnts' roots it can grow onto those as well. Citrus are not immune to TRR, so planting a tree where your peach trees died may not be a good idea. It generaly takes about two years for a tree, planted in a known TRR zone, to become affected by the disease. If your healthy citrus and fig (or other shrubs/plants) are located close to the dead peach trees, I would wonder why they are not affected. It could be that your peach trees died from other causes. In our climate the expected life span of a peach tree is about 15 years. You didn't mention how old your trees were but there is always a chance that they died of old age. Do you live on a flood-irrigated lot? That would be ideal for peach trees or other stone fruit as well. Please let me know if you have other questions or if I can help in any way. Aztreelvr Certified Arborist Here is a link that might be useful: Cotton (Texas) Root Rot

A few words of advice about Advice. Be absolutely sure whomever you talk/email/forum visit with when getting advice knows your citrus is in a container. If the guy at the garden center says "well the container should be the same as in the ground, citrus can even grow in plain dirt. So xxxx product should work." run away -- as fast as you can and forget everything that person told you. When I started I got so much advice (nursery, garden centers, friends, books, etc) I thought I retained everything quite well. However, I mistakenly mixed in-ground vs. container suggestions and the end result wasn't good. It took some mistakes and reading on this forum and the Container forum. As has already started, you'll get conflicting advice about peat moss, special citrus soil, sand, wood chips, bark, gypsum, dolomite, compost, mulch, etc. Just remember, it's not like a stew, you can't take a little of everything that's "good for citrus" and have it work (that was my mistake). It's because container citrus are much less forgiving than in-ground. Keep in mind there is a difference between "ideal advice" and "practical advice" and whether that's for the tree or the gardener. But you can do whatever you want. It's very easy to give canned advice using our own assumptions of the situation. You know your situation best and you'll learn more from the outcomes of your own decisions than you will memorizing what others are telling you. Your Questions in Particular: 1) How big -- it depends on the rootstock. Lemon Drop I think is mix of kumquat / lemon that tastes a bit bitter sweet. You need to find the name of the rootstock, or at least search the tree and container for any labels/tags that may say "dwarf" or "semi-dwarf", if it doesn't say either it's likely not a dwarf and I wouldn't plant this tree in a container (making the entire thread moot) ;-) Ask where you purchased it for the exact name of the roostock to find out. A rough estimate in container: true dwarf: 4-6', semi-dwarf: 5-8' depending on pruning. 2) Yes that 22" x 2' deep terra cotta container will ultimately be big enough. That's only a few inches smaller than a half wine barrel. You CAN put your tree in that huge container, but the ideal method is to upgrade the pot size every year or so. If you do use your 22" container, it will provide more protection in the freeze, but know it will tend to "hold" on to more water than a small tree can use. But many people do it, you just have to be more careful watching your tree's health. Other than that, I don't know much about freezing temps except for buying the frost blankets to cover it, watering deeply on cold nights, using lights, etc. 3) If you have "citrus fertilizer stakes" they are for in-ground and not containers. 4) The ideal: pluck off that fruit sorry :(, wait a few months until after the growing season, and then pot it in container a few inches larger than the current. Of course, fertilize and water until then. Soil Your soil choice in a container is critical. The technical stuff is about drainage, aeration, ph, etc. But practically because it determines how much/often to water, fertilize, and certain soils compact sooner than others, which means you'll need to replace it sooner. Using a good draining soil is even more critical if you put a young citrus in an overly large container. However, short and simple: buy special Palm/Citrus soil w/fertilizer added (big box stores have it in 8 qt bags for about $6). You're probably fine with ONLY that soil. Add a couple inches of any mulch on top (except not directly on the trunk). Buy a citrus fertilizer in pellet form that say "contains micronutrients" on the front and follow the directions for using in container (about 90% of the directions is for in-ground, there is usually a small paragraph at the bottom for containers). And you're good for a year if watered well (over-watering will kill it quickly) and protected from the severe elements. This may not be "the best" but it's an easy task for beginners to keep the citrus healthy enough to buy you time you learning about optimal care requirements. Re-potting and Roots Lastly, I didn't realize the down-the-road work involved in containers. Not to scare you away, but be prepared for work every year or two: replace the container soil, upsize the pot, prune roots, etc. How often depends on the soil you picked above. More Help There is a TON of valuable information already here in these forums and the net. You will want to learn more than my long-winded advice can provide. Search Terms: Caring for Citrus, Pruning Citrus, Fertilizer. There is a very good series of posts, albeit technical, titled "Container Soils - Water Movement and Retention" by Tapla--Al if you're inclined. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg010937265978.html?143 Caring for citrus is very standardized but there may be important caveats depending on where you live. That's why I didn't provide links for Citrus care. For example, I live in Fresno, CA and University of California Davis has excellent information about Citrus in California, even specifically where I live. There are different pests here, and the rootstocks for trees I buy may not be the same as in your area. Have fun and hope you love citrus as much as I do!

Hi, Mike Thanks. It's been pretty busy weekend. My three kumquat trees (all in different variety ) have different metabolism... one is blooming like crazy, one just woke up and figured out it is time to start new grow, one is dying. Green Leaves drop and twigs die back. I searched up in internet, the symptom is not for any disease or pests, it is the root rot. This made repot decision easier. I just repotted this kumquat into gritty mix. Although it continues to loose leave and twig, but hopefully it will recover soon. This is my unknown named kumquat from China with very sweet fruit. I hate to loose it. My meyer lemon has few baby lemons on it and still puts out new growth. I am excited to see the lemons grow into larger size. My local grocery store had season end sales. The bark mulch I use for my gritty mix and 511 are on sale for $1 /2cf. I stock up a lot of them and stack them up to decompose a little more. This past weekend, I mixed big batches of 511 and gritty mix. Repotted my jasmine sambac "Grand Duke..." which just finished flowering. This was a cutting given to me last year from friend of mine. Mine survived over the winter pratically a stick, but started new grow this spring. My friend's plant died in winter so I need to grow my jasmie large enough to give him some cuttings. Moved all my Brugs. into 511 mix. They are all very happy, no more droopy leaves in the afternoon. I potted aout 1/4 of my plants with Gritty/511 in plastic. I am happy to recycle those plastic pots. I am a little heitate to move all plants into either 511 or gritty mix. I am evaluating the pros and cons. The gritty mix and 511 will reduce water retaintion , improve air circulation therefore less chance of root rot and improve root system and thus healthy plant. But it creats another problem... fertilizer and water waste. it is also harder to manage the fertilize timing. Every time I water/fertilizer the gritty mix/511 most of water with fertilizer in it come out at the bottom, which all goes to waste. It makes nearby grass grow much faster and greener than my plants. In winter time, when all the plants are inside, I must have a deep saucer under each plant in order to catch excess water.

Now that I have learned to grow citrus with no problems I have 3 Poncirus trifoliata of grafting size and 4 sweetlee tangerine trees of vigor that will be graft-able next spring. That's 7 root-stocks that I can graft my twigs from the grafted tree I can purchase. My purchased tree will grow faster by waiting a year and will out grow anything I bought a year earlier. My decision is to not buy a grafted tree and to grow what I have. If it fruits, great If they don't. Well we'll see My from seed Nagami kumquat for grafting to poncirus trifoliata Seed grown Meiwa kumquat tree. The tree fruit I am interested in. To be grafted on to the poncirus trifoliata moots through the Nagami inter-stock. May also go directly to my sweetlee tangerine tree root-stock, Seed grown sweetlee tangerine tree for root-stock #1 Seed grown sweetlee tangerine tree for root-stock #2 Seed grown sweetlee tangerine tree for root-stock #3 Seed grown sweetlee tangerine tree for root-stock #4 Seed grown poncirus trifoliata to be grafted on Is posted above . Its in a blue 55 gallon half drum. This completes what I have done and what I have. If I think of anything I'll add on to this thread Steve This post was edited by poncirusguy on Tue, Nov 5, 13 at 18:29