Citrus in gritty mix... when to repot and how?
adri16579
3 years ago
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adri16579
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Gritty Mix + Citrus Plants + Foilage Pro - Questions
Comments (80)So what do you suggest to test the water PH? Should I also check out the water quality report too? Where's the best place to find that out? I went to the water site for my city (Austin, Tx) but I'm not sure if I need to narrow by zip code? Here was the report: Davis WTP Ullrich WTP Parameter Units Method Cd T2,T2H T3 ----------------- ----- --------------- ----------- ----------- pH SU SM 4500-H B AVG 9.7 AVG 9.6 MAX 9.8 MAX 9.8 MIN 9.5 MIN 9.4 Total Alkalinity MG/L SM 2320 B AVG 61 AVG 67 MAX 65 MAX 72 MIN 56 MIN 62 Total Hardness MG/L SM 2340 C AVG 94 AVG 102 MAX 99 MAX 106 MIN 89 MIN 96 Total Solids MG/L SM 2540 B AVG 188 AVG 198 MAX 204 MAX 202 MIN 168 MIN 188 Total Chlorine MG/L SM 4500-CL F AVG 2.93 AVG 2.61 Residual MAX 3.25 MAX 2.80 MIN 2.70 MIN 2.30 Sulfate MG/L SM 4500-SO4 E AVG 36.4 AVG 34.4 MAX 37.5 MAX 34.4 MIN 35.3 MIN 34.4 Total Organic MG/L SM 5310 C AVG 2.70 AVG 2.60 Carbon MAX 2.96 MAX 2.73 MIN 2.45 MIN 2.46 Conductivity UMHOS/cm SM 2510 B AVG 335 AVG 354 MAX 335 MAX 354 MIN 335 MIN 354 Total UG/L EPA 524.3 THM AVG 28.9 AVG 35.9 Trihalomethanes MAX 32.4 MAX 42.9 MIN 24.8 MIN 30.8 Turbidity NTU SM 2130 B AVG 0.06 AVG 0.04 MAX 0.10 MAX 0.06 MIN 0.03 MIN 0.02 Drinking Water Quality Report Date Range: 01-SEP-2013 to 30-SEP-2013 Now what if I repotted plants from soil that had a bunch of fertilizer salts on the top despite not fertilizing? I'm using 5-1-1 mix, should I add dolomite lime or not because the water is too alkaline? Or is the problem that I haven't been fertilizing regularly?! AAAAh! I don't know where to start! lol!...See MoreCitrus in gritty mix drying off, need help
Comments (12)There really shouldn't be any initial wetting issues with the gritty mix like there can be when other soils, including the 5:1:1 mix are allowed to dry down too much. Here's how that works: Consider that all ingredients are as dry as they get, especially the bark, as that is the only component that will exhibit any hydrophobia (water repellency). When you wet a completely dry gritty mix, the Turface immediately absorbs water like a sponge and becomes saturated, while the surfaces of the granite also become coated with water. This is always enough water to sustain the plant AND for some of the water to 'break' the hydrophobia of any bark that WAS water-repellent as water vapor diffuses from other colloidal surfaces into the bark within 10-15 minutes, leaving the soil uniformly damp/moist. This occurs much faster when the bark fraction isn't allowed to dry down much below 30% so the bark is never hydrophobic. If you ARE watering in a plant in a completely dry soil, it's probably a good idea to just water again an hour or so after the initial watering to make sure the soil didn't become TOO dry as water diffused from (primarily) the Turface into the dry bark. That said, when I do my repots, I have a tub of water nearby always, that is partially filled with a water/Superthrive solution - like what Al suggested. I set the pot in the shallow water in the tub and gradually fill it up to the soil level & leave it set in the water while I go about doing the next repot - then I remove the soaking pot & put the next pot in its place. Al...See MoreRepotting my Key Lime in Al's Gritty Mix?
Comments (1)Welcome Drake I would do it now while your tree is in a very healthy active state, and I mean both states, since trees respond much better to longer days, and while in good health. Happy growing and enjoy your tree and summer. Mike:-)...See MoreBare root repot gritty mix concerns
Comments (11)@Bigmario I think I answered your post about the large pots in another thread. @Mksmith & Redshirt: I hope your trees recover. My experience follows the bell-curve. The largest majority just languish after bare-rooting (not discussing root-pruning here) only drop a few leaves if any, but do not thrive until the next growing season. A minor amount will act like nothing happen and flush out very soon (if appropriate season) and the other end of the spectrum, a minor few will drop many, many leaves and I think it will croak, but it doesn't. It keeps a small set of them and the next growing season does great. It still pains me greatly to watch that happen, though. I'm lucky on my larger trees I've barerooted they were not at the bad end of the curve. The only healthy tree I've lost prior was when I root-pruned at the same time. I also lost two that were destined to die from frozen roots during winter. Unfortunately, I have no way of seeing the pattern (yet) as to which will do well or not. I just finished putting a smaller sized 3yr old Kinnow (that had tons of leaves on it) into an 18gal container with gritty mix and I thought it went beautifully. I saw little to no root loss and was quite proud. As of today, it is still on the decline, having lost over half its leaves. I was ticked and saddened at such an unexpected decline. I thought I'd have to come here and say "I lost my first tree doing a repot". However, semi-good news for me. It turns out the holes in the bottom of my Kinnow container were just slightly too small (used the wrong size drill bit) or the fiberglass insect screen mesh was too fine. A few days ago I was suspicious, b/c the leaves looked exactly like over-watering damage, so I bore it out with larger bit and sure enough, perhaps a pint or two of water came out the bottom. I went around to my other recent repots and found one other with the same problem and same amount of water. That other container was with the 4-1 mix of CHC/peat (recommended by Millet) and it hasn't lost one leaf and looks great (the far end of my bell curve). Interesting......See Moreadri16579
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)