Alrighty guys and girls. Let me start by saying that in no way, shape or form is putting together the 5-1-1 mix an easy task if you have 5 citrus trees like I do.

1.) Everything cost me around $100.00
2.) I was out of the house for a good 5 hours
3.) I ticked my wife off something awful for being gone and spending even more money on these plants.

HOWEVER, with that being said this mix is approved by the God of Plants whomever he or she is. After getting everything put together and turned over in my garage about 30 times with a shovel I thought I actually heard my Oroblanco say "Ummm, yes please." For my five plants I added exactly:

5 - 5 gallon buckets of screened (1/2") pine fines
1 - 5 gallon bucket of perlite screened 1/8"
1 - 5 gallon bucket of sphagnum peat moss (compressed from Home Depot)
1 and 1/2 cups of dolomitic lime which I believe is about a tablespoon per gallon of mix

I dumped all of this on the floor of my garage and turned it over and over until I was done with one beer (roughly 15 minutes). I then went in and got each plant and dumped the crap soil in the garbage and was just shocked by the inconsistency in dampness. Poor soil = terrible conditions in citrus no matter if everything else is perfect. Anyway, put them all back in the new beautiful soil and carried them inside. I then, for the first time, corrected PH in my soil which was 8.5+ to around 6 with white vinegar and measured by PH strips I bought. I then added 1/4 strength Foliage Pro to a gallon of water and then proceeded to water each one. All six of us were crying, it was a beautiful thing. :)

After I was done watering them I picked one plant up (which is generally how I get a baseline on how we they are) and it was literally about 2-3 pounds lighter than after I water with the other soil. Just a shock to me how terrible that other soil was and I genuinely thought it was awesome (was originally Happy Frog Ocean Forest and Redwood Chips).

Basically I just want to get the point across to ANYONE having issues with their plants to start with their soil first. It's going to be a hassle to get the ingredients to put this together but you won't be sorry. It is truly an airy mix that allows for proper drainage and root movement. Granted, I've got issues with scale on one of them but soil first and now the rosemary oil tomorrow to try to get rid of them. Meyermike said something to me that was pretty powerful so I will leave you all with this quote

"The soil is the culprit but not for the reasons you think. It causes a plant to loose it's vigor which is suseptable to pests, and my mixes (5-1-1) encourage vigor which makes them almost impenetrable to attack because they are so healthy. Bugs are attracted to weak plants and their juices."

Well said Mike. If you're new and you love citrus make this mix, stick to this board and hang in there. I'll keep you updated.

Citrus-Steve