blueboy:

I have a house in Angleton and spend lot of time in Houston. Accuweather has forecast 80 Deg F today and 32 for the AM. That makes it almost impossible to fertilize and give the trees the growth they want w/o risking a killing freeze for trees in the ground. In 1980 and 2002 we had killing freezes in the first week in March.

For citrus in pots I use Microlife at 1/2 rate, and apply more often. That is because it forms a crust over the surface and cuts down on oxygen at full rates. I also water with a little Epsom salt and vinegar which I premix in a barrel. About once or twice a month I add about 250 parts per million of potassium nitrate depending on how things are growing and color. Acidifying the water is necessary due to our municipal water being pH 8+.

I have a layer of caliche in my subsoil. When we have a long period w/o rain the sun draws that alkaline stuff to the surface. Then I apply Epsom salt to my trees in the ground. They become highly magnesium deficient if not treated. I will go back to using potassium/magnesium double sulfate this year because Epsom salt alone is hard to use and not harm the fruit quality. I have bought the double salt at Southwest Fertilizer. It's problem is it gets hard as a rock in the bag.

Before arthritis slowed me down, I used to mix Microlife/cottonseed meal anywhere from 2/1 to 1/2 because of cost. When I did this I adjusted the mix back to 4% K with potassium nitrate and added the Epsom salt to what I thought the trees needed based on color and size of of the leaves. Microlife cost varies greatly with live stock feed prices. So does cottonseed meal, but It is about 1/3 the price of Microlife. Cottonseed meal alone has the problem of becoming great fire ant food. I suppose you could mix a little compost with it. Then it's break down will be real fast. Best is to put out some composted mulch and that works well to help break down cottonseed meal. On your mix a good target is 6-2-4. But you can be a little flexible there at times.

For in the ground pH control, I have resisted using the large sulfur granules they sell today. The fine "flowers of sulfur" are not generally available and I am not sure how much I can get away with using. It has a delayed action. I over used sulfur once in a garden and it took years to straighten the pH out.

If all this sounds vague to you, I am sorry but I am fighting soil/water alkalinity problems that pose a moving target. It varies with rainfall. You may not have it at all. If native pine trees grow in your area, you will not have this problem with trees in the ground. If your water is very alkaline, you will have a problem with the potted citrus first and later with in the ground trees. If your subsoil has limey particles you can have my problems also. Those trees in pots can be cured in a few weeks, while those in the ground take months or even years. Thunder storms can be the best cure, since they produce nitric acid which will react with the calcium carbonate/bicarbonate in the ground. Lots of people south and west have these problems.

What stage of construction are you in? Now may be an good time to make some key observations on what is below ground. Ninety nine per cent of the people wanting a garden/orchard blow this chance. Then they waste five years trying to overcome soil problems they don't know they have. In the meantime they kill all their plants and then give up because they think "they are just not good at growing things".

Thanks for the info! We haven't even broke ground yet on the house. Still doing paper work getting all the ducks in order. The soil we have here is a clay sand mix that all these new subdivisions build on. Were I'm going to plant the citrus along the back fence there is about 2ft slope from the house down to the fence and water tends to pool at the back of the lot. My plan is to bring a lot of pine bark mulch and sand and build a long raised bed across the entire back fence and half way up the sides of the fence.

My potted citrus are watered with rain water so there won't be much in the way of Ph swings. The raised bed plants will be watered with municipal water source and it runs 8.3Ph +/- a few points. I'm hoping that continual applications of pine bark mulch will help counter act soil Ph swings to a point. I under stand some modifications will eventually have to be made.

I have noticed the crust from that Micro Life creates as well on my blueberries if too much is applied at once. I will limit the amount I apply on potted plants. Depending on how much room I have I would like to put all of them in ground. I have enough potted blues and figs to keep me busy.

I was talking with John Panzerella in lake jackson and just uses straight pine bark mulch for his potting medium. He seems to have pretty good results so I'm thinking the pine bark mulch and sand will do well for the raised beds.

I appreciate the info and will probably have some more questions for you in the future. Thanks!

Big difference in potting medium and in the ground. In the ground is a lot less oxygen. You can get into lots of trouble trying to have too much organic in the ground.

There is another point about the mix that needs to be addressed. Suppose you have a large amount of organic in the soil, when you plant your tree. Then in a few short years, that stuff goes away. The tree tends to settle as the mix reverts back to sand only. Adding mulch can cover the crowns but it cannot keep the tree at original grade unless it is staked in a very careful way or some support is provided under the crown.

Pine bark mulch turns more acid as it softens with age. It is a slow process.

I like your plan in general. You probably are going to have good growing.

I would also check for an alkaline subsoil during construction.