Oops. I think I should have put this post under the Container Gardening Forum. Sorry about that.

Hey Jessica!! Fantastic fantastic job!! I am so very proud of you.

That mix looks wonderful and so is the narrative. So thoughtful for you to come here and share and I hope many others take away a lot of information from your road to success.

Bravo!

If you need any tuning up or other suggestions, I am sure the ones that supported and helped me will be along to educate you even further.
Wonderful

I linked this thread to the container forums for you and if you still want to start another thread, go for it since many over there will probably never visit the citrus forum and your thread will be appreciated by many at the container one too.

Mike

Jessica: I was doing some thinking.

Looking at the roots of the larger tree, I think I would of taken off the center leader root, the main thick one that you see, while I was root pruning.

I would love to know if this should of been done, and if so, is it too late? If so, and you do it, will the plant still be just fine?

I think a root pruning expert will let us know asap as I am also still learning on that one:-)

What a great sense of enthusiasm and effort.

Mike

Ah. I see.

Being new to the idea of even *toucing* the roots on a plant, let alone cutting them off I was afraid to cut the bigger roots off too much. :(

I am not sure if the larger roots perform a different task for the tree than the smaller ones, or if one is more important than the other?

Hopefully someone can give me a quick run down on root pruning?

I am considering replanting the tree again soon anyway. It is way too heavy for me to move around and I really dont like that. I am thinking I sould have gone for a plastic container. I need to be able to move it from the window to the shower for a rinse-off from time to time.

Nice job, and the mix looks great, Jessica! Way to go! :-)

Hello, Jessica, you're off to such a great start!

As Mike said, that long root can be removed. I'd remove it next time you re-pot.
As for the root-mauling...I think the Meyer will recover just fine.

I generally wait 2 weeks after re-potting to begin my fertilzation regimen.
"Soils that are low in initial fertility are conducive to root-growth."

Remember to provide updates! ;-)

Josh

great work!

Hello Jessica,

If you still follow this thread, I was wondering if we could chat about where you find your gritty mix ingredients in Seattle.

Thanks,
Brenda

Hi Jessica (and Brenda)
I too, would be interested on where you found your gritty mix ingredients in Seattle. From what I can tell, the closest place to get Turface is a bit of a drive. Would love to hear.
TIA,
Westy

Jessica, I'll be planting my just-purchased Meyer lemon in Al's gritty mix tomorrow. Thanks so much for the pictures!

I have two question. Did you use lime in your gritty mix? I wasn't sure if I should add the lime, since I read that citrus likes acidic mediums.

And did you mix in a slow-release fertilizer like Osmocote? Or another brand?

ssmdgardener, do not add Lime to the Gritty Mix.
Lime will raise the pH, and the Gritty Mix is already high enough.
If your fertilizer doesn't have Calcium and Magnesium, then add Gypsum to the Gritty Mix
at 1 Tablespoon per gallon. Then, when you fertilize, add 1/8 Teaspoon of Epsom Salts per gallon
of fertigating solution. The Gypsum and the Epsom Salts will co-ordinate to provide the missing
Calcium and Magnesium.

If your fertilizer provides Calcium and Magnesium - such as Foliage Pro 9-3-6 -
then you don't need to add Gypsum to your Gritty Mix.

Josh

Hi Westy, hi Brenda-

I am in a pinch for time today, but I will tell you where I got my ingredients really quick so you can get started!

Bark Fines- Just plain ol� Repti bark from Petco. I had to get the smaller bag because they were sold out of the larger ones. There has been talk that they may be using different sized bark partials in the two size bags, but I only have experience with the smaller bag.

Granite- De Young�s Farm & Garden (Right next door to Molbaks in Woodenville). This was the only place I could find the exact size granite I was looking for.

Turface- Ewing Irrigation. I picked up mine in Auburn. They also have locations in Burlington, Pasco, Everett, Redmond, Tacoma and Tumwater/Olympia. (You can search locations at their web site- www.ewing1.com) Seeing how we are coming up on baseball season they will be sure to have it in stock. *In a pinch I have been told you can use Floor Dry #8822 from Napa (the automotive store), but I have not tried it yet.

If you search my name (Jessicasgrowincitrus) you will come across all my posts. I wrote up a whole post on my Gritty Mix making experience last summer. (Titled: Al's Gritty Mix -- A Learning Experience) Check it out, there are step-by-step photos of the whole sifting process and photos of the partial size you will need in the end product.

Let me know if you have any questions! Good luck!!

~Jessica

Hi Jessica,
Thank you for responding - I went to DeYoung's yesterday to get grit & it turns out they had Turface too. I've got a bunch of orchid bark on hand, so it was one-stop shopping! I'm going to start transplanting my cacti first. Thank you & happy planting!
Westy

Jessica, that was delightful, informative reading! I also read your "learning experience" where I was thrilled to hear you can buy something called a bonsai screen and my fingers flew to Amazon! I made a 1/4" screen a couple years ago, but everything else was "best guessing" and made me crazy...I wanted to thank you for your help. The same people who are helping you, helped me a few years back ( thanks to them again!). Once I finally went to gritty mix, I never looked back...you won't either. Best of luck with your trees!

Hey Jessica, how are your trees doing now?

I was wondering the same thing! Let me see if I can find her e-mail incase she does not see this Vladimar) I have been thinking about her for days. I am guessing she either gave up and got busy or they are doing great since she has not been back to ask for assistance.,,..