Chilemilio, I'm not a potted citrus person but have read a lot of posts on the forum and there's a lot of posts about gritty mix and 511 potting mix. You should be able to do a search on the forum and find tons of info on those potting soil mixes that many people on the forum have had success with. Either that or wait and I'm sure someone else will be along that is much more knowledgable about potted citrus. Hope that helps.
Evan

Hello mate,

I'm no expert but I have had quite a few nightmares with getting the potting mix correct. The mix is crucial! I don't know much about 511 or gritty mix but I'm going to check them out myself in a minute after writing this. As for my experience with the mix, I use a high quality potting soil and mix it with a soil conditioner (the soil conditioner is like small gravel made from terra cotta I believe), then I add a lot of perlite and a handful of orchid bark. I find this mix works pretty good, drainage is fast and it dries out quickly.

The smell is probably from the water going anaerobic inside your container. Sounds like your soil is not drying out properly. It might be dry at the top but soaking wet at the bottom. Might be worth investing in a moisture meter that you can use to probe deeper to see what's going on down there.

Also, a 20 gallon container sounds rather large for a 3year old tree. I'm guessing it is about 3 feet tall and probably a 5 gallon would be sufficient to start with. Anyone else feel the container maybe to large?

Please tell us more about your potting mix? I suspect the smell has everything to do with this.

Also, what is your source of wateri? Collected rain water, tap water etc ?

Hello,

you guys are right.. I keep reading about the gritty mix, and other similar well draining mixes on the chile forums. Maybe i'm being lazy, but I just thought straight organic garden soil from Lowes would be enough, since there are no chemical additives or water retaining bits in it. Here is a link to the soil in question.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_327640-11628-686_0__?productId=3239931&Ntt=kellogg&pl=1ätURL=%3FNtt%3Dkellogg&facetInfo=

I added the wood shavings that the trees came with, according to the instructions. But I guess the bottom line is that the musty smell is not a good sign.

Not sure if the pots are too big. What do you think? Here is a picture. The blue and white pots are the ones i'm talking about (one of the white ones is not in the foto). The dog keeps an eye on the greenery :-)
{{gwi:580651}}

source of water is from the hose. 1 to 2 times a week: alternating between a light splash and just enough for some to drip out of the bottom.. when I smell the funk

I'm no expert either but regular garden soil that comes premade usually does not drain very well and becomes compacted which does not provide a good environment for roots. Watering 1-2 times a week might be too much. You've probably got root rot which is bad.

Tapla's post about container soil and water movement and retention is very informative even if you don't use one of his soil mixes. I'll put a link at the bottom.

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Soils - Water Movement and Retention XVIII

That's actually the soil I put on top of my native soil of newly planted citrus trees as a mulch. It's Probably too heavy for potted citrus. I use it to conserve water and keep my soil cool in the hot desert climate I live in. It works well for me because it puts nutrients in the soil that I don't normally have because my soil is sandy loam.
Evan