This is my mix. My trees have been in it for a couple years and have been doing great.
Fafard 52 and coarse perlite in a ratio of 5 to 1. Both are available to me in large bags and at the same store.This year I may try and add turface to the mix and see how that does.

I have used a mix of 50/50 miracle grow/ perlite for other things that will be either re-potted in a year of are annual with good luck also.

I have used the gritty before and it did what it is advertised to do. But for me it was too heavy and expensive filling 20+ 5-10 gallon containers adn a couple 20 gallon ones.

so I dont get in trouble, Im not saying the gritty is bad and Im not saying what I do it better or the only way. Just sharing my experiences. Im still a relatively young/new grower so take that into account as well.

I will say this. Straight Miracle grow is pretty bad for anything that is not an annual planting. So I would not plan on using it without amending it first for any citrus.

Mike

This post was edited by mksmth on Wed, May 1, 13 at 10:47

As Mike says, Fafard's heavyweight mixes (particularly the Nursery Mix) are very good off-the-shelf purchases. Similarly, you could add some coarse perlite to a bag of "Orchid Mix" (which often has a lot of bark, along with pumice, charcoal, and other grit).

If you're going to use Miracle Grow, I'd cut it with closer to 70 percent Perlite to improve the drainage rate.

Josh

Mike...no one should be nervous about expressing opinions in these forums. EVER! I know where you're coming from, though.

Illi, Josh and Mike have given you some excellent advice. I'm a huge fan of the Fafard mixes, myself, and have used one or another of their Professional Heavyweight mixes for many years. These are potting mediums that will never compact.

I haven't had the best luck with Miracle Gro with my citrus, it didn't drain that well and the fungus knats loved it, unfortunately. I was going to suggest that others seem happy with Fafard 52, if you can get it. That is, if you don't want to try 5:1:1 or gritty mix, which is what I use now.

Thanks for the response guys. This lime tree is the only tree I have so it is kinda overkill to try to mix the 5:1:1 myself because the ingredents for the 5:1:1 mix seem to come in big bags only. About the Fafard 52 or Fafard nursery mixes, I looked up only and it turned out they are professional mixes, which means I cannot find them in lowes or homedepot. This website (http://www.growersupply.com/fafard52mix.html) sells Fafard 52 for $11 but the shipping cost is $26, more than double the price of the mix itself.

On the other hand, Fafard cactus mix is a retail product and can be obtained easily. For example, I can get it for $11 off ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Qt-Cactus-Succulent-Mix-4000806-Conrad-Fafard-/150984387406?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0amp;hash=item23275eeb4e). The description of the mix says that it does not pack. Do you think the Fafard cactus mix is a decent mix for my lime tree? I don't need optimal growth condition, just want to make sure it does not die due to root rots.

Thanks.

Illi

I just notice you are on Oklahoma, Me too!! what part? Stringer nursery in Tulsa sells Fafard 52 and 3b, but not the Nursery mix. I wish he did. I may ask him why he doesnt next time. There are several else in Tulsa also. OKC seems to only have one retailer. I posted the store finder below. You are correct that you wont find them at lowes or HD, at least not in oklahoma but you can get them at the smaller independent nurseries.

Thanks rhizo. Sometimes I feel like my hand gets slapped for suggesting anything other than the gritty :(

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Fafard store finder

This post was edited by mksmth on Wed, May 1, 13 at 15:17

Mike,

I'm in Tulsa too lol. Good to know that Stringer nursery sells those mixes. I will get 1 bag of mix 52 from them soon. I looked at the Fafard store finder and it showed so too many retailers that I think some of them are fake. Ironically, Stringer nursery is not even on that list. Anyway, now that I know what and where to buy, my question has been answered. Thanks all for your inputs.

Cool! Stringer also has the coarse perlite if you are interested. You can use miracle grow perlite also its just smaller particles. They also got in shipment of 4 foot tall Meyer lemon, Key lime and I believe washington naval's. I think he is over priced on them but when you consider shipping its not a bad price really, $70 I think. Southwood nursery sell Fafard and citrus also but they tend to be more than the others. Plus they sell Monrovia citrus and i dont like how they train their limes and kumquats to be tall and lanky and their meyers arent usually in very good shape. I saw a couple citrus at Groggs green barn on 61st the other day. They werent in the best of shape though. Also monrovia.

I think I should start a citrus consultant company for Oklahoma and show/tell the nurseries how to care for them.

Actually what I would love to do is start my own nursery and carry citrus, bananas, plumeria etc and also offer overwintering services for a monthly fee. Maybe one day. LOL

good to see you post here.

What ever you do, dont go in the plumeria forum here. hahaha. There are 4 of us from oklahoma and we all aid in feeding our addiction of plants.

Mike

I can get all the Nursery Mix I want, lucky me and I use it to the full!

Hello all my good friends!

Mike

I can get all the Nursery Mix I want, lucky me and I use it to the full!

Hello all my good friends!

Mike

Hey mike. I was wondering where you have been lately. Good to see you.

Mike

And just how are your plumerias? Now that the rain season has started here in Guatemala, all my plumeria trees are growing like weeds. Actually in my opinion, if it isn't a Meyer lemon it IS a weed; but my wife adores them.. at least one Plumeria in each of my gardens, all inground; but in a climate where anthurias and orchids thrive outside in the garden... Sorry you don't all have that.

Sorry guys, I have 1 more question. When I use Fafard 52 mix, do I need to change my fertilizing schedule? Currently, with the miracle gro mix, I water my tree once a week. Each time I include a tiny bit of Miracle gro all purpose plant food powder, just enough to make the water turn light blue. It has been working really well so far. Do I need to do anything different when using the new mix? I know I will probably need to water more frequently but should I fertilize whenever I water or just keep fertilizing once a week?

Thanks.

Well one more question. This is the latest picture of the tree. Do you think I need a bigger pot when repotting the tree? The current pot is about half a gallon. I checked on the side of the pot and could not see any roots there. Maybe there could be root bound at the bottom of the pot but I cannot be sure until pulling the tree out.

Thank you.

{{gwi:583580}}

Hey John

my plumeria are just waking up from winter. I aquired about 20 more varieties by cuttings this springs so ill be busy with those also.

good to see you tolerate at least a couple other plants. LOL. How many trees are you up to now?

I had about 2 dozen fruit set on my largest meyer and about a dozen on a smaller one. Best crop for me so far.

Illi

good looking tree. Where did you get it. Also I forgot to ask, what type of lime is it. The benefit of using a very well draining soil is that you can go with a bit bigger pot than what would otherwise be considered too big because of the perched water. If that was my tree I would go with at least something in between a 1 and 5 gallon pot. I use all nursery pots because they are cheap so my stock is 1 and 5 gallon pots. I have a few much bigger too. You could probably get by with a 5 gallon if you have a good draining soil and watch your watering. In july/august in oklahoma its very hard to overwater container plants even using straight miracle grow. Its this winter that you have to be careful.

mike

thanks mike. I live in an apartment, the window sill is not big, so I am trying to get away with the smallest pot possible. This tree was grown from seeds of the key lime bought at wall mart. I bought a whole bag of key lime for seeds but only one seed made it. Probably the fruits were harvest too prematurely.

Yes, a bigger pot certainly :-)
You can continue with once a week fertilization - that's how many of us container gardeners do it. Follow the directions on the package, of course, and reduce appropriately for your fertilization interval.

Josh

Congrats on finding and successfully growing a key lime seed. from what I understand they are the fastest to mature to fruiting age, just a couple years, and are identical to the parent.

well just do your best to keep the soil well draining and be sure you root prune as often as needed. Also the container forum here has some great advice and people who can also help.

Mike

I bought a 2.8ft3 bag of Fafard 52 mix today for $19. I also bought a nice 2 gallon nursery pot from lowes.

I wonder if any one here grows citrus in smart pots, i.e. fabric pots, and if you do, did you notice any advantage?

LoL. what time did you get the fafard. I picked up a bag today also. $19 at stringer. I have a kumquat begging for a bigger home.

Mike

I picked it up at about 1 o'clock, at stringer too.

Haha. Just missed ya. I was there about 2:30. I love just walking around.

Strangers in the night...... ;-)

So I repotted my tree. This is the first time I did so. I only removed part of the old soil, leaving the soil closest to the tree intact, because I don't want to shock the tree. The remaining old soil now sit in the middle of the new pot, surrounded by the new Fafard 52 mix. That is still ok right? I also cut off a very long root, probably the tap root, to promote more lateral root growth.