Re-potting of Meyer and Cara Cara

9 years ago

It was time and today was it!

My Meyer got quite yellow last year even though I thought I was fertilizing enough. Reading a bit here showed me I was way off on how much it really needed.

So I bought the right stuff, (FoliagePro and Osmocote plus) and fed enough and it greened up pretty good, and put on a ton of new leaves.

However a few short weeks later the same problem showed up on the new growth; the green pulling back from the edge and showing the pattern you'll see in the pics. It happened when the tree put on another flush of growth, and showed some micro-nutrient problems as well as losing nitrogen. It had been in this same potting mix for about 4 years. It didn't drain really great, and was getting compacted.

The Cara Cara was a rescue as a 1 gallon on the clearance table. It was kinda puny, but I figured new soil, TLC, and it would perk up.

It never really did though. It got a little bigger, then a really bad case of CLM which messed up what few leaves it grew. I had also planted annuals around it, as I didn't know better at the time. That was last year.

Again, even though it had fresh potting mix, it was showing signs of compaction and staying too wet. So today I re-potted it as well.

I found it had grown very little into the fresh mix. I decided to bare-root it as I had nothing to lose at this point.
And I think I found the problem; the original soil was very heavy and compacted. In fact I suspect it was field grown and dug up and potted up for sale. The soil around the roots was almost clay like, not like potting mix at all.
If I'd put it right into the ground it may have not mattered, but into a pot, it pretty much suffocated those poor roots.

So both went into E.B. Stone Citrus mix, which I've had really good success with for my other potted citrus. I just used it straight though, I didn't add any other bark. It's really hot and dry here in the summer, and we often have hot drying afternoon winds as well, and when I've used the Gritty mix, it just drys out too fast for me.

I took some pics if you'd like to see;

Here is a link that might be useful: Meyer re-pot

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Comments (9)

BarbJP 15-16/9B CA Bay Area
Original Author
9 years ago
And here's pics of the Cara Cara;

Btw, in the pics of the Meyer, you'll see I put it in one pot first, but seriously under estimated the size pot it needed. Quick trip back to the store with next size up, which was just right. I didn't bare-root the Meyer, but I did pull a good portion of the old soil off and trimmed the roots a little.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cara Cara re-potting

This post was edited by BarbJP on Fri, May 23, 14 at 19:31
hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
9 years ago
Barb, your links don't work. Try copying and pasting the HTML code string right into your messages. That way, we can see the photos embedded in your messages, instead of having to go somewhere else to see the photos. You can embed multiple images into one message. Personally, I use 4 parts Miracle Gro Garden Soil for Vegetables, 1 part small bark chips (I usually use a reptile bark or small orchid bark), and 1 part perlite. It says moist enough during our warm, dry summers here in San Diego county, but drains well enough during our wet (usually wet) winters,

Patty S.
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BarbJP 15-16/9B CA Bay Area
Original Author
9 years ago
OK, thanks Patty, I didn't realize that. Let me try that again.

meyer-

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zn5viycy7t5lnbc/AADmYoevmsRjWDsfgASyOeJPa

cara cara-

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yp0xouagnmbbxqy/AADfJsIOz8LYLJFFukXkR30Na

Let me know if the pics still can't be seen.
JoppaRich
9 years ago
Original links work fine for me.
hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
9 years ago
Nope. If you can't see the photos when you click "Preview", no one else will be able to, either. Use photobucket.com. Copy and paste the HTML code string (ignore the others, be sure you've selected the correct one). That works. I use it all the time. And yes, the links work, now.

As to your pot selections, if you're not going to move them around, and you have the room, I would have used a pot twice the size. Those are some really packed in roots.

Patty S.

This post was edited by hoosierquilt on Tue, May 27, 14 at 14:31
BarbJP 15-16/9B CA Bay Area
Original Author
9 years ago
Which pot are you referring to?

The first pot I chose for the Meyer was too small, it wasn't much bigger than the old one. You can see in the pic, it is really packed.

I went back to the store and got the bigger one, the one that is in the last picture of the tree. It's at least 5" larger all around and 8" deeper. I plant to eventually put this tree in the ground, I will take a lot of the potting soil off when I do this. So the tree will only be in the larger pot for a year or two more.

The Cara Cara is much smaller and I mostly bare-rooted it , so the root ball is of a smaller volume than before. It also has at least 5" around it and 6-7" under it, of fresh soil.
BarbJP 15-16/9B CA Bay Area
Original Author
9 years ago
I'll look into Photobucket also.
hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
9 years ago
Okay, I now see the MUCH larger pot for the Meyer. Yes, that is the size at the least I would have gone up to, that should be fine. Same with the Cara Cara. Those pots should work out just fine. You may need to fertilize the Meyer more often - they seem to need more N than other citrus cultivars in my experience. At least, my in-ground Meyer sure does.

Patty S.
BarbJP 15-16/9B CA Bay Area
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks! I added Osmocote Plus to the top 1" of each tree. And I supplement Foliage Pro each month or so. I plant to give more to the Meyer, thanks for the reminder!

I've seen such an improvement to my potted plants, especially the Citrus, since I found this fertilizer regime on this forum!

I used to use the same organic fertilizers I used in-the-ground garden, which works quite well there.
But it was a failure in the pots. Stunted growth, yellow foliage, etc. Then I realized the organic fertilizers are basically raw materials, blood meal, bone meal, ect. that the soil microbes convert to NPK and more.

Well, most potting mixes (soil-less types) don't have much in the way of soil microbes and other soil flora/fauna, so it just sat there and the plants were starving.

Some folks, other than me, may have had success at using organic fertilizer in pots, but I have much healthier plants in containers now since using regular synthetic fertilizers.

Thanks!