Hard to say.
Those rolled leaves make me think it's thirsty...or unevenly watered. How often do you water, and what are your watering habits? How do you determine when the mix is dry?

I have a Meyer in gritty mix and I, too, have upped the fertilizer this season...and it is doing well finally.


Josh

Josh,

Last year, I used the dowel method to gauge its state of dryness, but in a clay pot and in full sun, I think I still tended to underwater it. This year, it has (atypically) rained a lot, so I supplement every 2-3 days if it hasn''t rained.

I think that people have a hard time adapting to Turface, and end up under watering and under fertilizing. And a lot of people end up wishing that they never heard of 'gritty mix ', lol.....so do not think that you are alone.

But keep trying with this plant...let it be your guinea pig. Up the water volumn (not necessarily the frequency) and fertilizer....or change fertilizers occasionally. You might start liking it.....but I sure as heck wouldn't lose plants over it!

I used a turface /grit /bark mix when I was very involved with bonsai culture but didn't like it when I experimented with it, over twenty years ago, for other plants and containers. That's probably when I discovered the Fafard HeavyWeight potting media.....which are bark based.

Keep trying....but don't feel like a failure if this mix doesn't work for you.

Yes, please, don't feel like you have failed..

It might surprise you to know that I too failed a few times with the gritty mix..It is not as easy as many may think for some, and a breeze for others.

I found that watering evenly was the key for me with a sprinkler head of some sort that easily saaturates ALL of the mix at once. You may have to do it twice.
Now that you may have dry spots throughout, I would soak your pot well in water for at least 5 minutes or spray it with hose until fully saturated...
...
I also found that fetilizing frequently at higher doses was key.
I still use the wooden dowel method and I am not afraid to admit that.

I also found that when I found it to much work or just not working for me on certain plants or in certain pots, I turned to the 5.1.1 mix or the Fafard just as Rhizo pointed all.

All have worked wonders for me, although the 5.1. 1 and 'Fafard' are always easiest for me..

Mike

This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Wed, Jul 31, 13 at 17:37

Which Fafard mix specifically do you use??

3 good mixes I can thnk of are the 3B, Nursery, and 51 types...

For my growing area and needs I use the Nursery mix since almost 80% of it is pine bark and the rest peat.
For citrus I find that even this has too much peat for my needs, so I strain out even more peat and add perlite.

There are some here that use it straight out of the bag and have much success with it..
To me these are the closest to the 5.1.1 mix everyone talks about without having to add any lime since that part has already been done by the company.

Hope this helps.

MIke:-)

Yes, very good advice! Hey Mike and Rhizo!

Josh

I gave up on the gritty awhile ago. Too expensive, too heavy, too much watering for me. Most of my trees are in 5-10 gallon pots now. Some of my plumeria are in 20 gallons. Plus I have about 40 plumeria now. no way I could use the gritty for them. It has it benefits no doubt but it also has its limits, at least for me.
Mike

Hi Tilly. I have to say,citrus can be EXTREMELY finicky, but once you do figure out if you have a soil issue creating problems, or if it is a moisture issue, your tree will rebound. Even if it doesn't you have to try again! I foolishly bought a 5ft tall meyer a couple years ago, and I lost it. I paid well over $100 for that tree, and I said I was done! I replaced my tree about 2 years ago, and instead of buying a huge expensive tree, I bought a smaller 1.5ft tree, and that tree is thriving! I am happy to say I have fruits that are at all stages of ripening. Some are pea sized and 3 are almost mature.

I have my tree in a soil mix. I don't usually tell people growing there trees in pots to go with this type of soil but my tree grows under a 600 watt HPS light, which dries the soil out every 2 days. I will say that regardless of what mix you do use, it cannot hold moisture for more than a day or two, or your roots will start to root. For ferts, I do like Foliage Pro, and a teaspoon of white vinegar.

Good luck with your tree, and please let us know how it does.If it does not make it, please don't give up! Meyer lemon fruits are awesome, and the flowers also smell great!

Andrew

Thank you everybody for your responses. Last summer, I thought that my problems could be under-fertilizing or perhaps because the roots got too hot in a clay pot . That's why I moved to plastic and increased my Foliage Pro to higher levels. Interesting, when I moved the plant from clay to plastic this past spring, I had a chance to look at the root system. It was long/dense/healthy looking (although they seemed kind of dry to me, but I attributed that to the growth in gritty mix). I have followed the Container Garden forum for a long time, and the rational for using gritty mix made so much sense to me that I went out of my way to get orchid grade small fir bark, Turface, and granite grit. Unfortunately, I have to say that no plant I have put in it seems to thrive, so I must be doing something wrong! Maybe I will move the Meyer to some 5-1-1 mix and see if it is happier.

The PRIMARY objective of all of those 'recipes ' is to provide superior porosity. Right? We can have that in a straight out of the bag potting medium or we can create one using more traditional components.

I guess that the lesson we can learn from this thread is that you are not alone in finding it very diffucult to be successful with a gritty type mix. You are NOT doing something wrong.

I still think that it's worth it to continue your efforts with this plant, Tilly. Meyermike (my pal) is a perfect example of someone who has tried, failed, and kept on trying. His plants are an inspiration for everyone. I think that Mike still uses the gritty recipe on occasion, but has experimented with the Fafard (after some coaxing on my part, lol) .

It's only because of seeing Meyermike's trees that I haven't given up completely already!

I think I will try moving this plant to a medium like 5-1-1, as it has had two growing seasons in gritty mix and is clearly not happy. Any special adjustments to the standard 5-1-1 recipe that are recommended for potted citrus? Is there any advantage to seeking out the Fafard Nursery mix instead?

I too have a problem with my Meyer in the Gritty Mix. It's been in about the same state as the pic above for over 6 months now. I still water and fertilize with Foilage Pro but no growth. It has had blooms a couple of times but I've picked them off as they turn to fruit so I can get the tree to focus on leaf production instead.

I also have a Washington Navel and a Mandarin that were potted the same time in the gritty mix and they have lots of new growth so I know I must be watering and fertilizing enough.

After reading here I would really like to repot using the Fafard's mix but I can only find it on Amazon and I'm not sure it's the same thing. The product name is: 'Conrad Fafard 4000202 Professional Potting Mix, 2 Cubic Feet' and it's in a forest green bag. Will this mix alone be okay for the Meyer?

I ordered this in the smaller size but it does not appear to be like the one being referenced by others, it is finely textured with very little bark and I had to add that plus perlite.

I had one other thought about my problems with gritty mix. I have been using small fir bark, made for orchids. It is not composted at all, and seems incredibly hydrophobic. Could that be my problem?

Thank you for the follow up squirrel. I don't have a problem adding the bark and perlite as I already have the bark left over from the gritty mix and I can get the perlite easily. Is your plant doing okay in your mix?

So far it is okay. Be sure to check at root level for the need to water. I use a moisture meter because my senses are not sharp enough to detect moisture on a dowel, but others prefer that and seem to be better at it than me. It retains more moisture than the ultra porous gritty mix so overwatering is a risk. I also put a rayon wick in the pot and through the drain hole to help reduce any residual water.

Yes, fir bark, the un-composted one can repel water if not left to hydrate for a few hours before using it in your gritty mix. That is why I leave my mixes to soak for days before using...

Has everyone here used a very important ingredient in their gritty mix to start with? Do you know what it is..?I'll let you guess...

Most any porous mix works well for citrus but the VERY BIG advantage to using the 1.1.1 is that it can endure for a very very long time. It holds it's structure well.
The gritty mix has never failed my plants other than my own doing.
I find it easier to use the 5.1.1 and 'Fafard' mixes because I like to judge the weight of the pots before watering since the gritty one always makes me think I should not have to add water..

The lighter than gritty mixes are a lot easier to use than the gritty one but no better to use. If I could get the watering thing down just right with the gritty, I would have all my plants in it since I like to water as often as I want without fear of over watering and wouldn't have to do a repot as often on all my trees..

Rhizo, missing you..I am just about ready to write you:-)

Mike

Mike, the thing I don't understand about soaking the bark mix for a while before transplanting a plant into it is that I can see how that helps right after the plant is moved into the mix. But, when it sits in the sun for a couple of days, isn't the bark going to be back to the same hydrophobic condition that it was in before it was soaked?

Not as quickly as you think...You would have to let it dry out to the point of plant death for it to return to that status again or be watering with a spout that only hits certain areas in your pots instead of using a sprinkler head which evenly moistens every time.

Most of us would never let our bark, or peat get to that point in the first place..

You would be surprised how the bark holds up under heat conditions, especially if you maintain the moisture in your mix.
The point of the gritty mix is so you can practically water as much and as often as you want without ever having to worry about root rot or over watering..

So it is impossible for that bark to get to the point it repels water unless you are waiting much too long before watering. If you did, just once, the plant would die first of thirst..

Hope this helps..

I was wondering if you or anyone else saw the question I asked above? It's very important for those of us that do not use Foliage Pro.

MIke

This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Sat, Aug 3, 13 at 10:34

i seen that mike and im gonna guess the answer is something that adds micros like lime or epson salts in your fertalizer but im really curious becasue i just repoted a fig and meyer to gritty mix and i have no foliage pro in my area. ive settled for 12-4-8 MG with micros.

pleas tell the important ingredient!!!

Bumped: I just re-potted my meyers into gritty mix one month ago and i have lost 80% of the leaves. I believe i did everything right after reading as much information i could fine at GW. Its making me sick since it was a fathers day present from my daughter three years ago. I had it in the 511 and was doing great but I decided to go with the gritty this time. Everything that happened to the OP happened to mine. Is there any updates to your trees that might give me hope? thanks Jack

Jack,
where are you located? A late season re-pot into a Gritty Mix has to be rough on a tree. Did you bare-root? That's an additional stress. If you didn't bare-root, also a real stress.

Did you keep the plant in the shade? Did you keep the mix evenly moist, especially in the upper layers during the transition period?

Josh

Hello Josh, I live in western Oregon and re-potted in early June because thats when I finally got all the parts of the mix. I did some miner root prune but not much. I soaked the mix for 24 hours prior to re-potting. I did the re-pot in the shade and sprayed the roots with water. I put the tree in shade for two weeks and only fertilized very weekly the first week. I watered the tree every other day to keep moist and soaked for an hour at the weak fertilizing. After the second week I placed the tree into the sun and fertilized with FP at full strength. At that time I also mixed in some oscomote plus with calcium. I also placed a wick at the bottom of the terracotta pot. Everything looked good until a week ago when the leaves started to droop then fall off. It has been windy here but I staked the tree so the roots would be stable. At the same time I re-potted a 7 month old key lime I grew from seed and it is doing fine. It went into the exact same mix and was treated in the exact same way, infact I pruned it more heavy removing much of the tap root. Like I said I read everything here that I could and I believe I did everything right.

Well, the tree will probably bounce back, re-growing leaves. How heavily are you fertilizing now, and at what frequency?

Josh

I think I solved the problem Josh. I took soil temp today with a meat thermometer and the key lime soil was 75 F and the Meyer lemon was only 55 F. I watered with warm water today and I might just have to bring the tree in at night to keep the pot warmer. I will let you know if this works.

Was there ever a resolution with Tilly as to what the issue was? I’ve used gritty mix for years. I just bought a meyer lemon and was thinking of using the gritty mix.

Also, what was the secret ingredient MeyerMike never told us!?!?