Hello

Before you get bombarded with use this soil or that soil, because it will happen here sooner or later, Im just going to say, yes there are better options than what you have used. Thats not to say that what you did was wrong or bad.
What happens is some people will try and tell you that this mix or that mix is better for your plants but not truly understand the conditions that your plants or trees will be exposed to. For me I cant use the gritty mix. It dries out way to fast for me in the summer and my plants are in BIG pots. My back is not good enough to move 100 pound plus pots. So I need to go with something that acts like the gritty but doesnt weigh as much, holds a bit more water, and doesnt break the bank to buy. I use a product called Hapi-gro landscapers mix and I add perlite to it.

Some of my friends from south texas grow some of the most beautiful plumeria in straight Miracle Grow. could someone up north pull that off, I doubt it. What Im getting at is your soil choice needs to match up with your area. Where are you from?

On to the food. Yes the bags say that but you really cannot depend on that. You need to be feeding your tree much more because of being in a container and the fact that citrus are generally very hungry plants. that in itself is a highly debated topic. I feed my trees once a week during the summer with Foliage pro at half the recommended dosages. I also supplement with a slow release product.
Foliage pro is 9-3-6 with minors. Most people do generally agree that the 3-1-2 ratio is about right for our trees but they do benefit from a bit more Nitrogen.

mike

Here is my feelings on soil choice...

Use anything you want if your heart desires...

But, but if you choose to use one where the mix consists of too many fine particles....It will fail you no matter what the conditions and no matter where you live if you are not cautious...

Mixes with finer particles will break down very rapidly and loose their structure within months if not weeks suffocating your root systems while at the same time hold to much water, even more so than when you started with ths fresh mix leading to root rot especially on citrus..
It will eventually harbor fungus gnats and will host a bunch of other pests that will attack a weakend tree from poor root function, as aslo along with inhibit good nutritional uptake..
Therefore the reason why many of us use these very porous mixes..Just an FYI...

If you plan on repotting frequently, like every few weeks or months, then you might get away with it..Just beware of the down size of fine particle mixes....

Hello Mike......Good to see you:-)

Mike

This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Mon, Oct 7, 13 at 16:26

Hey Mike. Good points as usual.

Hope you and your trees are doing great. Its about time for the big move soon. We had a few 40 degree nights over the weekend.

mike

If you would like to read and see what I used for soil and equipment that worked well click on the link below. It will take you to a discussion on how to grow the hardest of citrus on own root. Short write ups and mostly pictures. I am adding to it with newer proven ideas.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg0320572518736.html

Thanks Mike and everyone that answered, I'm from Perth, Western Australia. It's spring, but weather is strange for this time of the year. I don't think I'm going to re-pot at this stage. It was quit a feat as is. But if you know of anything that I could add I would be grateful. I live near the coast and not much soil to speak of, so buying bags is the only option.

Why not plant out side in the ground in a raised bed. I am using an upside down sawed-off trash can for my blueberry plants. I also grew 3 sweetlee tangerine trees in bottomless containers. They work very well..

Steve

Well you could do what many others do..That is what I meant by being careful about how you use a mix like that..

Do you have access to perlite by the way?
What does that soil consist of?
How much peat? How much bark?
Can you take a picture of it?

Let me know then I will give you a few ideas..

MIke