Yet another repoting question for Meyer Lemon

Discussion in 'Citrus' started by yatyat, Apr 4, 2009.

  1. yatyat

    yatyat Member

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    Hi all,

    I have been reading this forum for hours on end lately and have learned lots. I recently bought 2 little meyer lemon trees and the first one i repotted when i first got it with probably the wrong medium, i used regular potting soil mixed with sand. the 2nd tree I only got a few days ago and is still sitting in its black nursery pot, soil is moist.

    I just got some chc and coir from lee valley this morning and would like to repot the first tree again. here is what i bought:

    http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=1&p=56694&cat=2,51603&ap=2

    http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=1&p=59422&cat=2,51603&ap=1

    i am just about to soak the chc and have a few questions about the repoting, i really want to do it right:

    1) from reading millet's posts, i am going to soak the chc overnight, rinse it out with water and the soak it in again with epsom salt solution. i can't seem to find the post of how much epsom salt to use, could someone point me to the post again?

    2) i also read to use Calcium Nitrate in the same soak for chc but not sure where to get calcium nitrate ....

    3) do i need to treat the coir brick the same way as chc?

    4) the 4:1 ratio of chc/coir, is that by weight or volume? if its by volume, before soak or after soak?

    5) when repotting, millet mentioned to remove 1/2 to 1" of the original soil (it is now in a kind of sandy soil mix i think), is that 1/2 to 1" from the side, top and bottom? its about 5" in diameter and height.
    6) the pot i used is about 1.5" to 2" wider the original pot on each side (3-4" total), is that too big? the next side down is very similar to original size (maybe about 1/2" wider on each side, 1" total max). ok if i put it in the bigger pot?

    7) the 2nd tree that is still in its original pot, shall i repot it now or shall i wait? it has a few flowers now and quite a few little fruitlet ...

    8) i can't seem to find fertilizer in the 5-1-3 ratio here in vancouver (or nearby) but got some water soluble (is that the kind that i need? or shall i get slow release kind?) in 30-10-10. would that be ok? here is whats on the label:

    total Nitrogen 30%
    Available Phosphoric Acid 10%
    Soluble Potash 10%
    sulphur 2.3%
    Boron (b) (actual)0.02%
    Molybdenum (Mo) (actual) 0.0005%
    Copper (Cu) (actual) 0.05%
    Iron (Fe) (actual) 0.10%
    Maganese (Mn) (actual) 0.05%
    Zinc (Zn) (actual) 0.05%

    i also got an all purpose 24-8-16 Miracle Gro water soluble fertilizer with the following mineral:

    Boron (b) (actual) 0.02%
    Molybdenum (Mo) (actual) 0.0005%
    Copper (Cu) (actual) 0.07%
    Iron (Fe) (actual) 0.15%
    Maganese (Mn) (actual) 0.05%
    Zinc (Zn) (actual) 0.06%
    EDTA (Chelating Agent) (Minimum) 1.2%

    which one is better for the meyer lemon?

    thank you in advance.

    kay
     
  2. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    To answer your questions:

    1) Use 1 teaspoon of Epsom Salts per gallon in you soaking solution.

    2) If you can't find Calcium Nitrate don't worry about it. Just go ahead and soak using the Epsom Salts.

    3) Yes treat the coir in the same manner.

    4) I normally do it by volume. (4 hand fulls of CHC and one on coir, or peat moss)

    5) If a tree has been in a container for a long time, and has developed a full and tight root ball, removing an inch of the old medium greatly helps the tree to grow into the new medium. However, in your trees case, because the tree was recently re-potted, and therefore, the potting soil should still fall from the root system rather easily, it would be beneficial to remove all of the old medium, -- if you can do so without damaging the roots system.

    6) Your new pot if fine

    7) You can do either, If you are not all that experienced in transplanting into a larger container, it will probably do no harm to wait.

    8) You could use either formulation, but the 24-8-16 is the better fertilizer to use. Note: neither formulation contains magnesium (which is commonly not included). You will need to dissolve 1 tablespoon of Epsom Salts in a gallon of HOT WATER, and then apply the cooled solution to your tree every 3rd or 4th fertilizing.

    You will find some helpful information concerning pretreating CHC in the link shown below. Although the link talks about orchids, the procedure is the same for citrus.

    http://www.ladyslipper.com/coco3.htm

    The very best to you and your trees.
    Millet (1,385-)
     
  3. yatyat

    yatyat Member

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    thank millet,

    i just started soaking the coir (didn't do that one yesterday) and the chc is in epsom salt solution now. will do the repoting tomorrow afternoon.

    I didn't actually remove much of the original soil when i repot the tree last time, so i will try to do as much as i can tomorrow. tree is a bit dry now and i can see some dry roots on top of the soil but i dont think i will water before the repot.

    i have one last question, when you say stick your finger into the soil a few inches to determine whether watering is needed, would that now damage the roots?

    thanks again.
    kay
     
  4. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Do not worry about roots of you tree showing on top of the soil, this is very common and also good for the tree. It shows that the tree has not been planted to deep. One caution, if you transplant a tree that still has a large tight root ball into a fast draining medium, such as bark or CHC, every time you water, the water will tend to take the path of least resistance, and just run down the CHC on the container sides. You will need to be very cautions that the water also actually waters the original root ball, or water by soaking the entire tree in a larger container. Sticking your finger into the medium should not cause any damage to your tree, citrus roots do not have much in the way of fine root hairs. Therefore this also make transplanting citrus safer than most other types of trees. Sometimes it is much easer to remove the outer inch of soil from the original root ball by moving it up and down in a large bucket of warm water. Whatever, you decide to do, do it slowly, and insure that you do as little damage, if any, to the trees root system. - Millet (1,386-)
     
  5. yatyat

    yatyat Member

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    thanks again millet,

    thanks for the headsup about water running down chc as well and good tip about removing outer soil by dipping it in water, it sounds like a much gentler approach.

    should i actually not cover the top of the root ball with the mix since you said its good to have a bit of the roots exposed?

    hopefully it will go well tomorrow and i dont have to bug you more ...

    kay
     
  6. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    No need to cover the exposed roots. - Millet (1,384-)
     
  7. yatyat

    yatyat Member

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    thanks millet,

    i ended up repotting both trees, the first one was a lot harder than the 2nd because the soil and roots were very compacted. i had the whole root ball with old soil submerged in water and tried to loosen up the ball as gently as i could, i did remove most of the original soil (together with quite a bit of the thiner roots) because i was worried that it would have bad drainage because it was so packed together. the 2nd tree was a lot easier for some reason, a lot less fine roots and when i wiggled my fingers in to loosen the soil, the whole thing just came loose and the roots were only on the outside of the ball creating pretty much a big hollow in the centre. i put both of the trees in smaller pots than the one i used for the first tree last time since i lost quite a bit of the roots and soil from the first tree, the root ball wasn't very big anymore and the 2nd tree just didn't have a lot of roots.

    when i watered with fertilizer afterwards though, the water just came pouring out from the holes, perhaps my chc is coarser than what i should've used? i used the medium size (i think about 1/2").

    i hope i didn't stress them out too much with the repotting ...
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2009
  8. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    When you are growing in a fast draining medium such as bark or CHC you do not have to worry about over watering. You can water the tree every single day if you wish. You cannot over water a tree in a CHC medium. If your medium is draining to rapidly, then water (with or without fertilizer) by soaking the entire container in a larger bucket of solution for about 2 or 3 minutes. Soaking in a larger bucket should not be difficult, as the tree in a CHC medium should not weight very much. Depending on how many of the small roots were broken off the root system, you might see some leaf curl. If you do then put the tree in a bright light area, but out of the direct rays of the sun. I would water and fertilize the tree by soaking until the tree has time to adjust. Good luck to you and your trees. - Millet (1,384-)
     
  9. yatyat

    yatyat Member

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    i will water by soaking next time. with chc as medium, shall i still wait till it feels dry a few inches down or shall i water a little more often? i did break off quite a bit of the fine roots, so far the trees don't look much different but time will tell.

    thanks again millet, you have been so generous with your knowledge and time.

    kay
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2009
  10. ddwisema

    ddwisema Member

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    Got an additional questions after I have been researching this thead topic:

    Should the Coir be treated separately, since I know the CHS is rinsed 3 times, does the coir need to be srinsed 3 times also to remove deposits also? I got both from the Crystal Company in St. Louis.

    My second question is this, the calcium nitrate is in small granuals, and does not seem to dissolve like the ipsum salts do. It stays on the bottom of my warm water, is this none dissolving okay?

    Lastly, can I keep the left over soak water that has the empsom salts and calcium nitrate and use it to water my meyers lemon tree in later waterings?
     

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