Sorry to post this here wasn't sure how to contact you, I am also growing citrus in MN and noticed you on this forum. Wondering if you want to sell off some of the CHC material you have since I am basically in the same boat you were regarding volume purchase.... my email address is in my profile... Albert
How much CHC are you looking for, and what size chips? I purchase CHC in very large amounts. - Millet
Thanks for the offer Millet! I guess I am not sure, but I bet you can help me figure that out if you woud not mind :-) I am building a 16'Wx16'L solar greenhouse in Minneapolis to host my tropical/citrus hobby. In the meantime, I want to convert all my trees and plants to chc and root pruining containers. right now I have (6) trees in 5gal and (8) in 3gal containers. I also want to try my normal veggie/flowers in a 16"widex16' long x 16" deep planting box (actually, it is a series of compartmentalized16X16X16 cubes within a bench frame... I do not have any experience with this media, so have absolutely no idea how much I need. Do you thing you could ball park it? Thanks! Albert
By the way Millet, I know you are a very busy person, but I would love sometime to get your feedback on my greenhouse plans. Colorado is pretty chillly too, and I bet you figured out a lot of practical heating tricks! Albert
In total you wish to transplant 14 containers for a total of 54 gallons. The amount of CHC you will require is more than enough to purchase directly from The Crystal Company. The Crystal Company is located in Saint Louis, 1-800-845-4777 or (314)-966-5999. Their web site is, web@crystal-company.com. They sell all three sizes of CHC chips (1/4", 1/2", 3/4") in 2cubic foot highly compressed bales. When the bale is opened the compression ratio is 3.5:1. I find it interesting you know about CHC and air root pruning containers for citrus tree growing. Guess you have been reading this or the other citrus forum for a while. You will probably need to purchase 2 or three compressed bales from Crystal Company. Their price is $23.00 per bale and you pay the freight. - Millet
Thanks Millet! do you have any thoughts sorrounding the blending of varous sized chips and coco fibre strands/coir? I hate to add peat since it might compress over time in clumps, or filter through to the bottom (ans stay wet!), or some combination of the two...I'm I correct in this assessment?
You can use either coir or peatmoss with your CHC. I have used both. Also when using a proper CHC medium you do not have to worry much about the medium staying "too" wet. Wet growth mediums do cause much trouble to citrus roots, but actually it is not the "wet" that causes the problem, it is the lack of available oxygen to the roots, that causes the problem. A CHC growth medium supplies plenty of water, (CHC hold up to seven times it weight in water,) *BUT* a proper formulated CHC medium also provides very good root aeration at the same time. I have used many variations of CHC formulas, but have settled on 4 parts CHC 1/2 inch to one part peat moss (or coir). To this medium I add STEM (Soluble Trace Element Mix), Dolomite (only if you water supply contains less than 40-PPM calcium), and Osmocote slow release fertilizer. The size of CHC chips that you use depends on the size of the tree that you are planting. With newly transplanted seedlings you might want to use 1/4 inch chips. In you solar greenhouse you might be able to plant a smaller type of citrus tree directly in the ground, such as a mandarin that is grafted onto a flying dragon rootstock. I have two citrus trees presently planted in the ground in my greenhouse (Marisol Clementine and a Cara Cara Navel Orange), and am just about to plant a Silver Hills Satsuma in the soil, plus other tropicals fruits. You might also think about planting a Papaya in the ground also. Papaya's will produce fruit from a planted seed in one year's time. - Millet
Gosh I'm soooo sorry. I didn't even see this post for some reason. If I'm not too late to help, which I'm sure I am, let me know. My apologies for not responding. I've got a TON of CH.
I'm expecting to get a dwarf meyer lemon later in the month and I'd be interested in purchasing CaNo3, CHCs and possibly other supplies if anybody would like to offload them. I could buy and print a shipping label from usps and mail that along with the payment you'd want for the supplies themselves. Maybe it's because I'm new, but I don't seem to be able to PM just yet. My email's in my "about me". Thanks Millet et al for all the fantastic info and advice!
For one dwarf meyer you shouldn't need a whole lot of CHCs (or anything else for that matter). Once your PM starts working, drop me a note. If you pay shipping, I'll just give you the supplies.
Thanks, MattB000 for the kind offer. I'll get in touch when I know what I need, and if you would happen to need Garden Dust or Bonide copper fungicide (48%) or other things I have lying around, you'd be welcome to them . Fwiw, when I try to PM, I'm getting "agrushin, you do not have permission to access this page."
