I can't give you a visual but I will tell you what I do. I use a bamboo pole and push it until it hits the bottom of the pot. I take it out and touch it to my face. If I feel moisture I withold watering, if not I water just enough for water to completly run thru the drainage holes of the pot. If you do it that way, you should be fine. Works well for me. No guess work on soil moisture.
Andrew

My soil is a 'soil-less' mix, made up of 1 part pine bark, .7 part napa floor dry, 1.3 part cherrystone #2 (all screened with bug screen). It allows me to water every other day. What kind of soil are you trying to grow in? What exactly is your grow light set-up? Fertilizing program? Humidity and temp? Lets start with those.

I will post what a good soilless mix should look like for you.

Also, until you get a feel for how to water your plants, why don't you run to HD or another hardware store and buy a wooden dowel..Test the moisture in your soil with one the thickness of about a pencil. Sharpen the tip to make it easy to push into the mix...Stick it way into the root zone, to the bottom of the pot and pull it out. If you see if there is dampness on the stick, do not water until you can repeat this process, until the stick comes out dry..

This cheap instrument will be the best investment for your trees that you can buy, tust me. 90% of the time when I think my plants are thirsty, or containers are dry, my dowels tell me otherwise..

As for the watering, rain water is all I use, unless they are outdoors and I am having a dry spell, then I use the hose water..

The soilless mix you use will be one that is going to work for you, and your cultural practices...

I use 1 part bark, one part crushed granite, and one part turface..One part of each works well for me..If I used as much floor dry as you do, my pots would take forever to dry out..

Look for some pics here of my soilless mix by tomorrow..:-)

Mike

Mike,
I am glad to know you do the saqme. I learned that years ago at an orchid show in Erie county conservatory. The best piece of advise I ever learned! I met an orchid grower who gave me some great advice. So far the soil seems to be drying fast. I think i will need to water tommorrow but I am going to do the bamboo test. Pencil would be way to short. I am really enjoying the fragrance from the one flower!
Andrew

Andrew..lol

The same thickness as a pencil, not a pencil or length of one//:-)

Whoa, I never expected this many replies so fast. Thank you every one.

When you are using the stick to test moisture, do you let it "soak" in the soil or just dip it in then immediately pull it out? Thanks for the advice on the soil mixes too. Since I have three plants coming, I think I'll try each mix on separate plants. Maybe I'll be able to spot which mix works best for me before losing any of them.

As for my growing environment...
The soil I used for the first citrus was Miracle Grow Cactus and Citrus mix. Since I was afraid of causing more harm than good with the last two, I just left them in the pot they shipped in. I have no idea what soil they shipped with, but it sure looked like the same mix - just without plant food. The actual orange branch on all three plants was maybe 2-4 inches long. However, the rootstock on the last two was around 6 inches tall. With the plants nowhere near fruit bearing size, I figured I didn't need to worry about fertilizing just yet. I'm sure most of you would cringe at my grow lights. They are just a few 13W "energy efficient" full spectrum bulbs - the kind used in modern home lighting to treat SADS - jury rigged to a timer. It seems to work though. I have been able to grow opunta cactii, coffee, allspice, and vanilla among other things. For my smaller plants that need more humidity, I just place the bulbs at the top of my terrarium and use the timer to dial in the amount of light required. I don't have a humidity gauge, so I can't provide specific measurements, but I try to maintain my terrarium at a humidity similar to the feel of a local summer day. I haven't been able to confirm this with any records, but if I recall correctly, our summers are usually at 50-60% - maybe as high as 70%. I keep the temperature at 65 to 75 deg F in the winter. In the summer, temperatures might spike to 90 or 95 deg F.

I've not had so much trouble learning to care for my other plants because I always had more of a grace period to figure out what I was doing. With the citrus, it goes from healthy to dead in the space of a week and I never have enough time to observe the results of whatever change I try to make.

Hi Dazed,

Below I posted a couple pictures of the soilless mixes I use as promised..It is very porous, light, allows for good gas exchange at each watering, and does not compact to suffocate roots.I notice my plants are more robust, and stay very healthy, even in winter as seen by the bottom picture taken of my "blood "orange" small tree that put out 8 full size eating fruit..

The first one is a 1.1.1 mix, the second a 5.1.1 mix

All soilless mixes in containers must allow the roots to breathe freely, spread uninhibited, and allow the soil to get a good flush at every watering.That is just a tip of the iceberg...:-)

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Here is a couple of pics taken of the same orange tree. One in fall loaded with fruit. And a recent picture still doing well through this horrible winter without added light..Just sunlight..It is in the a soilless 5.1.1 mix..This works for me and many others..

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Just a side point........

As you know, Gardenia can be one of the hardest plants to care for indoors for us northerners....This is mine at the end of this winter still fully green..Take a trip to the fragrant forums and see how many problems these plants can pose if not in a good soilless mix..:-) Citrus are by far easier to care for..

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I just noticed your post..!!!!

You stick the stick right in and out as if testing for moisture in a cake with a tooth pick..

I have a couple of comments about the about the MG mix based on my experiences....All i know is that "I" can't keep anything alive in that stuff after it becomes exhausted within months if not weeks.. Not to say too that, I can't leave my plants outdoors if it rains for more than a couple days at time..My plants would rot in that stuff and they have. I have also had to deal with billions of "fungus gnats" prior to my mixes that I choose not to see ever again..lol ...Mixing in perlite does nothing either..It does not open the soil and make it more porous, nor change it's structure..It is like adding marbles to mud, it is still mud..

What ever the case, there are many here with great ideas for a good soilless mix, and I bet you will come up with a good one with everyone's input that works just for you and your plants..;-)

Mike,
That orange tree is a blood orange? Does the peel turn red for you? I really am surprised about the MG soil. It must vary for everyone. My blood orange and my keylime has been in a mix of 2 MG soils and my keylime is growing very well and about to bloom yet again. Too bad there is no fragrance though! I leave my citrus outdoors all summer. It has rained for days at a time and the citrus(so far, hope I don't jinx myself!)have never had a poor reaction to wet feet. Maybe the rootballs are large enough to absorb the water, or maybe the plastic pots heat up fast enough to help dry the soil? All I know is most summer days I have to water, unless we have a good rain. That is my biggest concern when going away on vacation. Last summer both blood orange and keylime wanted water almost daily. Now I hope I can have the same luck with my meyer!
Andrew

Dazed, are you new growing citrus??? After a while, you won't need a probe, or any instrument to test soil.
It comes naturally.

A probe is one way to tell whether or not soil needs a drink. And no need to invest in an expensive tool. I've used probes as small as tooth picks, to pencils to curtain rods..lol.. depending on size of pot.

Another way to test is by lifting the pot..if it's heavy, 'even if the top looks dry', you can bet the soil is moist from the midway point to the bottom. If light in weight, soil is dry.
This method is best achieved after a thorough watering. Afterwards, 'when water seeps out of drainage holes,' lift the pot. You'll have some idea of its weight when soil is wet.
Don't lift if you're using a self-watering, ceramic pot, unless you're Arnold Swhwarzenegger. (before politics, lol)
After time, you'll get the hang of it..Toni

Could be too Andrew that your roots have filled the container to the point that even pure dirt would not stay wet for long in a tight pot. Once some of my tomatoes by summers end have filled the containers that were planted in compost and dirt, I find myself watering everyday come July...

I try not to keep my citrus and most houseplants confined in a pot that does not allow for rapid growth and a much more vigorous plants..The soilless mix I use allows me this..Not MG.. I have to use a different mix, one that is porous and drains well, and does not decompose and compact withing weeks, so the soil that the roots have not coloniged yet drys out rapidly..

Mike.;-)

Thank you for the pictures. Congratulations on your healthy plants too.

And yes, those fungus gnats are really annoying. Aside from having dozens of gnats in the house from spring to fall, I have lost more cacti to them than I care to count. They burrow into the cactus and eat it from the inside out. Even when the soil is dry and inhospitable, once they get started they seem to thrive on the cactus' own moisture. I never payed much attention to soiless mixes, but you have just convinced me to give them a try.

I found a nice big bag of pine bark, but I'm having trouble sourcing the granite and turface. Local retailers don't carry them. I can buy it online, but I haven't found reasonable prices. Shipping costs don't help either.

I have seen that granite and oyster shells are used interchangeably in chicken feed. Could I use oyster shells or would the calcium/possible salt contaminates hurt the plant?

The other alternative I have been wondering about is pebbles from a creek bank. I'm no geologist, so I don't know what other pebbles are in the creek, but there is definitely granite and quarts pebbles here. Do you think this would work? The underwater stuff has been polished smooth but along the banks there is some more porous irregular shaped bits and I can screen out the fine grain sandy junk. If it would work, I would much rather spend a few minutes harvesting this stuff than pay $20+ per bag.

Hi Dazed..

I am going to recommend that you ask these qestions over at the container forums, since many there have been in the same boat as you..

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/contain/

I have never used any of the substitutes you are considering, so I do not have the experience or ability to answer that..I have never had a problem finding the ingredients I use, and I am sure there is a way around it. There have been many that have fallen into the same situation as you, and have tried these things..Give it a shot..

There are many ways to make a great soilless mix and many ideas to do so..

There is no info on where you live or what kind of climate you grow in..But for me, who has to keep mine indoors most of the year, and outdoors for summer, where it can rain for days on end, I have to use the soilless mix I use.

Just ideas..

But I also use a 5.1.1 mix. I buy a good quality "farfard nursery mix" which is mostly bark, a bit of peat and perlite..

You could also make your own, mixing 5 parts bark, one part peat, and one part perlite, which I think all ingredients can be found at a HD or some other box store..:-)

For me the less peat, if any at all, and the bigger the particle sizes, the better, and for me, my plants thrive without the pests..Maybe someone else here can give a suggestion and how to use a very peaty mix? Or a different version of what I am suggesting? One that will attract no bugs, hold it's structure, drain very well, staying evenly moist throughout, and not compact in a short period of time suffocating the roots and blocking air space for thenm to breathe? One that will not retain water to long for your area?

I highly suggest you take a look at the containers forums though..:-)

Mike..:-)

Hey dazed,
I found the turface on ebay for really cheap. I wanna say $5.00, but I can't remember how much the weight was.
Mike,
I just got your email and sent a reply. I like your idea on the 5.1.1 mix. I agree about the importance of having a mix that drains fast. I was amazed at how well the water ran thru my Meyer lemon, and amazed that it required 2.4 gallons of water! I am going to have to get a mix here soon for summer so I can repot. I know you (and others) probobly think I fell off my rocker(LOL!) but I actually want it to grow larger, so I am trying to find a pot at least 2x the size of the current pot. That will be a lot of soiless mix!
Andrew