Hi everybody! None of you know me yet, but I feel like I already know most of you well from reading hundreds of posts over the past 2 weeks! Im in the Pittsburgh area (zone 6) and about 2 months ago bought 1 valencia, 1 lemon (type unknown) and 1 lime (type unknown) to spruce up my back porch which sees sun almost all day and then go into the sun room during the winter. IÂve done a fair amount of landscaping before but am new to citrus and container growing (I hear the container forum is pretty good and will be my next stop for reading). I stumbled across this forum looking for general information on upkeep of citrus and never imagined I would get so much information! IÂll tell you all where I started from (i.e. all the rookie mistakes I made) and what my plan is for the plants in the near futureÂ.

After getting the plants, I put them all in standard Miracle Gro potting soil (not even citrus/cactus soil!) and watered every few days if it wasnÂt raining. The more I read in this forum, I think the fact that all have been doing fairly well is pure luck due to a nice warm summer. The lemon and lime have been having some tremendous growth spurts. The Valencia is also a nice dark green and doesnÂt seem too unhappy (from my limited knowledge). From most peopleÂs experiences IÂve read, if I keep them like this over the winter, I would be looking for new trees and wondering what happened. While there are a few stories here and there of people getting lucky with straight potting soil, itÂs just pure luck if they thrive or not. It seems the best way to keep them happy and thriving is a soiless mix. Now for my action plan Â

Of the 3 primary mixes; 5-1-1, gritty and CHC, there is much debate over which works best but from what I hear, they can all work well. The CHC seems to be the most difficult/tricky to make with regards to soaking and getting the pH balance right but holds up well for a really long time. For someone new like me, I think IÂll hold off on the tricky mixes for now. The gritty mix looks to be pretty straightforward but still a little more involved to make with screening out or washing off the real fine particles. And finally, the 5-1-1, 5 parts bark, 1 part peat, 1 perlite and 1 tablespoon lime per gallon. This mix looks to be pretty easy to make, watering is more dummy proof and sounds overall like plants do well in it. Next time I repot, IÂll probably try the gritty mix on one or two and keep the 5-1-1 on the others and if I feel ambitious down the road maybe try the CHC.

IÂve spent most of the time here reading about different mixes and peopleÂs experiences with them since it seems to have the biggest impact on longevity and vitality. IÂve only just touched the topic of root pruning (which I previously never heard of). When I repot this time around, should I do any pruning? In general, how do you know when it needs pruning?

Any feedback or suggestions on other things I should be doing is greatly appreciated! This site is so great! If I hadnÂt of landed on it my trees might only last another month or two. Also, I ordered an Improved Meyer and should arrive in another week or so.

-Mike

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Valencia

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lemon

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lime

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all together