Well, even in our S. California climate, planting a citrus tree in straight bagged soil is probably going to give you too dense a potting soil. I don't. I use 3 parts bagged mix (I prefer to use MiracleGro Vegetable Soil), 1 part small bark chips and 1 part perlite. A much better draining potting medium which will prevent root rot. You really don't have a "good drainage situation" with a straight bagged potting mix, believe it or not. You want to check to make sure the bottom of the pot to make sure it is not soggy. I watch my potted trees for signs of getting dry (leaf cupping), then water well so the water runs through the bottom of the pot. For you, watering every 2 to 3 days may be too much water, based on your very dense potting medium. I use Osmocote Plus (MUST be the "Plus" formulation) every 6 months, and about once a month I fertilize with full strength Dyna Gro Foliage Pro. And, of course, treat for Citrus Leafminer appropriately, as we have very heavy pest pressure in S. California.

Patty S.

Ok, I am actually a soil formulated for citrus, which is not dense at all plus a small amount of potting soil mix. So far so good, so I will keep an eye out for my leaves and try the fertilizers you recommended, thanks for the tip.

I agree with houserquit's advice. If it takes 5 to 10 minutes after you pour water into the top of the container to finally reach the bottom of the container, your container does not have good enough drainage for a citrus tree. Trouble will soon follow. -S-

Divine, I know that you think it is not dense, but it is. And adding potting mix, which is basically just peat, will make this mix even more dense. It will compact and will eventually cause water to accumulate in the bottom half of your pot, suffocating (drowning) your roots. Trust me, been doing this for a while, now :-) Silica is correct, so am I, so are the other several very successful container citrus growers on this forum. I wouldn't bother mixing my custom potting mix this way, if I didn't need to. And, it is quite warm where I live (Vista, N. San Diego county, about 7 miles inland), with little to no rain, and I still need to do this to prevent root rot. If I could have it easy, and just dump a bag of potting mix into my pot, I would. But, this eventually spells disaster in compacted and collapsed mix, and the death of my precious citrus tree. Since I grow a lot of rarer cultivars in containers, I consider it cheap insurance.

You're welcome to do what you want, and ignore the advice of experienced container growers (and Silica is being very modest, he has the most fantastic greenhouse, and grows some of the most amazing things in a very inhospitable climate).

I wish you luck, but I expect in a while, you'll see issues, so you can save this thread for future use, when you see your tree starting to do poorly. It will manifest itself in appearing to be under-fertilizing, then drooping, dropping leaves and overall failure. Those will be your signs of root rot. That, and a very wet bottom half of the pot with very stinky rotten roots.

Patty S.