Need help with large pot

10 years ago

My 3 year old Meyer lemon has been growing in a 12 inch pot for over a year and I saw small roots peeking out of the bottom so i decided to repot. I got a larger 20 inch pot and pruned the roots. The soil was a sphagnum peat, perlite, pine bark mix which I mixed with 4 parts pine bark mulch. To me the soil is like a slightly chunkier version of Fafard nursery mix which I have used in the past, but isn't sold where I live now. Everything went smoothly, and I watered the soil thoroughly. The problem is that the pot still has a slight, but consistent trickle of water almost a day later. I have never seen anything like this especially given that this is the closest to 511 that I have been.

Is it possible the single 1/2 inch drainage hole is to blame? In that case I could drill more holes, but I have heard it shouldn't matter. I could also try wicking material, but am not sure how that will work on a pot directly on 3rd floor concrete balcony. I am really concerned about water retention and just have never seen anything quite like this. Most soils I have seen drain in minutes, or hours at the longest, never a full day.

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Comments (5)

Nil13 usda:10a sunset:21 LA,CA (Mount Wash.)
10 years ago
1/2" is an awfully small drain hole for a 20" pot. It could easily get clogged by a huge chunk of bark and prevent the pot from draining. Then you would basically have a bucket with a slow leak.
User thanked Nil13 usda:10a sunset:21 LA,CA (Mount Wash.)
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Original Author
10 years ago
That's what I was afraid of. I am going to make some more holes tomorrow and hope that it helps with the drainage. At this point it has been over 24 hours that it has been "draining". Hopefully the roots are high enough that it won't bother the tree too much.
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jane__ny
10 years ago
Is it a 12" pot or 20" pot?

You could raise the pot on one of those plastic saucers with wheels. It gets it above the ground and helps to drain better.

Jane
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
OP has repotted into 20" pot (..."I got a larger 20 inch pot and pruned the roots"...)

livetaswim

Using 4 parts pine bark mulch could made your mix too water retentive - sometimes it is very decomposted. And amount of perlite in the mix you used as 1 part is probably very small. Combined with small drainage hole could be the problem. If that's the case (too water retentive), 20" pot takes lots of soil and will take very long time to drain.
User thanked rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
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Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Yeah I am nervous about water retention as well. I know the proper 511 mix requires frequent watering due to being extremely fast mix. My mix is drying out as of today, and that includes the storms which dumped a ton of rain in the pot on Thursday last week. This is still some dampness, but I think this is better than the mix I had in the past. I am drilling extra holes this week and will check how the bottom of the soil feels. If it is too water retentive, I might need to replant soon.

For those people who root pruned and replanted into a potentially bad mix. How long would you wait to repot again? I don't want to kill the tree. On a side note the tree seems to be doing well, there are new leaves and the fruit is still on the branches. I am a little concerned that it is flowering again though.

Is there a threshold to test water retentive abilities? I think filling a small pot with a sample of the soil, fully saturating with water and then weighing would be a baseline. Then you could test in 4, 8, 12, 24 hours how much water retained. The only question is what the ideal amount of retention should be?