I think it may be the potting soil. Was it peat moss or soil? That could make a difference.

Peat moss but contains black earth ...

I just use plain peat moss, but I don't know enough to give you a good opinion. Hopefully others will chime in. I can tell you that my 5-1-1 does retain some moisture, but it drains freely. I can water with my hose going at a good flow, and it does not bubble over...kwim?

The soil will cause the mix to be more water retentive than if you had used peat moss. Also, one hole in the pot may not allow sufficient drainage. If possible, prepare a new mix with peat moss this time and repot into a plastic pot with a number of holes drilled through the bottom. Soak the repti-bark separatly from the other ingredients before combining all the ingredients. Do not forget to add the lime and to moisten the mix and let the mix age for a couple of days prior to use.

You mix is fine. Your tree should come out in a month or two. Pictures of your pot and plant would help

Ok i will post pictures this evening

Steve, Yan said that his mix is "muddy" so his mix is not fine which is why I suggested that he not use the potting soil.

Yes, post pics. Something isn't right.

Josh

Your mix looks OK to me. Tree still has some leaves, which is a good sign. Be patient and do not water too frequently.

typical citrus bucket with 400+ hole in perimeter and 300+ holes in bottom. Lots of air transfer in still air or wind and no soggy soil anywhere.

In 5-1-1 whether the 1 is in peat moss or potting soil is meaningless as long as your potting soil has no wetting agents

The tree above out grew its bucket and is in ground outside

Vladimir - Ok then maybe it's just that i am not used to that kind of mix.. I didnt think it would retain moisture for a longer time than my usual mix though.. And I find it looks kind of wet all the time when I dig the soil ... I decided to try 5-1-1 for the durability of the mix since mine probably won't last as long...

poncirus - that seems to be a nice setup for optimal conditions! I couldnt imagine planting in buckets like that though .. I dont have a yard so my trees are on my balcony for summer and are in my living room for about half year (oct-nov to may) so I need something quite esthetic.. Haha

I have to admit that when I move my trees I just grab 2 handles in one hand and 3 handles in the other hand and I can move 8 trees in just 2 trips. Makes for an ugly situation where the plants land

Yan, expect that you will be watering about every 5 days or so.

This is how to check to see if the tree
needs watering: Insert a sharpened 1/8” or ¼ wooden dowel or shish kabob skewer
hallway between the trunk and sidewall of the container and all the way down to
the bottom. Pull it out and see if there are particles adhering to it. If there
are, then do not water.

Jack - that's Interesting about the oxygen for the roots

what would be the purpose of protecting it from the sun if it was already acclimatized ?

Honestly, I don't think your mix looks good at all...Sorry( It;s really dark or is that your camera?

It looks too dark and as if it has already started to rot. Are you sure it was repti-bark you used, the small size?

You have to be careful with using soil because it will just wash past the bark and sink into your pot keeping it wet all the time. Did you even moisten your mix before using it and mix it well? Did you fill between all the roots with the new mix and at any time did you expose the roots to the air for too long of a period of time?

Hi mikerno

yes i used the small sized reptibark

but tonight I found the culprit.

Ive read a lot on container growing and before I used to put rocks at the bottom of my pots until I read that this could cause a perched water table.

Since then I was putting some kind of screening tape of about 1/4inch holes over my drain holes which I had read was a good idea and had no problem with this with my previous mix. But As I watered my tree today I noticed the water didnt drained and that screen was clogged so I just putted my finger in to push it aside and I think that solved the problem.

But you are right , my mix probably began to rot a little bit ... So what should I do now .. Do you think things will solve themselves with the drainage problem solved or should I do a full repot once again with fresh mix ?

I just mixed the dry mix and filled the pot all between the roots and then sank the entire pot in water to moisten .. I know maybe I should have moisten the mix before filling the pot

At the beginning water was draining well though

I agree with Mike. I wonder if there is too much fine material. I don't have experience with citrus but my 511 looks a little different.

511 will still have pw but the higher the percentage of fine material, the higher the pw table. I honestly have started using turface instead of peat and sift all material with a 1/16 kitchen strainer.

If you use potting soil you may want to sift your potting mix with a kitchen strainer and discard any tha passes through. It maybe tedious but I think your plant will benefit in the end.

Here's a thread that might be beneficial. Questions about 511

Mike and Vance, are you suggesting that Yan re-pot the tree now again?

If Yan thinks rot is happening then I believe the tree needs to be repotted. that soil looks too soggy.

Yup, looks like re pot should be in full swing with a much fresher mix. It still not too late. I would make sure that when you do make your mix, use peat moss. If not peat moss the 'turface' like Vance and I do...If you use 'soil' of any kind, it will slide past all your bark and sit into the bottom of your containers clogging everything up and your perched water along with rot will be where all the soil settled..

The reason why you should wet your mix before you use it is so that the peat or 'turface' will adhere to the bark and stay that way even if you should water over and over again. It will not fall to the bottom while just the bark stays near the surface which is a mistake many make.

Also too, make sure your bark sizes are very small, sift the through a 1/2 screen to allow only the small pieces to fall through. If you are using decomposed pine bark like I use, I still do the same.

Vance, thanks for that link. Damonkey's comments were helpful to me regard pwt and needing to assure that particles are not too small. That is why I got this set of screens. I've been more worried about those tiny particles settling, as described by Al on the container forum, creating the pwt. Thanks to all for your contributions on this thread as it has helped me to realize I'm maybe on the right track.

Unfortunately, it is hard to know what is going on inside the pots without repotting and, although it seems a waste of time and expensive materials to repot, I feel better refreshing/repotting and the plants seem to react well. Despite so many "experts" selling garden materials advocating that we use that old school strata method of rocks in the bottom of the pot, I find the advice here and Al's to be truly the way to go.

Suzuchan, you are on the right track!

Nice suzuchan, I'm glad I could help. I have that set of screens as well you should be able to use the largest and the smallest screen with no problem. The largest screen is .333" which isn't much smaller than the .375" that Al recommends. The smallest screen is .125" which is just a little larger than the .1" that Al said would hold PW. You should have no problem with PW just using those two screens.

Thanks for the feedback Vance and Vladimir!