by the looks of all the healthy plants you have, I am sure he will be fine and well cared for.

Thanks Ubro!!

You might put in the shade for a day or two. I usely use a hard spray to get some soil towards the center.

Thanks Bob! It is already back inside under lights. I can point them a little away if you think it will help.

Laura, FANTASTIC job! I am so impressed and such a fine looking mix, love the color..I would pay you to make me batches to save me work...)

How do you make sure that mix really fills in around those tight roots within the root ball? Do you have a method you want to share with others here...? Seems that Persimmombob uses a very strong jet of water to do so like I do..I also use a chop stick and push in between the roots..)

Thanks Mike! I usually will hold it further down than it needs to be and add mix, then I gradually and gently pull up and the mix collapses into the spaces. That said, I think it works, but I can't be sure. I then water very thoroughly and gently press down. I think I got most of fine mix off, but I did not rinse out the roots. I did not want to shock him any more. I'll let you guys know how he fares in the coming days/weeks.

I don't think it was just a watering issue because, as you said, the nursery mix was on the dry side while the 5-1-1 was very wet. The problem with not doing a complete bare root, and I think Al Talpa has mentioned this, is that the plant is reluctant to send roots out into the new medium, which is what you (and I) have observed. I have had a similar experience recently where I left too much of the nursery mix in the root ball which resulted in a dry root ball and wet 5-1-1 mix.

Yep, you (and Al) are right Vladimir. Although, there were roots in the 5-1-1, they just got ripped off when I pulled it out. There were not many though. I can say that the 5-1-1 was much wetter than the mix it came in. Would that be because that is where the majority of the roots were located?

My guess is that, as in my case, the nursery mix was pretty sandy and so did not hold as much water as the 5-1-1 mix. In fact, the 5-1-1 may have acted as a sponge and may have drawn water out of the sandy soil in the root ball.

That's possible Vladimir. In the summer it was not an issue I guess since I was watering profusely with the hose. Indoor conditions seem to amplify issues.

Hope your tree will get better!

I was afraid to do a complete bare root on my kumquat and calamondin and the trees suffered because of the residual nursery soil in the root ball. I know that removing all of the nursery soil is a drastic step but I believe it must be done.

Thank you Season! :-). Vladimir, I did not rinse the roots bc the water is soooo cold now and I did not want to shock it any more this time of year. Although I guess technically i did not bare root, the roots were almost totally bare....i even shook it out!

This time of year I fill a five gallon pail with luke warm water and dunk the tree in it up and down a lot.

Yes Mike, agreed. I wish I could remember which trees I did actually bare root in summer. I have no idea which. I can say though that the others show no signs of stress like that kumquat did, so hopefully they will hold out till Spring. I WILL do the same thing to the other two kumquats I have from the same grower come spring. They seem fine now though, thankfully. Like I said, although I did not wash the roots, I really did shake them out incredibly well. As you can see from the pic, there is not much dirt left on them at all. I dug in with my clippers and broke up clumps where the old mix was until I reached the middle. I did it on all sides of the root ball, so I am pretty comfortable that most of it came out. I will check on the moisture for sure in the coming days/weeks.

Let me first say that this Citrus forum has more interesting things going compared to the rest of GW. I am guessing that citrus is so temperamental and at same time the reward is so "Heavenly" that it is so worth it. I have a few. Nothing like what you folks have.

Laura: That mix you made is wonderful. And that repot pictures is just so refreshing. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is far more refreshing for that beautiful plant. You look so happy too.

I am going to make an attempt to explain why it is a bad idea to have the old soil when you repot - something that Mike just suggested above. The problem is that 511 or gritty will drain very fast. So when you are watering, the water finds the easiest way to get to the bottom. 511 or gritty or any mix that drains well gives the water a shortcut. That water has no chance to "wet" the old mix. Over time the inner mix dries up and becomes more hydrophobic (because of peat in it). It repels water more and eventually you are left with a inner dry core and an outer wet 511 mix. The roots are confused as hell. They are busy dealing with drying core and die and have no chance to produce roots to take advantage of the better outer soil mix.

Now I have done my fair share of repot like this. I still do it in an emergency. But I would water bottom up in this situation. That is dunk them first in a tub and saturate them for half an hr. Then I would water again from top as usual and drain the excess well. In my mind, that is the only way to make sure that such a repot works for the plant.

I have to run off now but I will try to post how to repot without dragging the stem up (which I think damages fine roots) and make sure you have no air pockets.

Great job, Laura. I am learning so much from all of you. Thank you all on this forum for your time and knowledge.

Oops. Laura I see you did a bare root. In that case normal watering from top should work equally well. The first couple of times I would still make sure it is well saturated and then drained well. Keep in the warmest spot and bright light to help out the roots. Inside I do not think we can provide too bright light to stress out the plant.

I'm glad my examples have helped you Sunshine! Pranab, thank you for your explanation. It makes perfect sense and is much like what I found. The inner core of peat was not bone dry, but MUCH drier than the 511. With experience and helpful citrus friends, we can all avoid and correct our mistakes. Thank you!

Well, I am happy to report that not one leaf fell off last night, which is almost a miracle. Fingers crossed this is the beginning of improvement.

So far, so good, Laura!

One of my prized possessions, a relatively large NZ lemonade that has produced one fruit and has one on it, has dropped a lot of leaves and I don't remember if I did a complete bare root when I got it last spring. It is loaded with blossoms. I am trying to decide on what to do now. I am really upset about this one.

Oh no Vladimir!!! I understand how you feel. It's a helplessness to some extent along with frustration! Let us know what happens please!

I just want to know why you named that pretty little tree "The Beast"...I laughed out loud at your pet name.

I'm not up on all the soil mixes but it occurred to me that I have seen kitty litter made from ground up corn cobs. Would that be a suitable ingredient in a potting mix?

Lol John! Well, here's the story...I did an exercise program last year called Body Beast. It's creator - Sagi Kalev - is really buff and goes by the nickname "the Beast". This tree looked very buff to my girls, thus his name ;-).

Unfortunately....I must admit that kind of makes sense to me :>)

Tropic You are right on

-----------------"I am guessing that citrus is so temperamental"---------------------

No You don't have to guess. It is a fact.

roots rot if you so much as look at them wrong.

soil becomes hydrophobic if it thinks you are not looking.

Trees don't go dormant and get loaded with insect.

"at same time the reward is so "Heavenly"

I agree.

6b Steve

For me, one can drop dead at a moments notice even if you are doing everything right..Just the nature of the beast...That is why I count my blessings for the ones that do well, and pray for the best every day for my trees...You never know when you are going to wake one morning just to see the whole tree blown up or drop dead...

Laura, how's the tree doing so far? Do you have it under light or in a sunny spot? Have you had to water again since then? Is it wilting or holding rigid leaves? I worry about them as well as how well they do for people like you)

Another day and no leaf drop. Yay!

Glad to feel the joy in your voice, Laura :)

Thank you sunshine!! I ran over this morning and was very happy!! I have some thoughts about what happened (it's been talked about on this thread) that I'll share later after I have my chores under control ;-)

Go Laura !!!

Yaaaayyyyy!!!!! The pain is over the joy has just started ;-)