Root rot is certainly taken hold if what you are saying is true..Have you taken any pics to show us?

How bad is that mix? Is it older, like decayed? Is it very fine?

Since you can not make the 5.1.1. mix as quick as you would like too, why not use a very porous bagged mix, a nursery brad or add perlite and use a clay container? One that is just a bit bigger than the root ball?

Mike

https://imgur.com/a/42rea

My phone died after the second pic, so had to steal my wife's, not pictured is after washing the dirt away

In the dirt you can see dead roots, and in the ball you can see lots of dead ones unfortunately, I haven't properly cared for them.

Now that they're replanted should I water them and give them some fertilizer? Try to let them dry out?

I would never give fertilizer until new roots are at work which usually takes quite some time. I would wait until you see remarkable growth on the stems then do so.

I would water the new mix through then make sure you are giving LOTS of diffused sunlight and warm temps...What kind of mix did you use?

I am worried about the salts..That is why I asked you so many questions you have yet to provide))

Did you completely bare root the plant? If not, you are still left with undisolved salts and rotted roots in the center which needs to be completely removed..

Mike

Sorry, I didn't intend on avoiding the questions

The mix was some Miraclegro potting soil, probably 3 years old at this point, as far as fine... uhh.. I don't think so? Seems to be about the same consistency as it was when planted, but yes, very old... actually, I noticed it turns into a sludge when watered and stays that way, I had started breaking it up to kind of aerate it and hopefully allow it to dry out... I had a PH meter and it pinged out on the acidic side, added lime to try to balance that out, but even after 3 doses the meter was still pinging out on 8 (or was it 1, anyway, acidic)

There's still some old soil, I'll go pull them again and get rid of that junk... was afraid of doing more damage to the roots, but I guess if pressured water tears them they were no good to begin with?

I did the 5-1-1 pine bark (yard conditioner), sphagnum peat moss, perlite

By diffused you mean in the shade? Not sure I have anywhere in my yard that it can get shade all day

in the pictures the brown branches, are they dead? Should I cut them?

Here are some more pictures of the cleaning process http://imgur.com/a/dxpM4 (well after I was done, I got 99% of the dirt, but some of it was very stubborn and hard to get to... I can definitely understand why trees need to recover from that now

Similar symptoms with some of mine now. So sad because this week I brought most outside. I have planted all the dying ones in ground hopefully to have them recover before October when I bring them all back inside.

Here are some pics from my phone

More in poor shape

Wow, mine haven't ever produced lemons that got to the yellow stage :( biggest one I ever had was close to a grape

Do you see how very very 'fine' that mix is? The worst kind of mix for citrus. That is why within a year or so from purchase it is very important to change the mix out they came in into a very porous mix such as a 5.1.1 mix or a peat mix with lots of per lite. The water you use leaves dissolved salts behind along with fertilizers...Do you fertilize all winter? And, do you flush you your mixes out at all? Two very important questions...

Planting in the ground will serve no purpose when roots are that rotted..A nice clay pot left in a very warm area with sunlight is best so that the potted roots can warm up. Also too. you could use a pot then place 1/4 way pushed into the soil to act as a raised bed to help drain water away.

You could cover your trees with a shade cloth, or bug screen or anything to lessen direct sun for a week or two until your tree begins to recover.

In winter I do not fertilize and water with collected rain water but didn't flush at all. Tomorrow I will get some clay pots and dig them up.

That's wonderful....Then make sure you still flush your mix out at least once a month all year if using anything less than porous mixes for your citrus. Rain water is always best sin't it? I collect rain water too for my orchids...That's great

What about the brown dead looking branches? Are they dead? Should I cut them off?

I think my poor tree is already doing better, it had a flower on it today, and some new green growth