I am brand new to using a true 5-1-1, I re-potted most of my trees this week into it and the last two will get switched over this weekend when more reptibark arrives. All of my trees were in various ratios of fine bark/soil mix before from the nursery's and while bare rooting and root pruning my trees I saw how unhappy the roots were on the ones with a heavy soil base, they had root rot or just not enough roots in ratio to the canopy, when seeing the roots in the soil they looked good but after washing away the soil I was able to see what was really going on, and I like that but I do agree that most of the mix may fall off when pulling the tree up I just don't need to do that very often. I am concerned that the 5-1-1 won't provide the stability needed for the fine roots to take hold/not break when the tree moves from wind/moving of the pot etc but many people have been using it for a while now and have good success so I am going to see if I do too. I haven't noticed any ant activity in my tree that has been planted in it since march.

I've got my variegated lemon and my valencia orange in the 511. The ants don't touch my valencia. They LIVE in my variegated PL. I'm still trying methods to rid them but they love it. I'm so very tired of ants.

Th 5.1.1 mix has no downsides for your trees and in fact ants are going to make a home anywhere they prefer, even in a bucket of sand if need me.

I would use the 5.1.1 and if the mix falls away after lifting a tree, just place it back in the pot and replenish.

It would be a heck of a lot easier ridding pests in the 5.1.1 mix rather than trying to rid them in a very dense one.)

Mike

5-1-1 is the number 1 commercial mix world wide, but commercially it has a little different formulation. The 5-1-1 blend that commercial nurseries use is made up of 5-parts bark, 1-part peatmoss, and 1 part coarse sand (builders sand). No perlite. The addition of sand gives the tree a much better foundation.

I agree with Mike. I have not noticed that ants are attracted to trees in the 5-1-1 vs any other mix. I wish I had seen this post two hours ago. I just repotted my big Moro into a larger pot and it was in the 5-1-1 and would have gladly taken pics. I was very careful because I did not want to disrupt the roots and was not doing a bare root. What happened is that the area that had roots (not root bound at all) pretty much stayed intact and I quickly moved it over. The 5 inches or so below where the roots had not penetrated, remained in the pot. I just poured that mix, which was not old, into my 5-1-1 and stirred it up then poured it along the sides. It worked out just fine and I doubt the tree even noticed. I really like the 5-1-1 and my trees do very well in it.

Silica, I really like the idea of using sand instead of perlite, is the coarse sand something you can find easily or is its only available commercially? Does it settle at the bottom?

Yeah, I hear 'coarse sand' all the time but don't really know what it is. I always think of the coarsest sand I've seen around lakes and creeks. But what you can buy is never that coarse.

I would think the sand would get settled out of the pot every time you
water or move it, because of how loose the mix is. Perlite moves around
too, I guess.

Laura, your report sounds promising to me - I'd like to have the rootball at least kind of stay together.

I feel like there are some plants that are less tolerant of root disturbance, I just wonder where citrus are on the tolerance spectrum.

Speaking of sand - I was trying to save a banana corm that had no roots. I put it in straight pool filter sand, which I was told is coarse. Wow, a few weeks later and I had the most beautiful roots with tons of rootlets. I don't always see those fine roots in my soil mixes. I guess that says something...

Well hibiscus, I repotted another last night - a lemon whose roots were not quite as developed - and it did fall apart...not completely, but it did not hold together as well as the Moro root ball. I think if I'd had someone helping me, I could have held it together better. I don't think it will affect the tree much. I could have left it in that pot longer, but figured I'd move it up as it is growing like gangbusters. I don't think it will miss a beat. The other tree just like it I potted up last week and it is already budding again. So I guess I say go for it. I think you'll like it.