What you are describing are the feeder roots. If you remove them, you will risk harming the tree.

Thank you Denise!!! Is it normal that there are so many?

yes

Thank you!!!!

Laura, the more feeder roots, the better :)

Thank you, Sunshine. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. My grapefruit trees are in Al's gritty mix soil so it drains fast. The biggest problem I seem to have with my trees is watering. I am so afraid of over watering and because of that, I under water and cause problems. The feeder roots are so thick that I think I really have to water it a lot for the water to make it down through the entire pot. I water until it comes out of the bottom, but I don't think it's enough. Do you have any advice for me? I put it in a new pot yesterday and the root ball was dry when I took it out but the roots looked really good. They were firm, large and almost white. Thanks so much!!!!

If your tree exhibits signs of afternoon wilt during the hottest months you should consider changing to a somewhat more retaining medium. Otherwise leave it alone and up-pot as required. I know LV climate and I would never plant a tree in gritty mix if I lived in your climate (I don't do it even in my climate which is cooler and more humid) but if it works don't fix it.

You can also mulch the top of the pot to help keep it from drying out so fast, especially important in LV sun.

I occasional submerge my entire planters in water for 15-20mins, if I think the mix is drying out faster the normal (but I don’t use gritty mix and have manageable sized pots). That $5 kiddie pool comes in handy...

Good morning everyone!!! Thank you for your wonderful advice. Denise, I will certainly trim the roots the next time as the pot is a good size now. I will certainly be watering more. The plant was doing very well through the winter but it was just recently it started to look a bit chloratic and the new growth is rather small. A couple of weeks ago I gently hosed it off to eliminate some pests (just on the flower buds) so I am wondering if that has anything to do with it. We also have to deal with a lot of wind. :( Everyone have a great day!!!

Use horticultural oil spray for pests, it works for me to battle spider mites, aphids and sometimes scale insects (they are harder to get rid of, in my view). Spray in the evening, so the leaves don't burn in the sun.

You've received a lot of good advice for your tree! I would consider what Nik suggested but only when you have a good idea of what your watering style is like. In a dry and hot climate (I assume) like yours in Vegas, you would be able to provide water for much longer in a more water rententive mix. A mix that won't degrade is really good though. If you notice you don't water or soak as much as the tree would want, you could try experimenting with the gritty ratio. For example a larger ratio of turface may help keep it more moist.

Thank you!! The soil is one of the most important factors for the trees and for me, a bit overwhelming. To this point I have not found a good soil that does not degrade quickly. Do you think that checking the root system every 12 to 16 months is advisable? Since transplanting on Saturday, my tree is not showing signs of transplant shock, it actually looks better. What are your thoughts on Foliage Pro fertilizer? I give it a small amount at every watering. I have also heard that an acid fertilizer is good for citrus. Thanks again everyone.

Most informed home citrus growers use Foliage Pro with ratio of 1 tsp to 1 gallon. Osmocote Plus is used at the same time. Checking the roots annually is a good thing so that you can see how healthy the tree is.

Thanks Denise!! If I can figure out the watering, my tree may be a happy one!! One last question about checking the roots, should I do that in the fall or spring?

Newtster, just curious. When you made up your gritty mix, what size granite did you use? From what I can tell from combing through older posts, you can also increase water retention by decreasing the grit size instead of/in addition to increasing the amount of turface.

You can go wrong with this kind of advise!!

Persimmonbob, what kind of advice are you referring?

Newtster, these forum members are doing their best to help, they went through growing pain to become successful, including myself. Of course there is no end when it comes to success, many has nice looking tree's doing things their way. If you are somewhat new you don't want to be overwhelm.

There was a considerable amount of thought that went into making a concept manifest in the gritty mix. The size of the ingredients is very important. While the notation that you can increase water retention by reducing the size of the grit is technically correct, it's also technically correct that you can pound a nail into a pine board with your forehead, but ........ Putting the idea of a reduction in grit size to work in practical application eliminates or significantly diminishes the very reason you would choose to use the gritty mix. Why introduce a perched water table in a soil that is designed to eliminate same? You might as well just grab a bag of whatever off the shelf and hope that the gods on high smile down on you. The best way to increase or decrease water retention is by varying the ratio of screened Turface to screened grit, while limiting the organic fraction of screened ingredients to no more than 1/3 of the whole, by volume.

Those who carp about the gritty mix not holding enough water (or too much) lack an understanding of the concept behind the soil. It can be adjusted for water retention over a wide range. Example:

For more water retention, use:

3 parts screened pine/fir bark

4 parts screened Turface

2 parts screened grit

For less water retention, use:

3 parts screened pine/fir bark

2 parts screened Turface

4 parts screened grit

This increases or decreases water retention w/o sacrificing aeration, drainage, or introducing a perched water table your plants will be forced to suffer the effects of.

Newster - how you fertilize containerized plants has a LOT to do with how you water and your choice of soils. NO ONE can offer meaningful advice about fertilizer solution strengths and intervals between applications w/o at least a reasonably good understanding of both those influences - unless they provide a tome full of qualifications that cover all the eventualities you'll encounter that influence your nutritional supplementation regimen. Also, how you fertilize trees (in containers) changes with the season, especially in the heat of summer. While CRFs like Osmocote, Dynamite, et al, can be used very effectively, they're not universally accepted as a 'go to practice'. For instance, in most cases you wouldn't want to apply a CRF designed to release over 6 months or longer in the summer if your trees over-winter under protection. Also, since temperature is the primary driver of release rates in CRFs, when summer heat is highest and you should be pulling back on fertilizing, CRFs are just getting in high gear, releasing the most when you need it least.

Soil choice is a critical factor in how proficient you're likely to be at actually maintaining something like control over your supplementation program. If you can flush the soil with regularity w/o worrying that the soil will stay wet so long it affects root health and function, I can teach you to fertilize efficiently in 10-15 minutes. If you are in a constant battle with your soggy soil over control of your plants' vitality, it turns things into pretty much a crap shoot.

Al

Or you can put your tee in ground and just

Fukushu kumquat#2 · More Info

Fukushu kumquat#2 · More Info

Fukushu kumquat#2 · More Info

My tree never tips over in wind storms.

Steve

If you don't listen to Al you may find your self doing things like this to get you through the winter

Notice the vacumm cleaner used to pull perched water from the bottom of the bucket. IT WORKS GREAT

Greenhouse and bucket lights · More Info

Newtster: A picture would have been better but I guess that may be out of question now. The dense feeder roots is a testament to gritty mix. It is possible that they may be hindering proper water flow below but without looking at it is difficult to say. Water it as you do and then take it out of the pot after say 30 minutes to see if you notice any dry areas.

One way to deal with it is to cut narrow slits say a inch away from the base to the edge of the pot like narrow pizza slices. A few of them symmetrically placed around the base will be sufficient. Then fill them fresh gritty mix. I do this at least 3 times every season for my hibiscus plants. But for most cases doing it once is enough to get the water flowing properly through the mix.

Tilting the pot sideways after a heavy watering can help too. Gravity will move the water sideways.

And dunking in water tub has already been mentioned.

Also you mentioned that there are fat roots below. In a container they are useless and occupying space. Next time try to chop those off. What you want is feeder roots everywhere. That maximizes the utility of the limited volume of soil in a container. If you look around for Al's posts you will find pictures to guide you through the process.

Excuse me for being off-topic. Houzz is so strange. Some posts and their notifications show up much later than actual posting time. Eg. Al's post from 14hrs back just showed up. And similar things have been happening in other threads too. Anyone else experiencing similar delays or other oddities.

When I click the like button, I have to tap it twice for the thumb to actually become solid green. When I tried to create a new discussion and attach photos it would only upload 1 photo and that's it, the others don't upload. The 1 photo that did upload would take forever to upload before you could actually submit/create the discussion. I haven't paid attention to the notification time stamps though but I will now

The same problems here, Tropic and Kvetch! So many things are changed ( the change is not good in this case, Houzz has failed by creating changes and making things difficult).

I second to that, Houzz is making it hard to do thing fluently. I think you are sorry that they bought " Garden Webb". I think they are ready to ditch.

In a way, you can't bitch because it is free so they do whatever they please.