very nice job

40 degree F soil temps?

Brklyn citrus yes that’s right 40F there is a soil thermometer pic that reads 45F at the moment. Is that too cold?

Studies have shown that citrus root growth does not occur below 54F.

My trees grew best when I used a mixture of 50% compost with 50% topsoil. It proved to heavey to work with when the plants came in for the winter. 5-1-1 to the rescue. It is good enough and safer.

Steve

Thank you Jan for the review on MGGS! I will buy a bag next spring. I hope that our MGGS on the east coast will be the same as yours. Your trees are so gorgeous with lots of leaves. They seem to like your new greenhouse!

Scientifically, at 45 degrees soil temp. everything should be dormant at best, which is fine if thats what you are looking to do BTW. By eye, that mix looks OK, but to me I don't see how that would NOT break down faster than a reptibark 5-1-1 blend on an indoor situation. A full 14 day watering cycle helps.....I'm on an 8 day cycle indoors at roughly 72 degrees under lights....Interesting

I grow all of my citrus in Pro Mix High Porosity, and have had no problems. They thrive in this mix, opposed to 5-1-1 which I really do not recommend to anyone.

With all the acclaim posted on this forum about 5-1-1, I decided to gave it a try with 10 container citrus trees. The 5-1-1 mix was OK, and can easily be used as a growing medium. After evaluating it, I decided to stay with a Miracle Grow Garden soil mixture. I left one citrus tree in a 5-1-1 medium and will keep on growing it out, but have replanted the other 9 trees back into a Miracle Grow Garden Soil blend. I think all in all the trees perform better in MGGS, but I have nothing bad to say about 5-1-1.

I may have to experiment with the MGGS except that I do like the fact that I don't have to repot every year. My trees are perfectly happy in 5-1-1. I have a few with some leaf drop and no rhyme or reason for it except perhaps mites that I have not detected.

vlad I’m not sure what’s happening with mine but the roots are at 40 and yet they are actively growing it’s strange!

amy!!! There you are! How are you? How are all your trees doing up to now? Amy the Phoenix perennial citrus pre order is coming soon lol!

hi Laura! Haven’t seen you around here in a while! I bet your trees are spectacular! I find I get a couple leaf drops in any condition with my finicky ones like my Meyer :/

Hi mike! How does the soil look at reporting time? you keep yours cool too right? Lol I have a feeling citrus do whatever they want they’ll grow when cold sometimes even though science says they shouldn’t :)

tropical paradise how often do you repot?

the strange thing is that the one I have in the 511 are struggling to keep their new growth its trying but then the small leaves just fall off :( I’m not saying it’s the mix because tons of people are successful growing in this mix such as Laura but I think it’s me lol for some reason I don’t work well with this mix or perhaps I mixed it wrong! Or maybe it’s just the tree :/ I do mix about 20% large perlite into the MGGS however So its nice and fluffy I’ll have to wait come summer time to see how it does at the one year mark :)

I have bought MGGS but have not used it because it looked like it would be too water retentive, i.e., the particles were too fine. I know from reading various posts that the composition varies depending on where MGGS is made. I have the impression that people who use it successfully live out west. (I am in the northeast.)

I also grow non citrus in large pots that I leave out year round, pears, peaches, mulberry, etc. I usually use just about anything and add lots of mulch repeatedly...I may buy a bag next tiem I go just to see what they sell over here, since I have a huge bag of perlite laying around too......before i use it on Citrus, I'm using even more bark than a 5-1-1, maybe a 7-2-1 and I'm happy with the results on all indoor plants........under MY particular conditions

this blooming at low root zone temperatures is really a stumper...Could some of those roots deep down be warmer below the probe depth?

My fukushu is in a 30 gallon half barrel. I use 4-2-1 in the bottom 1/3 followed by 2-2-1 in the middle and 1-2-1 on the top 1/3rd

Steve

If the MGGS is of a nice high quantity but people are on the fence about trying it, I use out of the bag G&B Organics potting soil and amend with a mix of some of the following depending on what’s on hand: LECA clay balls, semi-coarse pumice, and coarse perlite. I’ve seen great results in these mixes without having to mix up 5-1-1. I would recommend amending the MGGS similarly if people want to give it a try.

Can't get G&B Organics potting soil around here or on Amazon.

Hi Vladimir,

Understood on G&B (also known as Kellogg for the nonorganic stuff) not being available everywhere. I was suggesting that anyone interested in the Miracle Grow give it a try with similar amendments for better aeration, structure, and drainage.

Happy Friday!

vlad whar does the MGGS look like in your area. Yes you’re right I am in the west coast Vancouver And ours contains a lot of what looks like bark chips.

poncirus that sounds complicated to be using 3 types of soil in one pot!

Brklyn im not sure about depth but my probe goes in about 3 inches which I assume is where the roots are? It was below 40 before I put a string of Christmas lights around the pots and the clay provably doesn’t help keep it warm :/

pac I did amend mine with perlite but might try adding some bark chips if they’re too water retentive this year :) thanks for the tip!

I don’t mind using the MGSS in fact of all the soils and soilless mixes Miracle Grow makes , I like it most for short term plantings or long term , about a year using it in a pot one size bigger than the root ball And in clay. I didn’t even use perlite in mine. If all my trees dried out at the same time I would use it more often.

But I have only one tree in it in a Clay pot.

The thing with me is that I have so many trees and plants that I like do a mass watering on all my plants at once which I can do with the 5.1.1 mix but can not do with the soil mixes.

In the soil mix I would have to check each one of my pots in every situation and water at different times and only when needed. It would take too much time and effort to make sure I have not over watered some while others needed water.

Bring able to water all my plants in the greenhouse or outside or inside at once is so much easier for me without fear if overwatering some of them )

Jan. I was going to talk to you but had to run. I’ll come back later my friend. Good night and sleep well )))

The soil fries out much slower at the bottom so it is the lightest and dries out the fastest at the top where my soil is the heaviest.

Steve

It is NOT the amount of water a medium holds that causes a problem. It IS the lack of oxygen in the medium that causes the problem. A citrus tree can be grown in water if the solution contains good aeration cycle. If one uses any type of a soil type mix and adds ingredients to provide proper aeration, then the amount of water, or the length of time that the medium retains moisture is no concern, in fact it is beneficial both to the grower and to the tree.

And a 4-2-1 mix at the bottom ensures enough air no mater how much water is added. I cannot sit this tee on a vacuum chamber to pull air through as I do the other trees in 5 gallon bucket.

Jan, the MGGS had mostly less than 1/8 inch pine bark fines and the rest looks like peat.

Vlad I think the chips in my bag are a little larger than that they actually look like shredded pieces longer than they are wide I’d say though. Vlad not to get too off topic but is that a labradoodle that I see in your profile pic? Looks just like a real life teddy bear so adorable :) I’ve been meaning to get one for my smaller one as a companion for when I’m at work. How are they with smaller animals, gentle?

silica thanks for pointing that out! And thank you for suggesting the MGGS if it hadn’t been for you I’d have never tried it :) It’s working like a dream so far and I don’t have to fertilize at every watering which was getting too much for me.

steve that’s a smart idea It seems to be working for you your citrus grow so fast!

He is a cockapoo. His name is Dewey and he is now 10 months old.

Jan,

My MGGS has no need for anything added, not for growing in a clay pot anyways. I only water as needed.

But, I suppose if I were to water any of my trees more often in it, like mine planted in a vefry porous mix, whether in clay or plastic, I would most likely add perlite or more small bark. Not sure. But at this point, I am happy with checking on this tree once a week if that and more often in summer. I'm satisfied with treating this one separate from all the others in the 5.1.1 mixes.

I am thinking if I want to use the MGGS that I have in many more pots, I would add a lot more bark until it is very porous so as not to get water damage or root rot.

Jan, I wonder if there is any way we can all get together here and post a close up of the MGGS that we all use, the kinds of pots we use it in, and the bags themselves, the temps our trees are exposed to, how much sunlight, and compare as one from the other?

I might start a new thread on this.

Jan,

Hi mike! "How does the soil look at reporting time?" IT still looks pretty good. The roots look excellent too filling out the pots.

"Do you keep yours cool too right?" Cool? I keep them very cold and yet I still get growth on certain trees. Just not as much as I would if kept warm with the added benefit of no bugs.

Mike

Vlad he’s adorable!! :)

Mike! I totally agree with posting pictures and environment Because there’s been so much controversy with MGGS and everyone actually just wants what’s best for their trees, we all have the same single goal.

For me personally I’m so shocked to be doing all the watering at once irregardless of whether or not they’re still wet I also have some in plastic pots that aren’t as breathable and they’re showing lots of new growth! Mike I water every two weeks like Brian and they all get watered then! I get one hour dappled sun if that, although I don’t think they’ve gotten any in the last month or so since it’s been so cloudy :/ and their root temps are 45 right now as mentioned above. They’re in a greenhouse with a small heater to keep it above freezing but it’s hovering at 50 now. I must say they are growing more than in the 511 last year Mike but it can also be due to other factors I suppose! Brian’s prolmix is also working out fantastic! That ones been in that mix for a little less than 8 months Now I tried it on the minneola and I’m seeing lots of growth! I haven’t checked any of the roots but will when I repott nothings showing any decline that I can see :) I’ll take pictures soon mike! Lol it’s been too cold to venture out into the greenhouse but then again I must be spoiled by vancouver weather since it’s not even freezing temperatures!