Air pots set a wonderful root system. I use air pots made by the Root Maker company. I start the plant out as a very young seedlings.

Thanks Silica! It gets pretty hot here in summer. Do you think ambient temperature could cause problems for air pots versus more conventional pots?

Should have no problem.

Do you use a modified soil because of the increased air flow?

Some in 5-1-1, some in 5-2-1 and some in 50/50 peat and Turface MVP.

Do you have a favorite mix? I've tried 5-1-1, 5-1-0, and currently have some in 5-3-2. I haven't really noticed much of a difference in any of those. I was thinking of trying the 50/50 mix.

@Silica Have you tried Talpa's gritty mix? What do you think of it?

No, and no plans to try it.

@Silica Aren't the people on the "other forum" using 50:50 Turface:MG soil? (Don't remember if it is gardening or potting soil.) What advantage do you see in using eat moss?

@Vladimir (Zone 5b Massachusetts) It's MG gardening soil, but only certain regions have the right MG formula for good drainage. I've not seen any recommendations for an alternate ingredient if you are not fortunate enough to get the right MG soil.

@Travis in PHX (9b) You are correct . It is MG gardening soil and the soil I have seen in my area does not look to have good drainage.

But, by the way, neither does peat moss, which is what Silica uses.

Yes, I have a tree in a 15 gallon container with 50%Turface-MVP and 50 percent peat moss. So far it is working excellent.

I didn't realize you were using peat. That gives me comfort. I'm going to repot in a few months and I think I'll try the 50/50 mix. I'm looking forward to comparing it with my existing 5-1-1-like mixes.

A little off topic but I decided to keep it in this post because it relates to seedlings. I started 8 seeds in one small container of fast draining mix. I covered it with plastic wrap to keep it moist and kept it inside to keep it warm. After about two weeks, three seedlings popped above ground and reached the height of the plastic wrap. I removed the plastic wrap as I understood the seedlings would now need air and light. I also sprayed it with a flying insect killer because it was gnat heaven. Hours later, my three seedlings had withered. I don't know if they dried out due to no longer having the plastic wrap, or if the spray was too toxic, or both. The spray is made from lemongrass oil, and I applied it very lightly.
I'm going to get some more seeds and start over, but I want to avoid a similar outcome. Any recommendations for starting seeds without gnats, and how to prevent them from drying out once they start?

It may be too late for Silica to see this, but if you do, do you filter the turface in your 50/50 mix? I know people using turface for the gritty mix have to screen it to a particular size, but I've not hear any mention of size when reading up on the 50/50 mix.

No I do not screen the turface. I use it right out of the bag,

Good to know, thanks! I'm going to uppot my Meyer lemon this weekend or next and I'm planning on trying the 50/50 mix.

@Silica, do you add lime or any other amendments, or strictly the peat/GS and turface MVP (& nutes)?

The only ingredient I add Is Osmocote Plus

@Silica, earlier in this thread you alluded to using peat instead of MG garden soil in the 50/50 mix. Why is that? I finally got my Turface so I'm about ready to mix my batch up. Still feels weird to be using garden soil so I wanted to get your thoughts on using the peat instead.

Actually Miracle Grow Garden soil might have been a better product to use, but at the time I did not have any so I used regular peat moss. So far so good. Time will tell. In the future I might try a tree in 100 percent Turface MVP.

I finally did it! Here's my Meyer in the new 50/50 mix. It's much heavier than the 5-1-1. My bonanza peach loves the 5-1-1, but my citrus just don't seem happy in it. Probably more to do with me than the mix. I'm hoping this will give my Meyer a boost. If she does well in it, I'll move my grapefruit over to it next season.

You can tell by the lack of foliage, the tree did not like the 5-1-1. Specially the the heat of Phoenix.

Yeah, I think I couldn't figure out how to keep it properly hydrated in that mix and with this heat. Crossing my fingers I'll get a nice spring flush and she'll keep the leaves. She's putting out some new growth now, but it's all at the tips.