Millet you posted a thing on how to treat the chc before you use it and I can't find it anywhere will you remind me please.
I'm going to buy CHC, perilite, and some potting soil to repot my trees. Could you please give a suggestion as to ratios?
I'm using miracid should i use osmocote instead?

I was wrong I can not find CHC here, no one knows what it is. I have found perilite, medium and small bark but the bark is unkown to type and no one knows what turface is. Is there a good place I can order CHC online?

This is where I purchase all of my CHC:

Crystal Company
572 Leffingwell Ave.
Saint Louis,MO 63122 USA

1-800-845-4777

CHC comes in 1/4, 1/2 and 1 inch size chips. Packaged in 2 cu.ft size plastic bags.

Millet (1,361-)

Millet How should I treat the CHC when I get it? Should I do just a 50/50 of CHC? Thank you for all your help. I greatly appriciate it, it has been very helpful.

Here is how CHC are pre-treated. This link is for Orchids, but it is the same for Citrus. Crystal's CHC are already rinsed 3 times, all you need to do is the Epsom salt and Calcium nitrate soak.

http://www.ladyslipper.com/coco3.htm

I use 4 parts CHC and 1 part peat moss.

You can also do 3 pars CHC and 1 part peat moss.

Millet (1,362-)

I potted my citrus trees before I had ever heard of CHCs or the citrus growers forum so I tried to follow the turface/crushed granite/bark chips recommendation given by Tapla on another forum. I couldn't find Turface locally either but I found a product called Utelite E-soil that is made from fired shale that I believe is pretty close to Turface except it is gray instead of red. It has a coarse texture like kitty litter or oil spill absorbent. The only reason I mention this is because it is made in Coalville, UT so you might be able to find it in Cedar City. Since you are using CHCs this is probably of no use to you.

I just placed an order with Crystal Company a few minutes ago for 2 cubic feet of 1/4 inch CHCs and it cost $55 with shipping (which supposedly will be here in Chicago tomorrow or thursday). I was told they will expand 6-7 times their size from the compressed bale. They also offer a half order (1 cubic foot) for $32 (I believe that includes shipping).

I do have one question though. Millet I read that link on how to prepare the CHCs from the link you posted but I was just wondering what ratios of calcium nitrate and epsoms salts to water I should use during the soaking process?

In the orchid article they use 3 ounces per 32 gallon drum full of CHC. I guess the water content in the drum would be 15 to 20 gallon of water, which is equal to 4 to 5 grams of each chemical per gallon. Personally, I have never actually measured, I just add a rounded teaspoon of each chemical per gallon. NOTE: Epsom salts dissolves poorly in cold water. - Millet

Thanks Millet. I bought some epson salts today but had a hard time finding calcium nitrate. I googled it and saw that it was a common fertilizer component, but I was unsuccessful trying to find it while I was out today. I asked workers at a few different places I went to today and no one had a clue what I was talking about. Is this an ingredient I can get away with skipping/substituting? Is it generally readily available and I am just overlooking it at the big boxes and the nursery I went to today?

Joe

Yes, you could get by without Calcium Nitrate, or if you give me your address, using the private messaging on this forum, I will send you some at no charge. - Millet (1,347-)

Millet How important is the calcium nitrate? My CHC came in the mail but the cheapest place I found calcium nitrate is on e-bay and it's about 17 $ for a 5 lbs bag. If it is important I will defintily get it I'm just wondering how important it is?

First tell me where you purchased your CHC, because different people pre-treat their chips different. - Millet (1,341-)

I followed the advice of that article you posted and where you bought it. I ordered it from the Crystal co. I bought the small and medium chc. Do I have to soak it in water then water with the other stuff?
Can any peatmoss be used?
Also when I put my trees in the chc do I water them like normal or do I need to soak them in another bucket?
My problem is my trees are on a rolling tray that has holes for the water to drain into but the water stays there and becomes yellow, I also can't tell how full the one in the middle is with out lifting the tree and I don't want it to reabsorbe but the trees are to heavy to lift all the time and seem to loose fruit and flowers when I move them much. I assume the weight problem will be elimnated by using chc, but I'm always afraid of knocking stuff off from my trees.

Since you purchased the chips from Crystal Co. they have already been rinsed and pressed three times. You can just soak them over night in Epsom salts. Then use them with out a further water rinse. 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons water. I don't know what you mean "the water stays there and becomes yellow", doesn't it water drain out the bottom? If you cannot soak them, and if the irrigation water drains out the bottome of your container, then you do not want the irrigation water to pass through the chips so fast when you pour the water into the rolling tray that the water does not have time to soak into the chips. A mix of three parts CHC and 1 or parts peat moss should be OK. - Millet (1,342-)

The tray has wheels and a few small pockets for water to drain into but one of the pockets sits directly under the tree and I can't tell how full it is. I guess I could put some rocks on the tray to lift the tree pot up a little. The water just sits in the little drain holes and doesnt' seem to evaporate like it should and the water turns yellow. Anyways I guess my real question is do I need to soak the whole pot every week or just water it like normal if I use the 3 parts chc and 1 part peatmoss. If I do have to soak the tree is there any easy way to do that?