Is there any other benefit in putting a breathe hole PVC pipe in/next to your citrus plant in a container?

I was browsing thru some of the picture archives and noticed some containers with PVC tube sticking out. People drill holes in the tubes and stuck them into their container soil.

I see the point in giving your roots some oxygen, but wouldn't that create a point of entry for bugs? Like giving them a home, or easy access to your root system, or places to lay their larvae deeper into your soil, etc. etc.

Comments?

Yes, it is beneficial if your potting media is the wrong type like those that gets compacted through time. It is a waste if you have the right potting media and enough drainage holes in the first place.

And yes, it is no different than the holes under or on the sides of your containers that the bugs can also get into. If you have those types of bugs, they'll find their way, with or without those aerators.

that's interesting stuff!

I would really like to do that. Should I make holes in the PVC pipe?

If the growth medium is correct for a citrus tree (good drainage and good aeration) then tubes are not required. If the growth medium has compacted, resulting in restricted drainage and poor aeration, tubes will not be of much help. In the latter case you need to repot the tree.

Tubes are beneficial and I have proven it for compacted potting media and compacted soils. Even Millet's favorite company uses compressed air for heating and aeration into the soil. Any type of aeration will surely help compacted soils. But as Millet correctly suggested, it is best that the trees be repotted when you have compaction of potting media, unless you're saving your back from frequent repotting.

I would cut partial slits perpendicular to the length of the PVC pipe. I used it mostly for inground aeration and I have the fastest growing fruit trees in the neighborhood where our soils are compacted heavy clay. Also great for container grown fruit trees not only citruses when I used garden soil and compost when I ran out of expensive potting media and sure enough, even the garden soil plus compost, which are free, works well for me if they have good aeration. A part of the tube is connected to the hole outside, so it provides good drainage also.

Many of my neighbors have Cherry trees that died on them which I think is caused by lack of aeration. My Cherry trees are giant sized and bear lots of fruits, thanks to soil aerators.

Here's a sample of some of my aerators. These are made from excess PVC. I wouldn't buy PVC for aeration if I have to buy them for that only purpose.

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4148728&a=31072437&f=

Normally, inground, I would use perforated 3" drainage pipes as my aerators, but if excess PVC are just lying around, I would use them but have to cut a lot of slotted holes for aeration.


Here's some

This is interesting. Years ago when I first moved into our house, I killed a number of citrus trees by planting them in the native clay soil on our hillside behind a small retaining wall of stacked blocks that drain well. When I later decided to read up on citrus and found out that they like well drained soil, I did a couple of things to increase drainage:

1) I dug out a large swath of the clay and replaced it with better soil mixed with sand.
2) I created a French drain to the front of the wall that served not only to drain the hillside (which was my original intent), but I believe now helps keep the soil aerated. The use of filter fabric really helps keep the rock from getting clogged by fines in the native soil. In my case, I also put sand on the outside of the filter fabric just for some extra protection. Anyway, the picture below is one I found on the internet and is a much larger scale than what I did, but it's the same concept.


Phillip

I agree with Joe Real, that the tubes will offer some benefit. As Joe states in his above thread, I do have a small section of my land (5 acres) irrigated and aerated through a drip tape system that is placed 8 inches under ground, it works very well. However, as far as your containerized citrus, your tree will be much farther ahead if you properly transplant the tree into a new container with a growth medium that is well drained and with good aeration.