Here are the trees I picked up; a Satsuma, Meyer Lemon and Bearss lime.

Big containers for tiny trees?
/Robert

The point they are making is that a citrus in a container that is too big, often has problems with too much water causing root rot. I think that is not as likely if you have a good airy media.

Your trees look very healthy.

I Appreciate the feedback. I probably went overboard on the satsuma, with the other two being borderline. I am however being very careful with the H2O.

The media will be plenty airy when i finish with it later this week.

The more water that is transported through the tree's vascular system, the faster the tree's growth. It is through the tree's water system that most all of the tree's many requirements, nutritional, metabolic, and chemical are provided. Thus the need for a good draining medium, with a higher level of aeration. - Millet (945-)

Large pots with good drainage may actually be good for young citrus. I aquired 3 orange seedlings from 6" to 10" trees late last summer at an auction. They were planted in 24" pots. My intention was to transplant them to smaller pots so I could use the large ones for larger plants. Well, I never got around to doing that when winter was setting in. So I brought them in the greenhouse. All are over 4' now. One of the seedlings has grown to almost 6' within that short period of time. I had 4 more that same size in normal size pots that are still under 2' in hight.

Thanks for the reply. I am working on making sure I have good medium. I received some good feedback from C4F and Skeeter which I will surely follow. (of course, yours as well)

Tony O. I would love to see photos of those trees you speak of and know exactly what type of soil mix you are using in the big pots. Also what kind of and how often you fertalize

Even though on occasion, when a small tree growing in an over sized container, manages to do well and grow into a healthy tree, the vast majority of trees grown in such a manner have many problems. Further, most all trees will initially do well in any type of medium, no matter what the ingredients are for the first 1 to 6 months. When a poor medium is used, and it begins to compact reducing the aeration, and drainage, problems begin. Remember, the AVERAGE life span of a containerized citrus tree is less than 2 years. Therefore, a medium must have the correct ratio of coarse and fine material, using ingredients that degrade very slowly, that provides good drainage, and maintains high root zone oxygen to insure a long life. - Millet (918-)

Wow,
Why am I going through all the trouble of getting pots and wheels and potting mix and all the work and frustration if the average life is only 2 years? My brother has a satsuma and a lisbon lemon that have been in the same pots for 3-4 years with regular bagged potting mix and they look super healthy. Big dark green leaves and fruit. He has a lime that he planted last winter and it looks like it will be just as healthy as it has lots of spring growth and fruit. He started out with #5 pots from fourwinds on all three. He lives only 4 miles from me and comes over to my house and laughs at my trees. He saw the new bark,peat,pumice mix I repotted my dying trees to and asked what the heck it was.

A friend of mine has had a half dozen plants in 35 gallon containers for 10 years and they look good and bear much fruit

About my above post concerning the average life span of a container grown citrus tree. Citrus trees are capable of living in containers for a long time. I personally know of a containerized Sour Orange tree growing at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, New Jersey that is now 111 years old. In Italy there are many container trees that have reached advanced age. However, of all the citrus trees that are sold every year to the public, and grown as containerized trees, unfortunately the AVERAGE life span is less than 2 years. Almost all container grown trees die from problems inside the container, and not from some misfortune occurring in the above ground portion. - Millet (916-)

where does he live and what kind of soil does he use???

With very careful watering, you may be able to maintain container citrus in media that would easily kill the tree if overwatered. If your containers are outside, you may not be able to control the watering at times of heavy rain. Overwatering is the biggest killer of most container plants--including citrus. A fast draining, airy media like CHC or chunky pine bark will prevent overwatering, but may require a different watering schedule.

Pensacola probably had the highest rainfall of any city last yr--we had over 7 ft,--almost a ft more than Mobile, AL which has the highest average rainfall. My container citrus stay outside except in extreme cold, without a fast draining airy media, they would have died last summer.