I would like to repot my 50 yr. old miniature orange tree in a simple 17' pot. I have regular potting soil, coarse sand, turface and peat moss already on hand. I would like to work with these ingredients, if possible. I need help deciding how much of each to avoid compaction and provide good drainage, while providing adaquate nutrition.

wow!!! That is a treasure!!!

I wouldn't recommend my own mix, even my Ultra-dwarf trees grew to over 25 ft tall!

So it is best to have that miniature tree remain miniature. I only know some chemical ways to keep them small but haven't been doing that since 30 years ago.

This tree is only 2 1/2 ft. tall. I have had trouble in smaller pots, and now want to pot in the 17" for more vigorous growth. I really don't care that much about keeping it small right now. It's in the 17" now but with too much potting soil (mostly) and retaining too much water. Thinking of using 50% coarse sand with maybe 25% regular potting soil and 25% turface. Any Ideas? Like to keep it simple.

A very common commercial growth mix is 3 parts pine/coniffer bark, one part peat moss and one part coarse sand. In the above formula the bark is the ingredient that helps provide medium aeration, aids in keeping compaction to a minimum and moisture retention. I have never used Turface, however, Turface is meant to be used in growing mixtures to prevent compaction, increase aeration, and to hold water. Turface can absorb its own weight in water -- a 1:1 weight ratio of Turface to water. A lot depends on what the particle size is of the Turface that you have. If I were to make a growth mix using the three ingredients that you have on hand, I would start with a mix ratio close to what is stated above, and make any adjustments, if any may be needed. What you want to achieve is a medium that holds adequate water, while at the same time providing maximum aeration. Usually the immediate danger to a tree is not the growth mix, but the quality and professionalism of the actual act of the transplanting process. Just be sure to take as much time-and provide a high level of caution when you transplant such a valuable tree. Good luck to you and especially good luck to the tree. - Millet

Thanks for the reply. I think I will use pine/conifer bark instead of the turface. My experience with turface is that it drains extremely fast. May be more practical to use pine/conifer bark. Thanks again.