Citrus Growers Forum

perseacitrus1 · Joined: 26 Dec 2008 Posts: 17 Location: Switzerland USDA 7b

Hello,

what is your citrus potting soil's composition?
And what about organic matter?

Thank for your answers!

David(Switzerland)

Millet · Posted: Tue 01 Dec, 2009 2:01 pm

100+ trees in 4 parts CHC and 1 part peat moss. = Millet (1,142-)

morphinelover · Posted: Tue 01 Dec, 2009 2:03 pm

I think people put to much thought into what potting soil they use. All soil is there for anyway is to be fine enough to hold enough moisture and nutrients yet course enough to not hold to much moisture and it stays soggy and isn't any aeriation (oxygen). I know you can go to lowes or some other place that sells the real fine pine bark in bags and use that. After a few months it will start decomposing the larger pieces and will make a potting soil as good as anything you can buy. Something else you can do is look around the woods and find a large tree that has fell down and has been there for a few years and has started decomposing and use that for potting soil. I know Skeeter has mentioned that he does that and I have on occasion too. There are plenty of studies that back up those claims but one thing I would do is add some limestone because decomposed wood tends to have a low pH.

perseacitrus1 · Joined: 26 Dec 2008 Posts: 17 Location: Switzerland USDA 7b

Thanks for your answer.

What does mean exactly "CHC"? I'm not enlgish and don't know this word.

Thak you

A.T. Hagan · Posted: Tue 01 Dec, 2009 2:45 pm

Millet wrote:

100+ trees in 4 parts CHC and 1 part peat moss. = Millet (1,142-)

This is basically what I am using except for the peat moss where I am using ground coconut coir instead.

CHC is coconut husk chips. I prefer the medium sized chips of about 1/2" size. All are pre-soaked and rinsed in a solution of Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) and calcium nitrate. One tablespoon of each to one gallon of water.

Coconut husk chips can be hard to find and I have no idea of what you can find in Europe. If I could not find them I'd go back to using pine bark nuggets of about 1/2" in size and ground peat moss in the 4:1 ratio that Millet gives above.

Failing that I'd look around for anything that would offer some water absorbency while still allowing good airflow in the media. Some folks have been using fired clay pellets mixed with peat moss or other good water holding media. I'm going to try them myself in the near future.

.....Alan.

Skeeter · Posted: Tue 01 Dec, 2009 7:47 pm

I used CHC in a few pots, but I mainly use chunky pine bark -4:1 with a peat based potting soil. I get my pine bark for free from the woods and I have not seen much difference. My pine bark media has lasted several years without degrading to mush. The main thing for citrus is to have a chunky media with lots of air.

_________________
Skeet

JartsaP · Citruholic Joined: 27 Nov 2009 Posts: 28 Location: Finland

Hi,

I also just two days ago had to search the internet for the meaning of CHC, I had never heard the term before either... Here in Finland it's sometimes available in some less expected places, like pet shops, large pot flower stores, and shops specialized in water growing. Orchid, hemp and chili enthusiasts use it sometimes, I've heard Smile

That information may help in finding it. Same thing with perlite: it's hard to find and when you finally find it, it's something completely different than a gardening store. Last time it was a shop that sells all kinds of cheap chinese rubbish. It's also available for professional gardening use in big quantities and wholesale, but difficult to find in small packages retail.

Other than Citrus, also Rhododendrons and orchids like air on their roots, so I would expect that the growth medium meant for either should work?

Jari