Phew! I made it! Bencelest mentioned this site after I posted this on gardenweb...took awhile for me to get here...

For my birthday in May I planned to buy a blood orange; my intent was to do some "guerilla" grafting with several varieties.I ended up buying three plants in pots, and I'm not sure whether to put them in the ground or leave them in pots, particularly given our month of triple digit temps. I really don't have room in the ground for three and I was wondering which plant would make the best candidate for putting in the ground (bigesst vs. smallest, healthiest versus weakest; most in need of a change in planting medium or pot size), but was mostly wondering if now was a good time, vs. maybe September.


JoeReal is indeed my inspiration in grafting, and he lives nearby. We are expecting temps of 111 degrees today. I hope he will make a comment about in the ground vs in a pot in inland California areas. With regard to size, I meant at transplanting. Is it better to let a plant outgrow, say half a wine barrel before putting it in the ground, or is it better to put it in the ground when it is one or two years old. And again, would you factor in the extreme temps in making the decision, or whether it was struggling in it's pot. I have a 1 year old moro that was struggling in it's pot after a nice flush of growth right after I got it. The new leaves where quite limp; a few were yellow and dropped. I suspected the medium wasn't draining well, so I took it out and put it in a (temporary pot; self-watering and in mostly potting soil. I read about CHC and got some. and replanted the moro in a mix of that and peat, plus a little potting soil, fertilizer (citrus) and dolomite. I gues I'll leave it that way, but have two more; these are Sanguinella bloods. I haven't fed them in at least a month, as I don't know if I want to encourage growth right now while I'm trying to decide what to do.

Since I posted this on gardenweb I'd like to add there are many leaves, "new" about two months ago, that have that thin, pale quality of being new (or overwatered), and quite limp, especially with our extreme (115 degrees last week) heat. Miraculously, the leaves have not yellowed or fallen, and the soil remains moist after a week! A second plant, a sasquninella (sp?) has now developed scale and/or that white wooly stuff, but I'm afraid to feed, use oil, or do anything, and I''m about to leave town for a week!.

Nanelle:
Welcome to the forum. I am glad you made it at last.
I hope the Heavies will answer you as my knowledge is limited as far as your problem is concern.
But please treat your plants with neem oil before you go for a week. They multiply very very fast.

Benny

Nanelle:
I am going to answer some of your question only through my own experience and nothing else.
from my experience, it is always better to transplant my plants directly to the ground irregardless of age because the roots once established can spread better and longer than it is planted on a pot. Once established it is much less maintenance because the roots can seek its own food . During winter I can protect them from frost by just putting clear plastic and Christmas lights inside the canopy. But you mentain fertilizing during the Summer time and stop during Winter.
The only problem planting in the ground is space. You need a lot of space. I myself restrict my planting 5 feet apart which I know is not enough but I probably will just trim them to size when it comes to do it.
That wooly thing in your plants is probably not aphids but I can't think the name of it right now but I use Malathion but a lot of people here frowned on using. It will also maybe cure the scales you have.

Benny

Benny is right, the sooner you can plant them in the ground the better. The wooly crawlers are mealy bugs. They are very yucky to get rid of. I control mine with malathion sprays. they are also herded by the ants. Usually if you control your ants well, you will also minimize infestations of other crawlers like scales, aphids, mealy bugs...

Joe, is there an animal (Bug) that will eat mealy Bugs ?


Im thinking about planting some of my trees in ground but i have nothing but sand here to work with .
lots of compost and worry about Other Critters we have schrews or something eating the bark off my apple trees ?

must not taste good because i have cats that havent gotten them yet .Tammy

Looking for more bugs that are good Gardeners i guess.

There are tiny wasps that can lay eggs on them and in the process they get eaten from inside out. I currently can't remember the other bugs that eat mealy bugs, but there's more.

Thanks! I'm assuming this tow month old leaves are struggling with some kind of root injury and shouldn't be fed. Is it unusual for the CHC/peet mix to stay moist for more than a week? Can I assume it's not a problem?

Nanelle:
I saw your post on GW. I want to remind you. Don't use your CHC as it is.You have to rinse it at least 3 times with water to get rid of the salt contents then you have to soak it with epsom salt and some other stuff to get rid of something I will tell you once I find my notes. This is very important otherwise the CHC will do nothing for you and your citrus leaves will turn yellow.
I'll post again asap.

I read about and completed the soaking, although not the "cation exchange".

Nanelle:
Before you can use your CHC here's the right procedure:
Rinse CHC at least 3 times.Then pre-treat the CHC's with CaNO3(calcium nitrate) and MgSo4(Epsom salt) during the last rinse then blend with the basic mix of 4 parts CHC (1/4 or 1/2 inch chips) basic mixture of:

23-4-8 one year slow release fertilizer, Dolomite, water soluble fertilizer, and STEM (Souble Trace Element Mix)
Blend the mixture well. Begin regular fertilizer applications one month after transplanting. As per Millet's recipe

Benny, you forgot to say 1 part peat or choir mixed with 4 parts chc. Maybe 'puter cut you off again.

Patty:
My bad. Thanks. Yes, a typo and still my 'puter is still acting up. I can only download perhapps 15 words. Over that I'd see ' This Page.cannot...

Maybe I'll just put it in the ground! Just kidding...sort of. I didn't have the STEM or delayed release fert, nor the pre-treating chems.Seems I had read somewhere some do okay without this so I took a chance. I did the three soaks, the dolomite, the 1 part peet moss, and a teeny bit of "organic" citrus fertilizer. I may try to get those things, but at this point I'm not sure I should repot again.The temps have cooled and I'm leaning toward putting one or more in the ground.

That's what I did to most of my citrus-plant them to the ground. Much less maintenance and the trees will grow much bigger.
I don't have much good result wiith my coconut husk even if I follow to the letter the procedure.