Hi! First post & I need some advice from the Master Growers here! After spending too much time at the garden center I picked up what I thought was the "right stuff" to transplant my citrus trees. I saw "coco shell" & grabbed 2 bags. Realized my mistake later [duh!] when I actually read the whole bag "Cocoa bean shell mulch". Says it's a great soil conditioner, porous, all natural, oh yea, & it smells REALLY good! Has anyone ever used this before? I don't want to harm my trees. Thanx for any & all help!

I used this before in a container, and it did not turn out well. As I recall, the shells are cupped, and therefore hold a tremendous amount of water, standing water that cannot drain on its own. I would not recommend them for citrus for this reason. I have a whole bag of these in the shed that I told my husband he could spread on his next mulching project. Barbara

Thanks! I'm returning the bags tomorrow. They sure smell good though!

I use it to (try to) keep the neighbour's cats out of our garden!
Seems to work!

If you plan on using the coco beans to mulch with be very careful. Dogs will eat it and get very sick

After finding out they'd be bad for my plants AND my poms, back they went to the garden center! Bought a couple bags of "CHC" [last 2 at Petsmart] & a big bag of "reptile bark". I've soaked & rinsed the chips & added the epsom salt & some Jacks 30-10-10, didn't have the other stuff, [nitrate] so I hope it'll be okay without it. The bark is "fir bark"...hope that's okay too...is it?

The stuff at Petsmart is pretty good and (very close) the right size, both the CHC and repti-bark (fir). Just expensive if you need a large qty.

I have seven dwarf citrus, 2 Meyers, 2 Kishu,1 Key Lime,1 Moro,& 1 brand new Rio Red grapefruit from Four Winds.That doesn't include the Cocktail grapefruit & Rangpur lime that will be delivered on Thursday. The quality of the new Rio was so outstanding I HAD to order the final two. I only got a pot & a half out of one bag of chc [bought 2 bags] & I figure I can get 3 pots out of the large bag of bark which leaves 3 left to pot up.It's expensive but worth every penny! Next time I'll plan ahead & order online. Now that I FINALLY have the RIGHT information on how to grow these trees they are looking fabulous & healthy! You'd be surprised at the information that came with the first 6 trees, it's amazing that all survived.