Citrus Growers Forum

boost-boy74 · Posted: Tue 02 Nov, 2010 6:21 am

hi all,
and hello from sunny england Surprised

i have some citrus trees that i have just got,and they are just in potting compost, i have a bag of orchid bark here which i use for my reptiles. can i mix some of that up? what quantities do i use of bark and soil?

your input would be great....cheers simon

beno · Posted: Tue 02 Nov, 2010 10:05 am

Hi Simon, I am English and have killed my fair share of citrus trees, so I will advise you as best I can.

Try to get some Coconut Husk Chips on ebay, then use 75% chips, 25% compost/peat etc. You need to have lots of air in the soil, so find potting compost is a bad idea, it will hold the water too much. You can use Orchid compost, I have recently as I cant find CHC here in Switzerland.

Get some fairy lights, or a heat mat, and heat the roots up to rougly 25-30C, then you wont get lots of leaves falling off the tree.

I would recomend having a good look over the forum threads and do some research. Good luck!!

boost-boy74 · Posted: Tue 02 Nov, 2010 11:05 am

hi,

thanks for your reply, i found the chc on ebay but they are quite expensive, for the amount i need - is the orchid bark a no - no? or i can get beech chips locally dirt cheap? are they safe to use they look identical to the chc?

fred · Citruholic Joined: 16 Oct 2009 Posts: 134

pine or fir bark will work as well

beno · Posted: Tue 02 Nov, 2010 11:44 am

I'm not so sure about other chips, I guess it all depends on the salts contained in the chips and if they have been treated with anything. I guess if ou soak the chips long enough to get all the salts out, then anything will work.

boost-boy74 · Posted: Wed 03 Nov, 2010 5:57 am

beno wrote:

I'm not so sure about other chips, I guess it all depends on the salts contained in the chips and if they have been treated with anything. I guess if ou soak the chips long enough to get all the salts out, then anything will work.

that sounds good i have found a soil on the web called orchid mix which contains bark and chc - thinking about getting some of that - any views on this media anybody?

cheers simon

boost-boy74 · Posted: Wed 03 Nov, 2010 5:58 am

fred wrote:

pine or fir bark will work as well

thanks fred thats good to know Very Happy

beno · Posted: Wed 03 Nov, 2010 7:55 am

Sounds good, orchid and chc, plus use some (25%) peat/compost to hold some moisture.

Remember to soak the chips, maybe in the bath or a bucket for a couple of days, a few times a day remove the water and then replace with fresh water. On the final soak add some epson salts to the mix, this will charge the chips with vital salts.

Good lck, you should post some pics now, during and after repotting!!

Cheers

boost-boy74 · Posted: Thu 04 Nov, 2010 6:40 am

all sounds good, on my search yesterday of the web - i found chc bales, should i use them instead? also epsom salts how much do you add?

beno · Posted: Thu 04 Nov, 2010 6:57 am

I don't think it's an exact science, I put 1 tea spoon full in a sink full of water.

boost-boy74 · Posted: Thu 04 Nov, 2010 7:24 am

ok no worries thanx

beno · Posted: Thu 04 Nov, 2010 7:57 am

Get those pics up Smile

PS - What area of UK are you?

boost-boy74 · Posted: Thu 04 Nov, 2010 8:57 am

yes will get some pics, i come from east anglia in the uk