Hey everyone,

This saturday I'm gonna by 2 new citrusses and will repot these in a new container.
I was wondering how important the size of the container is?
I'm talking about plants about 1 meter tall with a stem about 1 cm thick.

greetz

I would suggest to pot them in something just a hair bigger. Since you live in Belgium the temperature will not be over 30C during the summer and you will have watering problems. If the container is too big you will not know when to water.
From my experience (or it i just my opinion) if you pot a citrus tree in something a lot bigger than the previous container the plant will focus on developing new roots and it will stop growing above the soil line for a period.

Yesterday I bought some new ones. I've potted them all in a slightly bigger container to keep the roots more compact. All citrus seem to have a very compact rootsystem when bought. I guess thats what they thrive on the best.

The temperatures here can easily go over 30°C during summers. Now there were days were we already got about 25 to 26°C

Its very important...as suggested upsize gradually....between 1 to 4 inches bigger than the rootball.....Another reason not to go bigger than this is if you put it in to say a pot bigger by 8 inches all around(than rootball) a lot of the mix will remain water logged and become stagnant due to the roots not having access to it...The soil goes off and root rot sets in...
Here in NZ i have been using terracotta pots and i have been potting up each season in spring as follows.....25cm pot,27cm pot,31cm pot and this year 37cm pot.
Before i killed plenty of trees from waterlogging and lack of oxygen as a result.All my trees are dwarfs....Its a false economy to put it into a huge pot,thinking it will save you having to repot for ages....Dont be scared to remove your tree from your pot and inspect the roots...then tease some roots out to encourage them to grow into the new pot....You can check the drainage holes anytime to see if the roots are coming out the bottom(time to repot) but i find the mix dries quickly when its time to re pot due to a dense rootball...Good luck

I just put mine in big pots and don't worry about re-potting every year. I haven't seen any ill effects after 3 years, other than to note that big pots are really heavy and hard to move in the event of a hard freeze.

Just my experience.

whats your rain fall like there?How long does your mix take to dry after watering?In NZ it rains hard out through the winter...doesnt get that cold....If your pots were subjected to days and days of heavy rain...root rot would be the result.....I once read that if the roots remain waterlogged for 24 hours or more that root rot is inevitable.
Its raining everyday here at the moment but my trees remain moist only...combo of right pot size/mix/terracotta.

A citrus tree can withstand flooding for at least 2 days before any damage begins. Laidback, your correct, a person is taking a real chance when planting a tree in an over sized container. - Millet (583-)

I Stand corrected on the time Millet(thanks for that)....I will be upsizing my containers soon and will take pics of the roots(which i suspect are pretty root bound and need to be done before the spring burst)

LaidBackDood it is great having you back on the forum. - Millet (581-)

Can I ask all of you something....but isn't a bad ideea to keep the trees in a small container , the canopy will not grow on the sides but only straight up , as it is in fruit trees the rule that the root systems is spread as wide as the canopy is .

Isn't so?

Perhaps I am able to get away with planting in oversize containers because all of my citrus is on trifoliate rootstock? Very tolerant of poor drainage. That being said, my pots have excellent drainage, and are just fine in high rainfall events.

Here in Houston it is very hot, and my trees can dry out their pots very quickly. I'm having to water twice a week to keep up.

Again, just my experience.

Right now the temperature is 100.4 degrees F, but tonight the low will be 70 degrees.

The relatively high humidity helps buffer the temperature changes.

Danero...The difficult trick is to repot before they become extremely rootbound eg the roots going around in circles.If you can gently lift the tree from the base and it feels like the whole thing is going to come out of the pot,then the the rootball has occupied the whole pot and its time to repot..If its really bad the tree will lift itself out of the pot!
From what i have learnt...citrus go= root growth,top growth,root growth,top growth....Thats why personally i do not transplant while there is top growth going on(i think it could disturb that process) but millet could clarify that..Thats why i prefer to transplant at tail end of winter when the tree is dormant and check for any root problems...Then the roots can do something before the spring burst.Just my strange theory! 1 to 4 inches bigger than the rootball and tease the roots into the new mix and away you go.Once you get to the size you want and the pot size you want....Then maybe every two years....refresh some mix,trim some roots,trim some top(equal to each other) and feed. The 1-4 inch rule would apply to the size and age of the tree i would say...eg a 5 year old tree would have a much bigger rootball than a 2 year old tree so could go up 4 inch in size wheras a young tree in a small pot...up an inch or two.It has been working well for me like this.No wasted mix which leaches its nutrients without being made available to the tree roots.