I have so many questions..

I searched and couldn't find the answer I'm looking for. I re-potted my bearss lime a week ago and today noticed a pretty rank smell around my trees. Tonight I was installing my new grow lights and noticed the new soil had huge patches of white fuzzy mold, going down maybe two inches into the pot.
What causes this to happen?

you guys are the best!
-Linda

Hello catlikethief,
Your potting media likely consists of a fair amount of organic matter (such as peat moss) that if moist enough will support a heavy growth of various fungi and or molds that you can both see and smell.You may have have poor drainage or may be keeping the media too moist by too frequent watering.Good air circulation,a sunny spot and allowing the pot to dry somewhat between waterings can reduce or eliminate the problem.Citrus requires a potting media with good drainage and will perish if kept too wet from root rot diseases.Some potting medias are too heavy that hold too much water and do not supply enough oxygen for citrus roots.I have seen someone lose most of the roots of a Meyer Lemon by planting it in a pot filled with Michigan Peat-not a pretty sight If you believe your potting soil is too heavy or too rich in organic matter you may wish to repot with good well draining potting soil (often with bark and perlite)and drench the roots with a fungicide such as Banrot or Ferti-lome Halt Systemic Fungicide .Cool damp conditions favor your problem-with warmth and light you may have victory

Did you use a commercial potting mix, that can be purchased at most nurseries? These type of mixtures are normally just a blend of mostly peat moss with a little perlite added, which is not good to use with citrus. A good medium for citrus should also contain a chunky material such as pine bark or CHC. A good growth medium for your tree would be 3 parts CHC or pine bark, 1 part peat moss and one part coarse sand such as concrete sand (not play sand). I use a medium made of 4 parts CHC and 1 part peat moss.

Thanks guys. After reading your reply's I figured out what the problem was. I made my own potting mix with 3 parts fir bark, 1 part peat moss 1 part sand and then I threw in some perlite.
I think the problem was the peat moss. It had been sitting outside and when I brought it in I noticed it was very wet, but still watered the plant when I was done. Must have been to much water!

I have to bragg, my husband bought me a 400HPS Sun System set up last night!

Happy Thanksgiving

-Linda

Your potting soil is a 1:1:1 blend. The tree would be much better off with a 3:1:1 blend.

I've noticed a similar problem with my tree. It is less than one year old and potted in a mix of the cocnut chips and ground coconut husk as recommended here in several other posts.


Other than the mold it seems to be doing great but that mold has me worried. I've only watered it a couple of times since I moved it indoors but it is staying pretty moist. The bay window there is above my baseboard heater and it seems to stay in the high 70s there when I have the shade closed, lower like 69 when the shade is open.



Do I have to re-pot it to get rid of the mold? Maybe I got the mix off (not enough chips, too much grounds) so it's holding too much water? It seemed fine all summer long outside but it's been indoors in a window now for a couple of weeks and it started getting ugly.

Besides the six citrus trees planted in the ground, I have over 100 different varieties of citrus planted in either CHC/peat or straight CHC chips. Over the years I have had both a yellow mold or perhaps a fungus, and a white mold or fungus. They have always just gone away, and never caused a problem. Further, other members on this forum also have had various mold type substances in their CHC and also in their pine bark mediums, and they have also never had a problem. The trees have always done fine and have grown well. Your plants in the above pictures look great. - Millet (1,196-)

Thanks Millet. I'll let it ride and see how it goes.