I also did just what you did as above before learning you have to add STEM and such.
The plants did OK but not as good as my plants planted from my old recipe.
But don't ask me because I don't have a recipe except well draining soil.

The potted plant is doing fine now; the wilted leaves now have that mature leaf ("cutcle"?). The one I put in the ground looks good too.

OK , guys nd gals I give up. What is CHC? I did a search and couldn't find the definition

coconut husk chips.
awesome potting material.
vaguely acidic, drains well but holds water like a sponge.
And! its waste from the coconut industry

So if you use the chc you shouldn't have to water as much. Is that the reasoning for using it?
I have my potted citrus in mirclegrow potting mix. They all seem to be doing ok. My main problem are the leaf rollers besides that, they seem to be fine.
While talking about the leaf rollers what can I do about them? I sprayed my plants with Fish emulsion. Don't know if that is a cure or not

I'm just guessing, but what you are calling leaf rollers is probably Citrus Leaf Miners (CLM for short) they leave a visible trail of where they have burrowed through the leav and then typically roll the edge of the leaf to make a cocoon. They are very small --1-2 mm.

You can search the forum for miners and find numerous post. There is a pesticide called spinosad that will help, or you can use oil sprays-- but you should read about oil before using it this time of year.

--Skeet

Reasons for using CHC's:
1. Holds seven times their weight in water.
2. Has a natural pH of 6.5 (perfect for citrus).
3. Greatly resist degrading.
4. Provides optimum root aeriation.
5. Strongly resist compaction
6. Never troubled with fungus gnats
7. Promotes good root growth.
8. Light weight

All growing mediums work well in the beginning. However, mixes with a high peat moss content soon begin to degrade and compact, causing poor aeriation, soggy conditions, and raised levels of soluble salts. This is the case for almost all potting soils currently being sold. CHC is not the only good medium for containerized citrus, other mediums such as 3 parts ground conifer bark, 1 part peat, and 1 part concrete sand also drain well, however, conifer bark would degrade much sooner that CHC. The main object is to provide containerized citrus with a growing medium that drains quickly, provides the proper pH, does not compact, holds ample water while at the same time offering the root system excellent aeriation, and is capable of doing all this over an extended period of time. - Millet

Ok, now the next question is where do you buy it and is it real expensive? Of course after that I can find answers to ant questions doing a search
Thanks
Ernie

I purchase mine from The Crystal Company Saint Louis, MO. I feel that they have the highest quality CHC with the best pre-processing. However, there and many other places where members have purchased their CHC. - Millet

Crystal Company, 572 Leffingwell Ave.
St. Louis, Mo 63122
1-800-845-4777

I bought a bale from orchidmix.com - ive used maybe 1/3 of the bale so far and im nearly out of uses for it! its great stuff, and after I move and repot a few more babies, i might just give the rest away.

How much is a bail and how far does it go? I have 4 citrus in pots probably in 5 gallon pots. Are tne pots big enough for meyer lemons and grape fruit?

garnetmoth
what size bale and medium do you buy? Do you use straight CHC or mix it with something else?

bale of the CHCs. I think i got "medium" texture. Plants in straight medium chunks seem to not do as well as those with a bit of potting soil mixed in.

its also nice to mix the CHCs with coir dust (another coconut product) which is like non-disintegrating peat) Im going to try that VS CHC and potting soil on a few trifolate seedlings and see how i like each.

A good ratio is 4 parts CHC and 1 part peat moss or coir. To this mixture I add S.T.E.M., Osmocoate, and dolomite. - Millet