Author Topic: Compost for citrus trees  (Read 1008 times)

BarriedaleNick

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Compost for citrus trees
« on: October 02, 2018, 08:56:21 »
I have just got a new Kafir Lime bush and wondering if I should use a specific soil/compost for it.
It needs potting on and is currently in a pot that seems to have a heavy sandy sort of soil..
Can I just use MPC or topsoil or is there something else I should be using?
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Vinlander

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Re: Compost for citrus trees
« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2018, 11:24:30 »
There's a lot of good information about citrus composts ont'web but I will add this rarer advice:

Citrus roots don't have root hairs, so they can be incredibly tricky -
a) when re-potting the soil tends to fall off the roots (especially on young plants), and they won't appreciate a sudden change of soil.
b) even more importantly, they have to rely much more on mycorrhyzal fungi - so don't remove all the old soil and replace it - even diluting it is risky.
c) they are very fussy about moisture* - and recent research has emphasised that two types of soil next to each other can upset drainage across the boundary - so I'd recommend making the new soil as similar as possible to the soil it's happy in  and creating a layer of gradual change from the root ball to the new stuff.

That's assuming it is happy - I've bought citrus that were in a claggy sandy clay - presumably from a nursery in a hotter country, and others that had been potted up a size using sodden soil-less compost - a quick and deadly trick - presumably to get a better price for old stock.

*The simple solution to moisture is a capillary mat system - it makes it easier for the plant to find moisture when it wants it, and also easier to drain excess moisture. This may sound odd, but a capillary system mirrors the soil system - all plants in well watered and drained soil have access to water via a capillary link to the wetter levels - while this link exists it speeds up water movement in BOTH directions.

It doesn't have to be expensive - an old slate on a bit of expanded plastic in a tray is the 'shelf', and the mat covers it and hangs into the water in the tray (hanging over one side is OK, 2 is best)

Before I used capillary I lost about 20-30% of my citrus every winter, now I lose a few percent.

Having said that, Kaffir Lime is one of the tenderest and fussiest citrus on sale in our climate.

Good Luck

Cheers.
With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

 

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