Miracle Grow Palm and Citrus soil

Discussion in 'Citrus' started by Ray from PA, Jul 15, 2009.

  1. Ray from PA

    Ray from PA Active Member

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    I've been using this for my Lemon tree for the last couple of years and it seems to break down quickly, six months after I repot, it seems to start draining slowly. Has anyone else used this soil? And if so, do you supplement with anything? I'm thinking of mixing it with perlite in the future to air it out a little more. Thankfully I use clay pots instead of plastic which I've heard improves aeration in the roots.
     
  2. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Miracle Grow Palm and Citrus soil is mostly peat moss, and is not a good medium for citrus. If you continue to use Miracle Grow, you will need to amend it 50:50 with either Coconut Husk Chips (CHC) or pine bark chips. Both can be used for citrus, but the CHC last 2 to 3 times longer than bark before it breaks down. Use the search function on this forum and put in CHC, Pine Bark, or citrus medium, and you will obtain a lot of good information. - Millet (1,282-)
     
  3. Ray from PA

    Ray from PA Active Member

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    Hmmm, that seems like a little bit of false advertising on Miracle-Grow's part.

    So do the pine bark chips or chc change the density of the soil, the acidity, or both?
     
  4. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Citrus like a pH of 6.5 which is only very slightly acidic. CHC is perfect for citrus, as the natural pH of CHC is 6.5. Four parts CHC and one part peat moss, is a VERY POPULAR medium for container citrus growers. - Millet (1,282-)
     
  5. Ray from PA

    Ray from PA Active Member

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    Thanks Millet, I'll definitely try that for the next repotting. In fact I might even do it this weekend.
     
  6. Ray from PA

    Ray from PA Active Member

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  7. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Probably fine. The only word that gives me a second thought is the word "compressed". Does compressed mean that they have made a chip out of powered coconut? Regular CHC is just chopped up coconuts. If they are regular coconut husk chips, or if they are indeed a composite that does not break down they should be fine. Since it is being sold as a pet supply check with the supplier to see if any additives have been added. The main thing you want to achieve is EXCELLENT aeration and drainage. Try a 50:50 mix with the Miracle grow blend, or even a 60% chip and 40 % Miracle grow. Millet (1,280-)
     
  8. The Hollyberry Lady

    The Hollyberry Lady New Member

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    I now use Miracle Grow soil with coconut husk chips - I get it at the hardware store. Wal-Mart only sells the kind without, and yes I do find that it doesn't drain very well. This kind is much better.

    : )
     
  9. Ray from PA

    Ray from PA Active Member

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    Thanks Millet, I'll post what I find out.
     
  10. Ray from PA

    Ray from PA Active Member

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    Hmmm, I wasn't aware that Miracle-Gro had a soil with coconut husk chips in it. Is it for orchids?
     
  11. The Hollyberry Lady

    The Hollyberry Lady New Member

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    I wasn't aware either until a couple of months ago when a friend wised me up!

    All this time I've been buying miracle grow soil from Wal-Mart in the green and yellow bag and meanwhile the hardware store has all these other special kinds - for annuals and perennials, for container plants, for trees and shrubs, with coconut husks and without!

    I was shocked to see all these special MG varieties of soils, that were not even in the typical full green and white bags, they have other colors on the bags also.

    I think Wal-Mart obviously sells the cheapest stuff they can. Hope you can find these special kinds of Miracle Grow soil. They are terrific. I bought several bags of different kinds.

    Here's a pic of one of the bags so you know what to look for. This is the one with coconut husks - thought they were chips. Swear there was another with chips also...

    : )
     

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  12. Ray from PA

    Ray from PA Active Member

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    Wow, that's news to me too. Thanks for the info and pics, I'm going to go see what I can find.
     
  13. The Hollyberry Lady

    The Hollyberry Lady New Member

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    You are very welcome!

    I really am so happy to share this with you, because I was ecstatic when it was shared with me. I teased my friend all the way home from the hardware store, saying...

    "And just how long have you known about this? keeping all your little gardening secrets to yourself, huh"?!!! She thought I knew!

    I think you will be much happier with these special blends than the cheap heavy stuff from Wal-Mart. Good luck to you.

    : )
     
  14. Ray from PA

    Ray from PA Active Member

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    Ok well I went around to a bunch of different places and nobody had anything but the standard three Miracle-Gro soils (regular, moisture control and citrus) so I went to the pet store and bought the coco husks. I contacted the mfr. and they assured me that it is 100% natural, there's nothing in there but coconut.

    Millet, what they mean by compressed is that it's dried out and pressed into a brick, so when you drop it in a bucket of water it expands to about 10 times it's size. There's alot of fibers in there but it's probably about three quarters chips, at roughly a quarter inch a piece. Bonus, it was marked down from 5 dollars to 2.50, so I bought two bricks. Now to see how the roots develop in it. I took a couple of pictures, maybe you can see if there's a big difference from the horticultural kind that you use.
     

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  15. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Looks good to me. When using a CHC medium, the drainage will be very good. If the water pass through is to quick to throughly wet the chips, you can also saturate the chips by soaking the roots system. Besides, pouring the water into the container, setting your tree's container in a larger container filled with water and soak the root system (with or without fertilizer), for a couple minutes. This method really hydrates the chips. With an excellent draining medium you will not have to worry about over watering. Good luck. - Millet (1,280-)
     
  16. The Hollyberry Lady

    The Hollyberry Lady New Member

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    Thank you Millet, for all your great information. You're going to have some wonderful plants now, Ray from PA!

    This forum is just so fantastic. Other forums I've been on, it's like talking to a bunch of donkeys that don't know anything - but people are so in the know here, and it's what I love the most.

    I don't mean to say that we all have to be experts, but I just like to mingle with folks who have knowledge about things, so I can keep adding to what I already know.

    This forum is chalked full of endless information on just about any plant - and growing!

    Happy to be a part of it.

    : )

     
  17. Ray from PA

    Ray from PA Active Member

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    Since the growing medium for the Meyer Lemon seemed to be a slightly sandy soil I mixed one part Miracle-gro palm and citrus soil (which has some sand in it) with 3 parts chc, just to ease the transition for the tree. But when I gave it it's first really good watering it looked like all of the soil washed off of the chips, so next time I think I'll use peat moss and chc and just skip the soil altogether. I also noticed about an 1/8 inch of sitting water at the bottom of the pot that doesn't escape from the drain hole so I put a 1/4 inch layer of perlite at the bottom. I'm sure the clay soaks it up fairly quickly but I just wanted to be safe. I also have the drain tray filled with gravel, so nothing will ever be sitting in water.

    Hollyberry lady, I agree, this is a great forum filled with information that you would have to search all day to find elsewhere. I love it here.
     

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  18. Ray from PA

    Ray from PA Active Member

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    I ran into a small unforseen problem when I repotted into the chc. When I repotted I didn't touch the original rootball except for about two inches at the bottom, so when I watered it ran right through the chc without soaking into the rootball. I even stuck my finger deep into the rootball to see and it was bone dry. So I took the tree out and soaked it in a bucket for a couple of hours to remove all of the original dirt, and just did a bare roots planting in my chc mix. I even made a little tower in the middle of the pot to sit the underside of the trunk on so all of the roots would hang down and spread out, then filled in around the edges.

    Hopefully my tree won't go into shock from being repotted twice in a week. However, I did notice at the bottom of the original rootball that the roots I freed during the previous repotting had already started to attach themselves to the chc. Pretty impressive after only a week.
     

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