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I had one in a 4'x4'x2' raised bed, it grew fine but the deer killed it. I have 8 trees in beds like that and it works fine.See Trees in the keys:
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=7804.0
I'm in Osceola county and can't seem to find a source of compost besides mushroom compost.
Lowes has a "Cow manure / Compost" that I use. It's less than $2 per bag.
I've been interested in the Joraform tumbling composter
http://www.boogiebrew.net/gyg/
Thank you for the advice. I cleared out the wedelia, about a 6ft diameter around the tree. The drip was set to 15 minutes every other day, I turned it off completely. As I pulled the wedelia, the ground was pretty crumbly a few inches down. Will let it dry out a week to resume less water and see how it goes. Thanks!
What breed is he/she, a Border Collie?
Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?You can tell they are starting to be too old is when your plants start showing more yellow when you know nutrients should be plenty available to feed on. The growth starts slowing down and dark green becomes more lime green on the trees. Time to change filter. After changing the green starts coming back. Directions say to rotate the filter once a month for extended life to get the 40K gallons, with prefilter of course.
How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?
I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.
I'll see about ordering a water filter online if I can't find any locally here.
Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?
How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?
I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.
Could you PM me the link, or product name? That sounds like a good place to start in my quest to absorb less chlorine.
Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?
How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?
I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.
If whole house filter is too difficult you can just add filters to where you are drinking tap water. You say you don't drink tap water, but i bet you are adding tap water into some of your foods? And you can add filter to where you are bathing. Most people don't realize that chlorine is absorbed through the skin. (Bathing in a public pool with tons of chlorine is the absolute worst!) It's not at all healthy, neither for your plants nor for yourself.
Thanks Squam, that's what I thought
So...sulfur? any other treatment...not sure who in my are carries that?
Looks great! Now you do not have to worry about high ph water or nutrient lockout, your plants will readily absorb whenever you feed. Good luck with your container plants.
That was an amazing looking tree. Hopefully the owner will be willing to give you some fruit or trade fruit with you.
To counteract tipping with a newly potted mango which do not have the root ball filling the pot, I use a thick string and tie to something nearby like a fence, or use a cement block where I can change the direction of the support. Once the root ball more fills the pot then the tipping isn't as big of a problem since sand mix is pretty heavy. Once the whisky barrel pots are filled with roots they are ready to go into the ground and I start the process over again. The only trees I have had difficulty with tipping are the really tall and bushy trees, Shorter than say 7 feet or so do not have any problems with tipping over unless they are really bushy, in which case they could be thinned a bit to allow wind to move through the canopy.
The best way gritty mix helps with tipping is because the tree doesn't grow, so you do not have much problems with tipping on a tree that is stuck in a bed of rock/clay. Oh, and it will take forever and a day for the roots to fill that pot, since the mix is neutral to high ph (from the high ph water combined with neutral soil) instead of neutral to acidic as well as always stuck in a bed of damp rock/clay.
OK, thanks BSBullie. I was starting to lean towards the gritty due to the weight and tipping thing, but since it won't help with tipping, I won't do that.Gritty mix will help with tipping. I have trees with similar size and shape in the same size pot, one with gritty and one without. The gritty mix tips far less. I would guess the gritty mix pot can handle another 15-20 mph than the non-gritty mix pot before it tips. I have far far more occasions where the non-gritty tips and the gritty still stands, then having them both fall. A 50 mph gust will wipe out everything in one whack, gritty or not. A hurricane is going to take out everything that ain't heavily nailed down including your roof (ok, extreme).
And his place has so many different types of plants, it was like a jungle in there. 3-4 years in the 25 gallon pot before needing a root pruning? Sounds like the Pickering has a home for several years then.5-1-1 is is more organic, so a shorter life span (still better than most any dirt). You can get turface from irrigation suppliers, they use it on baseball diamonds. 1-1-1 is heavy stuff, nothing you want to move around on a regular basis, the plus side is reduced wind tippage.
Ah OK, thanks Doglips. So turface is used on baseball diamonds, didn't know that. Hmm, well I do live in Florida, we do get tropical storms and hurricanes (though it has been several years without one, thankfully), that extra weight might do good later on down the road when the tree gets a little too tall and wide for me to move around into the house.
Gritty mix will not help keep a potted tree upright in a tropical storm/hurricane, or even a gisty summer tstorm. 15 foot+ trees in 100, 200 and 300 gal can easily be toppled over in the run of the mill blustery cold front or summer tstorm. The 500 gal seem to stay upright...though they would fare too well in a strong tropical storm or hurricane either.
A few pictures of some ingredients ...
Turface (sifted)
Pine Bark (walmart)
Pine Bark (sifted) tiny pieces and dust removed
Orchiatta fir bark (Orchid bark)
Coarse Silica Sand
Turface (sifted and rinsed)
zands- Green Jungle's Tikki stuff is all made locally by a friend of his. They are open during January for part of the week, give him a call, the days and times are on the answering machine. Usually he take Feb off, not sure if he is this year.
Stormin- The guy on Craigslist you are talking about is Larry, some of us know him by a more colorful name. He is a good guy, knows his stuff and has some amazing trees and such for sale and grows a lot of things he shouldn't be able to grow on his property. His prices are pretty decent. I would visit over there more often if he didn't have his business on the exact opposite corner of Orlando from me accessible by only toll roads.
What colorful name do you know him by? Yeah Winter Garden is kind of the opposite side for me too, and I agree about those toll roads.. lol Wish I would've searched craigslist for mangoes last month, I was just around that area at the end of the month showing my family that was visiting around.
