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Topics - CanadianCitrus

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Citrus General Discussion / Soil amendments for microbiology
« on: February 18, 2022, 06:38:49 PM »
Good evening all,

I am continuing with my jacks 25-5-15 but was wondering if anyone every experiments with other amendments with the intent of improving the microbiology of their potted citrus. As my plants are always indoors, they are not getting anything else from the outdoors that would help with the digestion of nutrients. Some things I have looked at include: molasses, worm castings, bat guano etc..

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks again!

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Citrus General Discussion / Small Volume Measuring Fert
« on: February 13, 2022, 08:31:43 PM »
Good evening everyone!

I am continuing my battle with growing citrus indoors all year around. The plants are alive (most of them) but I am struggling with the fertilizing. The plants are flushing new growth as well as flowering but I can’t keep them fed properly. I am upping the volume of nutrients but am not too sure how much to increase. On the bag of jacks 25-5-15 it has small volume measurement but how do you know which dose to go with? I am trying the 20%-750 ppm of nitrogen. The plants are being fertilized every watering on a 4 day of 1 day on watering schedule. They are also being fed a slow release fert to supplement.

Thanks!

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Citrus General Discussion / Volume of water
« on: August 04, 2021, 06:55:20 PM »
Evening all!

When I water my plants I do so in a 5 gallon bucket and then pH the water (my city water is very alkaline). My question is, when watering potted citrus (my plants are indoors only), does the volume of water you give each plant matter as long as it’s enough to run out the bottom of the pots? I’m not necessarily worried about root rot but rather a high volume of water may flush all nutrients out of the pot. They are in 3 gallon pots and I am giving them about 1gallon of water each every time I water.

Thanks!!!

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Citrus General Discussion / Indoor Citrus
« on: May 22, 2021, 11:27:52 AM »
Hi everyone, I hope the start of summer is going well!

So most of my previous posts had related to indoor citrus as I live in a typical unfriendly-to-citrus environment. I have some citrus being shipped from Phoenix perennials in Vancouver and I plan to continue to experiment with growing citrus indoors. I know that this will be a challenge as citrus are plants that obviously thrive outdoors but that hasn’t stopped me from trying to have thriving indoor citrus. I am looking for any advice on making this a successful growing experience as I struggled previously with root rot, lack of lighting and fluctuating root temperatures. So this time around I am going “all-in” with the indoor experiment. Listed below is what I have prepared for my indoor citrus (4th time is a charm!):

-They will be living in a 2x4’ grow tent that is lined with reflective Mylar material to help reflect light, regulate temperatures and humidity.

-I will be fertilizing with jacks high performance 25-5-15 (after the advice of everyone here).

-fabric pots and plastic air root pruning pots for maximum drainage and access to oxygen (my first attempt at defending from root rot which I have struggled with).

-medium will be 5:1:1:1 for extra drainage. I will used cedar bark fines (the best/affordable bark I could find), 1 mushroom compost, 1 sand, 1 large coarse perlite. I know this mix may seem extreme but I would rather have to water every day then have another set of plants die from root rot.

-TSL 2000 Marshydro LED light that is using 6400K light. The light covers the 2x4 area nicely.

-6” oscillating fan for airflow

-humidity/temperature monitor.


First question: because I won’t have to compete with any weather or seasons, how does this effect fertilization/fruiting schedules?

Second question: my area chlorinated tap water, should I dechlorinate?

Ok team, does it seem like I am prepared? Any other recommendations for success?

I intend to have these be indoor plants (yes their size will be a challenge down the road) but I am excited to see what is capable growing citrus in my basement. I also plan to photograph the growing experience and see if I have learned from previous mistakes.

Thanks very much! Any advice is very much appreciated!!!


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Citrus General Discussion / What makes a citrus leaf shiny?
« on: November 13, 2019, 07:10:47 PM »
Hi all,

So as we know for the most part a healthy citrus plant would be partnered with dark green and SHINY leaves. So I’m starting to understand what effects colouring of leaves(over watering,  nutrient deficiencies, pests, weather).

My question is, what makes leaves shiny. Additionally, what factors affect the shine of a leaf? Some of my plants are thriving, while others have dark green leaves but dull with no shine.

Thanks!!!

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Citrus General Discussion / The War on Root Rot
« on: November 04, 2019, 07:18:05 PM »
Good day all!

So I pretty much have exclusively posted on the topic of root rot. It comes as no surprise that growing citrus in Canada is a challenge. So following Millet’s recipe (for the most part) I have entered a new phase of the war on root rot.

Here I have added 1 part potting soil. I chose to use potting soil as the wood chips I bought were on the bigger side so I strayed from the recipe slightly instead of using peat. The potting soil I am using is predominately peat FYI.



Next I added sand. As you can see it is blue and white because the store where I bought the reptile bark from only had this type of sand.



Finally I used reptile bark. I couldn’t find any small enough for quarter inch. Mostly big stuff, a third of an inch all the way up to half inch.



For a pot I am using an air root pruning pot for max aeration.



Time to see if my Eureka seedling will survive/thrive or die.



The indoor/basement growing season has begun. If anyone has any growing tips let me know!

Thanks all!

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Citrus General Discussion / Wood chips for growing media
« on: September 29, 2019, 06:26:55 PM »
Evening all!

So I am beginning to procure the amendments for the 5-1-1 growing media (1/4” wood chips, perlite, peat) as prescribed by Millet. I am the king of root rot as I can never find a soul that drains fast enough, so I’m going to give this recipe a try.

As for the wood chips, I am having a heck of a time finding them in such a small size other than using BBQ smoking chips which usually have some sort of additive for flavour. Does anyone have a website or location that they have purchased such a small size of wood chip in bulk?

Thanks a million!

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Citrus General Discussion / Curling leaves
« on: November 30, 2018, 09:47:03 AM »
The battle of growing citrus in my basement in Canada continues. I think I am winning the war against root rot but one of my Naval oranges is experiencing leaf curing. The tree divides into two main branches. One branch is looking beautiful, dark waxy leaves and beautiful smelling blooms all over. the other main branch has nothing but droopy curling leaves and the blooms don't look so great. I am ensuring proper watering cycle, feeding is going well, it is receiving supplemental light from a CFL. The ambient temperature of the room is between 67f and 70f. After continually reading the article about winter leaf drop I don't think it is effecting this plant as my other plants are not experiencing those symptoms. I have un curled the leaves to inspect for pests and there are none ( no bugs, no residue just curled leaves).

Would it be a good idea to move these plants into a grow tent to increase the temperature to 75f and maybe give them a bit more humidity? Should I get a big grow light for them?

(these are indoor potted plants)

Thanks



-too far north

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Citrus General Discussion / Fabric pots?
« on: November 24, 2018, 07:09:06 PM »
Good day all,

So as many of you already know, Canada has legalized Cannabis to consume and grow. That being said every store that has a garden center is now catering to "indoor gardens," specifically I am seeing fabric pots all over the place. In previous posts I have mentioned that I am fighting the war on root rot and soil that stays too wet. I have tried a bunch of different soil amendments but I am still loosing to root rot. I know there are plastic air root pruning containers but I was thinking of kicking it up a notch and using fabric pots to facilitate a dryer soil and perhaps turn the tide against root rot/get more air to the root system.

This being said what do you all think of using a fabric pot for my dwarf citrus trees. They live in my basement under grow lights.

Thanks,

-too far north

10
Citrus General Discussion / Did I over feed or under feed?
« on: November 08, 2018, 09:14:26 PM »
Good day all,

Another challenging winter of trying to grow potted citrus indoors in the frigid zone 3A. I have a Navel orange in a 1 gal container and a Eureka lemon in a 4ish gal container. They are in side for the winter as there is snow on the ground and it is -15 degrees Celsius outside ( like 7 degrees F). I have noticed over the last few weeks that there are some light spots showing up on the leaves of my plants. I fertilize ever 2 weeks still with a 30-10-10 fertilizer with trace minerals. I continue to fertilize as they are still pumping out lots of new growth even under CFL bulbs that run 17 hours a day. For the majority of the day the temperature is 69 deg in my basement with a high of 71 and a low of 63. There are no signs of root rot as off the last time i re-potted. Im worried that I have either over or under fertilized. I fertilized the same amount in the summer with great success but the leaves on my lemon tree are not getting as big as they were when I bought it from the nursery.

Below are some pictures. Cheers!








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Citrus General Discussion / HELP! Root Rot
« on: October 19, 2018, 07:12:10 PM »
Good day all!

So this summer I was wandering my local Lowe's and happened to see that they had some citrus on sale. It was the middle of the summer and the Key lime plants were going on sale for $7. All of the plants were in rough shape but I felt like I should bring one home and try to revive it. They were all terribly over watered with high pressure garden hoses so some of the root ball was exposed and looking rather dry. When I took it home pulled it out of hits pot to inspect the root system and determined it looked "fine." Fast forward to the last month and about 80% of the leaves have dropped. It has blossomed twice but I pulled all of the flowers after reading that it may help the key lime tree bounce back. Well truth be told it hasn't bounced back and is looking awful. I pulled the tree out of its pot only to find that the bottom roots are brown and somewhat mushy. With my rookie level of experience I have determined that it is in fact root rot. I have a Eureka Lemon and a Navel Orange and they are doing just fine.

The key lime tree is in a 5 gallon plastic pot from Record Buck Farms. I feed it a little bit of 30-10-10 with trace minerals. I also use a moisture meter to ensure I am waiting until it is on the dry side as to not over water.

Is there any way to salvage this lime tree? Should I prune a bunch of limbs and cut off a chunk of the root ball in attempt to save it?

Any advice would be great thanks!

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Citrus General Discussion / Foliar spray
« on: September 22, 2018, 03:12:31 PM »
Hello all!

Winter is rolling around here in Canada (6 inches of snow where I live) and I am trying to give my 3 plants the best chance to thrive/survive the winter. I have 1 Eureka lemon, 1 navel orange and 1 key lime. I fertilize them once a month with a 30-10-10 water soluble fertilizer with minerals. . I understand that citrus are heavy nitrogen feeders. Can I use my same 30-10-10 fertilizer as a foliar spray to try and give the plants some extra nitrogen to help keep them thriving over the winter? Or should I go with something else?

Thanks!

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