What soil mix are you using for your container plants?

[nullzero]

Someone mentioned to add a little bit of lime. What's the purpose, and what's the commercial name for it, or is it labeled as "lime"?
Thanks,

Its used to balance out the ph a bit and add micro nutrients. You don't want to over do it because it will make the soil more alkaline
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_lime

[NewGen]

I began using Fafard's 3B mix, it seems to work really well and holds moisure nicely also.  I attempted to switch to "The Gritty Mix", spent a small fortune massing the ingredients, and eventually found that it made my trees look like they were growing in a bag of gravel.. I guess it all depends on the future intentions of the grower, whether you plan to plant the tree out, or maintain it in a pot.  Also, depending on how the mix is composed, you can create a lot of work for yourself by requiring more watering.  I like the even distrubution of the Fafard mix when it comes to the transport of nutrients and watering.

How long do you intend to keep your plants in their containers using this mix?

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Good replies everyone.  Now...how do you all mix this up when doing large batches?  I currently use a wheel barrow.  We all know how peat moss right out of the bag repels water, so I hose it down, mix, hose a little more, and keep mixing until the ingredients have absorbed all the water and I have a good, damp (not wet) mix to work with.  I use a lot of perlite in my mixes along with humus, manure, and/or worm castings.

Mixing like this gets really old.  Anyone ever use those compost barrels that rotate or electric concrete mixers?  I've been kicking around the idea of using one of these.

[nullzero]

I mix the soil on a large blue plastic tarp. I just throw all the ingredients down on it; 10 cu ft Pine Bark, 2 cu ft Perlite, 2 cu ft Peatmoss, hand full of Lime spread out, a little compost tea poured on the mix. Wet down with hose on spray mode and turn with shovel many times.

Going to make an experimental batch of container soil mix with biochar (broken down pieces of natural lump charcoal). Going to modify the pine bark mix and try 4/1/1/1. Will see how the plants perform in this setup. Supposedly biochar is suppose to improve nutrient retention, this is important in a container environment. A lot of the nutrients in the soil get leeched out from repeated watering.

[CoPlantNut]

I bought 2 large (96-gallon) Rubbermaid containers for the purposes of soil mixing; I use a large shovel to mix it up, then shovel / pour it into the other container, repeat as necessary.  I've tried the rented concrete mixer approach before (when I also needed one to mix concrete); there was too much concrete mix in the soil when I was done from what I couldn't clean out, but other than that it worked very well!  If you can get a very clean concrete mixer, they would eliminate the manual labor in soil mixing.

   Kevin

[nullzero]

I have been working on optimizing containers for certain types of plants. I have been trying to put my heavy water users in self watering containers, with a 3-5 gal water reserve. SWC, I have been using with Lychee, Kiwi, and Dragon Fruit (Probably does not need it). Looking to eventually use the SWC with all the Lychee and Kiwi plants I have.

Fabric containers, I have been using mainly with Citrus and Jujubes. I figured the increased aeration and faster dry out times, would be beneficial for these trees. Superoots have been testing with 'Ewais' mango, getting good results want to pot up the Julie mango in one as well. Everything else is mostly in regular plastic containers.

Majority of container garden is the 5/1/1 pine bark mix, this mix works well on everything from Cactus to Deciduous Fruits. The other mixes I use is 70/30 sand compost mix in SWC, get great results (Lychee and Kiwi both love it). Cactus/Palm supersoil mix and Kellogg Patio Plus soil mix are also used in mixed amounts with added perlite & peatmoss. I am trying to get away from purchasing the standard soil mixes, but its convenient for a tree or two or needed application of a small amount of soil.

[fruitlovers]

For small batches you can mix using black cement mixing trays you can buy at Home Depot. Mix all the ingredients together using a hoe (hand tool used for weeding).
For large batches you can use a small cement mixer, or if your back is good place ingredients on top of plywood and use a square head shovel.
Oscar

[murahilin]

For small batches you can mix using black cement mixing trays you can buy at Home Depot. Mix all the ingredients together using a hoe (hand tool used for weeding).
For large batches you can use a small cement mixer, or if your back is good place ingredients on top of plywood and use a square head shovel.
Oscar

Thank you for clarifying.

[fruitlovers]

HAHAHAHA I clarified not because of the double meaning but simply because most people don't use this tool any more. But it's a great tool for mixing soil and also cement, as well as for weeding.
Oscar

[nullzero]

Was thinking of getting a circle hoe sometime, I heard good things about it. But, currently don't need it since 90% of my planting is done in containers.

[samuelforest]

Hi guys, I'm looking for a good soil recipe for my tropical trees in containers else than the gritty mix. I'm fear to bareroot my trees, espiecially the old ones. I need something with good drainage for my mango tree.

[CTMIAMI]

If you see the posting I just did on fabric pots you will see how loose that mix is. I get regular black soil, wood chips, Miracle grow potting soil and perlite. Amounts dont have to be exact. When it looks airy to you is good. Also using fabric pots helps with the drainage. It is begining to rain now daily and the fabric pots dry faster. Good luck.

[ScottR]

Here in Calif. i make up my own with; compost1/3, peat moss1/3, and pine bark and perlite with micro to finish off mix. Seems to work well for me so far as long as I don't over water, some thing I'm finding hard to do since retired and watching plants all the time.

[Jack, Nipomo]

So Stephen, you're not adding a squeeze of Mexican/Key Lime to the mix then?

[ScottR]

Ohiojay, I use my electric concrete mixer sure saves the back!

[TnTrobbie]

Yeah. Threw my back off on Sunday making a 15gal batch of the Al's Gritty 1:1:1 mix for one of my 20 gal container for a mango tree. It happened in the mixing session so take note those of you making a big batch. But the real pain really is sifting the Napa Floor Dry (Turface alternate) as the dust seems never ending and gets everywhere. But I'd estimate 1/7 th of the entire bag was dust. Wal Mart OilDri is 2/3 cheaper, but dust composition per bag is yet to be determined.
I also bought a 7 gal geo-pot fabric pot to use in the 20 gal container that could potentially make root pruning easier (every 3yrs or so). After seeing the look and composition of the 1:1:1 I made, I'm a bit iffy. I do check my trees morning and evening so daily watering is not a problem. Fertilizing could be. What I do know is that I dont want the soil to break down and sieze into a solid mass like whats in my strawberry pot that once held herbs.
We'll see how the geo-pot and Gritty mix go.

[jcbk101]

  Hi all. I purchased my Keitt finally and that makes tree number 4 I own. I was not gonna plant it yet. I was planning on keeping it in a pot for a while. Well, I've decide to try something else. I am thinking about potting my Pickering, placing the NDM4 in it's place and planting the Keitt where the NDM4 is currently living. If I keep the Pickering potted, what type of soils will best fit this application? Thanks in Advance!

[gtw7983]

I've tried two different mixes for my 20 mango trees for six months. One is the "gritty mix" made of equal parts of turface, crushed granite and pine barks. The other one is 50% sand, 30% peat moss and 20% pumice.  So far, the second mix gives better and faster growth. However, the point of the first mix is to last for a very long time. We will see which mix is better in the long run, but I guess it will take some time.

[Mr. Clean]

  Hi all. I purchased my Keitt finally and that makes tree number 4 I own. I was not gonna plant it yet. I was planning on keeping it in a pot for a while. Well, I've decide to try something else. I am thinking about potting my Pickering, placing the NDM4 in it's place and planting the Keitt where the NDM4 is currently living. If I keep the Pickering potted, what type of soils will best fit this application? Thanks in Advance!

Without seeing your yard, I have no idea what you are trying to do.  My suggestion is to figure out which of the trees are dwarfs and places them in order of height, so that they will all receive sunlight when the trees are mature.  Mangos do well in south Florida in ground soil, which is usually sandy soil.  It drains well, which prevents root rot.  Which soil is best for a pot?  I have no idea, I'm guessing something that drains well.

[jcbk101]

  Hi all. I purchased my Keitt finally and that makes tree number 4 I own. I was not gonna plant it yet. I was planning on keeping it in a pot for a while. Well, I've decide to try something else. I am thinking about potting my Pickering, placing the NDM4 in it's place and planting the Keitt where the NDM4 is currently living. If I keep the Pickering potted, what type of soils will best fit this application? Thanks in Advance!

Without seeing your yard, I have no idea what you are trying to do.  My suggestion is to figure out which of the trees are dwarfs and places them in order of height, so that they will all receive sunlight when the trees are mature.  Mangos do well in south Florida in ground soil, which is usually sandy soil.  It drains well, which prevents root rot.  Which soil is best for a pot?  I have no idea, I'm guessing something that drains well.

  Woohoo! Finally left loxahatchee. At&t can make you work late hours. Anyway...
I have my Pickering and NDM4 going east to west with the pickering furthest east. My unknown mango is in the front yard growing very well. ( will post pics later ). I cut down a very wild Brazilian pepper??? tree
so that the trees get that my sun when it starts to set. the trees are currently 12 feet apart from center to center. I know the pickering won't get that big so this is why I am deciding on potting that tree.

[fyliu]

Was thinking of getting a circle hoe sometime, I heard good things about it.

"hula" hoe. Lol. I don't own one but it's good for a mass of tender weeds that you don't want to pull individually.

I thought we're supposed to use gypsum instead of lime here, because of its acidity.

[TnTrobbie]

Just a "beware" notice for anyone thinking of making Al's Gritty mix 1:1:1 using DE Oil-Dri ~$4 found in Walmart.
This product breaks down after absorbing water. After sifting and rinsing, and immedieately testing the crumb structure by rubbing a few granules between my thumb and index finger, it immedieately turned into a thick grey paste. Did more tests within the batch.....same thing. Went to my potted tree and tested the Napa Floor Dry brand # 8822 ~$8.99 that was sifted, rinsed multiple times, and allowed to take a 3 week beating from the weather elements (including Hurricane Isaac!!!).....solid as a rock. No break down. There is a difference between the two products.

[OrganicJim]

All most all of the mixes I see are very heavy in organci material. How often do you have to repot to keep these levels where you want them?

[MarinFla]

I have been using Miracle Grow Moisture Control potting mix for all my potted trees.  I am growing 12 varieties of Mangoes of which 10 are  large trees  in 20-35 gallon pots , Miracle Berry Fruit,3 kinds of Jackfruit, 3 Abiu, 4 varieties of figs,  Navel Orange, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Key Lime, Variegated Pink Lemon, Meyer Lemon, Barbados Cherry, Avocado in-ground, Atemoya- grafted onto cherimoya rootstock, 4 types of Dragon Fruit and many seedlings for grafting of jackfruit, mangoes and 1 baby mamey sapote and they are all doing fantastic, vigourous and fruiting. I will be doing a pictorial update soon.

What I have found is that I can water 2-3x a week in the dry season and in the rainy season sometimes not at all. It isn't horribly expensive at $14,95 for the 64 qt bag. And I have starting repotting the plants which have outgrown the pots and haven't found break down after 2 years.
My citrus love it as do the mangoes and other small stuff. I am much too busy to fuss over making my own mix, tried it once and it wasn't worth the effort.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

fafard has been the best if I can afford it I use it for all my best plants.

there's a multitude of mixes to choose from.