Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
laurelzito

Question for Al mix for a lemon tree

Laurel Zito
11 years ago

I have a online person who asked me what is best mix to use for a lemon. She likes my lemons, but I use the ground. She lives in Virginia. I suggested a potted dwarf that she can move inside the winter. She asked about the mix. I always fail when I buy a mix, so I don't know a brand. What is a good recipe for a lemon tree?

Comments (8)

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    11 years ago

    Maybe you should convince her to at least read the post I'll link you to at the bottom of the thread. W/o question, if it was my tree I'd be using the gritty mix. There are some recipes at the thread I'll link to, but the valuable part of the information is the concept explained in the thread. See what you think .....

    Al

    Here is a link that might be useful: More about soils if you click me!

  • Laurel Zito
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Can one use Kellogg's amend for the fir bark? It looks like uncomposted fir bark, anyway. I need information about how to get these ingredients. Someone should write up a shopping source list. I am asking for a friend since I grow my lemons in the ground, but in the future, sometimes I need to put things in a pot, because I run out of room in my small garden. It takes a while for a space to open up. I often have to dig up plants I like to make room for new ones or give them away.

  • mandarin1
    11 years ago

    Can do a search here, using the phrase "Supplies by State". Look at the list of discussions that comes up...there should be one called "Supplies by State/Region: Al's Gritty Mix" near the bottom. I don't know why, but I can't get the link to come up any other way. You might find some help there depending on the location.

    Mary

  • Laurel Zito
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I did find the post by following the instructions, but we are too urban for this to work out. I can't go bag my own bag of 100 pounds worth of grit. It just seem to be too much work, it would much easier to not container garden. The peat moss is easy, but the grit is the problem. There is a feed store in half moon bay, I had already asked them, but the grit they sell is crushed lime stone. It won't work. The bark is also a problem to get. I want to buy some in a bag that is a reasonable size, I can't see myself buying wholesale.

  • calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
    11 years ago

    There are many landscape supply firms around the bay area that will sell you what ever quantities you want. Just because they also sell by the ton or yard does not mean they will not sell as little as one cubic foot. Al

  • tinamib
    11 years ago

    I just recently made my first batch of the Gritty Mix and was surprised how small a 50lb bag of crushed granite was. I found the Grit-I-Mix at a feedstore that sells chickens and other supplies. If you have a source to bag it yourself, it would be quite easy to bag a couple 50 lb bags.

    I found my fir bark online at Amazon.com. I bought the R'Zilla Douglas Fir Bark Blend. It is 100'% organic. I did have to run it through our mulch machine to make it smaller but that took about 5 minutes. I have read some people run their lawn mowers over it.

    I need to find the source thread and add my local sources.

  • JoppaRich
    11 years ago

    You don't specifically need crushed granite. Any sort of small gravel will work. Crushed granite is just really cheap, and well suited because its not smooth, its not porous, and its not reactive in any sort of meaningful way.

    I'm using some small pea gravel in mine (its bigger than it should be, but it works fine). You could use some aquarium gravel if you wanted, or anything similar like that, as long as its not reactive.

    In my experience, Home Depot will have some sort of small gravel/grit that is useful, and will have the perlite. The toughest thing is finding bark in the right side without having to chuck half a bag.

  • Laurel Zito
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I found I can get all the ingredients on ebay individually.
    Then I found a place that will mix stuff for you, and they don't have the granite however, but the turface and fir bark they have. Now, I wonder what would be most ideal for a lemon tree, now I can see this huge menu of choices. I would like it if they would screen it for me, as long as I am spending big bucks to have someone else mix it for me. I bet

    I could have saved my tropical Cristo Rey Rhododendron if I had potted it up the winter we got snow in San Francisco. But, I was afraid to pot it up, since it did so poorly in traditional potting soils. It needed good drainage.

    Here is a link that might be useful: orchid things