advice on lemon trees in tubs required

[PhilC[_3_]]

G'day to the group .
Situation : Hot dry climate in wheat belt Mid West WA


1 Wish to grow Lemon Trees in Tubs to produce fruit

2 Thus advice needed on type of tub material old 44's ok ?
Or commercial plastic large ones or ceramic ? Both very expensive out here

3 Wish to grow about ten trees which will be later moved to new home
due for completion in late 2010 and form part of a planned garden
Under some shade as summer temps here reach up to near 50 and 30 +
straight days over 40 are not unusual ground temps also a killer
unless heavily watered and mulched


Types of soil preferred by lemons in such conditions and any other
advice much appreciated .

Cheers

[Jonno[_18_]]

44 half drum OK . Full drum too heavy and too deep.(thoroughly cleaned),
Soil, suggest :Add a good grade potting mix with added cow manure and well
mulched.
A few drain holes and pebbles in the bottom for drainage.Raised of the
ground.
And yess, make sure theyre well shaded in hot weather and well watered, but
not with wet feet...
Liquid fertiliser until establised.
Talk to your nursery man as well as to suitable varieties.


"PhilC" > wrote in message
...
> G'day to the group .
> Situation : Hot dry climate in wheat belt Mid West WA
>
>
> 1 Wish to grow Lemon Trees in Tubs to produce fruit
>
> 2 Thus advice needed on type of tub material old 44's ok ?
> Or commercial plastic large ones or ceramic ? Both very expensive out
> here
>
> 3 Wish to grow about ten trees which will be later moved to new home due
> for completion in late 2010 and form part of a planned garden Under
> some shade as summer temps here reach up to near 50 and 30 + straight
> days over 40 are not unusual ground temps also a killer unless heavily
> watered and mulched
>
>
> Types of soil preferred by lemons in such conditions and any other advice
> much appreciated .
>
> Cheers
>

[David Hare-Scott[_2_]]

Jonno wrote:
> 44 half drum OK . Full drum too heavy and too deep.(thoroughly
> cleaned), Soil, suggest :Add a good grade potting mix with added cow
> manure and well mulched.

Ten tubs will take many bags, which will take much mixing and be expensive.
I would get good loamy soil delivered in bulk if possible. Do the sums,
half a 44gal drum is about 100l.

> A few drain holes and pebbles in the bottom for drainage.Raised of the
> ground.
> And yess, make sure theyre well shaded in hot weather and well
> watered, but not with wet feet...

Agreed, tubs, even big ones, dry out much faster than the ground. You may
need to water daily in extreme heat. And mulch their tops. And cluster them
together to get mutual shading of tubs.

> Liquid fertiliser until establised.
> Talk to your nursery man as well as to suitable varieties.
>

I suggest a number of different cultivars. This will give you fruit at
different times of the year and allow for some to do better or worse in
various conditions

David

>
> "PhilC" > wrote in message
> ...
>> G'day to the group .
>> Situation : Hot dry climate in wheat belt Mid West WA
>>
>>
>> 1 Wish to grow Lemon Trees in Tubs to produce fruit
>>
>> 2 Thus advice needed on type of tub material old 44's ok ?
>> Or commercial plastic large ones or ceramic ? Both very expensive
>> out here
>>
>> 3 Wish to grow about ten trees which will be later moved to new
>> home due for completion in late 2010 and form part of a planned
>> garden Under some shade as summer temps here reach up to near 50 and 30 +
>> straight days over 40 are not unusual ground temps also
>> a killer unless heavily watered and mulched
>>
>>
>> Types of soil preferred by lemons in such conditions and any other
>> advice much appreciated .
>>
>> Cheers

[Totoblue]

David Hare-Scott wrote:

> Jonno wrote:
>> 44 half drum OK . Full drum too heavy and too deep.(thoroughly
>> cleaned), Soil, suggest :Add a good grade potting mix with added cow
>> manure and well mulched.
>
> Ten tubs will take many bags, which will take much mixing and be
> expensive. I would get good loamy soil delivered in bulk if possible.
> Do the sums, half a 44gal drum is about 100l.
>
>> A few drain holes and pebbles in the bottom for drainage.Raised of
>> the ground.
>> And yess, make sure theyre well shaded in hot weather and well
>> watered, but not with wet feet...
>
> Agreed, tubs, even big ones, dry out much faster than the ground. You
> may need to water daily in extreme heat. And mulch their tops. And
> cluster them together to get mutual shading of tubs.

If large commercial self-watering pots are out of budget , two things. I
believe you can buy a kit to retrofit an existing pot (but I suspect they
are probably out of budget as well).

Secondly, you could make your own self watering pot from a recycled
container. It just requires a hole in the side to let excess water out,
say a few inches from the bottom, then a supported water-resistant mesh of
some sort to keep the soil out of the water. You could also add a piece of
19mm ag pipe from the top for watering (or just let it trickle down). The
plant will put the odd root into the water but not enough to get wet feet
and die.