"David Ross" wrote in message
...
I looked at your photos. If there is a nutrient or salt problem,
it is minor. Your plants look quite healthy with only slight
chlorosis.
I've added e few pix there if like to share opinions.
http://www.angelfire.com/blog/hermann188/
However, the container looks quite small. My dwarf citrus are in
18 inch (45 cm) redwood tubs, cylindrical and as deep as they are
across. I will soon replace one tub that is rotting with a
terra-cotta pot 20 inches (51 cm) across -- tapering to slightly
less at the bottom -- and 17 inches (43 cm) deep. It is very
similar to the pot in your IMG_3231.jpg.
You aren't the first person that argues about the pot size...my "guru" here
in Italy told me that the foliage shouldn't exceed 15% of the pot size
(diameter).
It looks like he is right, looking at those pix I've shooted them this
summer at his site:
http://www.angelfire.com/blog/herman...ence/index.htm .....
For the height of the pot, I've read on a technical citrus book that the
roots widespread instead of moving down a lot...It looks like the diameter
is more important than the depth. Looking at the pix of the "Guru" it looks
like they're using conical pots instead of cylindrical (forgive my english!)
You need a large container so that you can keep the soil moist
without it getting soggy. Too much water in the soil is as bad as
the wrong pH or too many minerals. Indeed, excess water causes
chlorosis.
My guru says the soil should be always moist, but not soggy. To achieve so,
I was advised to stuff 1/3 of the pot height with stones, etc to drain
perfectly the water. Also elevating the pots would help. And I did so.
To keep the soil moist I need to water the plants every day in august.
With a large container and an acidic, well draining potting mix
(with acidity maintained with acidic fertilizers), any excess
calcium in the water or nutrients will readily leach away. This
cannot work, however, in a small container because the soil gets
too soggy before proper leaching occurs.
Maybe the slight chlorosis occured for multiple factors:
- Fertilizers excess
- Calcium carbonate and high Ph.
At the moment I've removed the old fertilzer and feeded the plants with a
special chelating micro elements mixture, that is to be used when
deficiencies occurs
(
http://www.gtozturfservices.com/page.../chelamix.html).
At the same time I'm using demineralized water hopeing it helps to melt
salts eccess and calcium carbonate in the soil.
Let's cross our fingers
Hoping to here from you...
Best regards
--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/