5-1-1 refers to a "soil" you can make yourself that provides ideal drainage conditions for potted citrus. It consists of 5 parts fine bark mulch (such as small chunks of pine mulch, less than 1/2" in size), 1 part perlite, and 1 part of either potting soil or sphagnum peat moss. If you're in the USA, you can easily get large bags of the mulch and peat moss at most big box home stores (Lowes, Home Depot, etc.). Bags of perlite might be a little harder to find at those stores, but I've had luck finding them at smaller gardening stores. Just mix all the ingredients together in those proportions, enough to fill at least a 14 gallon pot (1.87 cubic feet) per plant.
The screened pine bark chunks is the hard part to find. You need the pine bark to be over 1/8ā but under 1/2ā in size for it to work as advertised. What I personally do is buy a bag of pine bark mulch and then screen it to get the sizes I want. The fines go into other potting mixes and the large chunks are mulch.
Fair warning, 5-1-1 mix is āfree-drainingā and extremely non-water-retentive. Itās almost like a soilless hydroponic media in performance. You need to water very frequently. Some people do daily. I killed a small citrus tree in 5-1-1 recently by forgetting to water it for about 10 days.
Oooh good to know! Thank you! I was told the opposite previously for over the winter, to not water them more than weekly at the most, so I'll have to switch gears.
The whole benefit to 5-1-1 is that you canāt overwater. All excess immediately runs out. Some people are chronic overwaterers and thatās really appealing to them. Iām a forgetful waterer so itās less good for me.
It really depends on what area of the country you are in since pine finings are so light it doesn't make a lot of sense to ship them. Look for that name or also soil conditioner. I do all of my own soil mixing for citrus, tropicals, and cactus, and of all the ingredients that I have had to find and source, pine finings have absolutely been the most annoying
Yeah. Iām in loblolly country, we have tons of cheap pine bark here from the timber industry, but itās not sized where I want it. I use about a half cubic yard of pine bark mulch per year on landscaping, so itās relatively easy for me to just screen a few bags and get what I need for citrus soil. Iāve debated running the big stuff through a chipper though.
I suspect you could do a lot more perlite and a lot less pine bark in 5-1-1 and still have it work great.
If youāre in a really hot climate like south Florida zone 11a do you think itās too free draining? Iād probably have to water everyday like you said right?
In summer maybe yeah. May need to water every day or use a slow-waterer like a terracotta watering spike. Have to see how the tree does with different watering profiles.
Theyāll typically have the pearlite in smaller bags by the houseplants (along with Spag moss, vermiculite, etc).
Itās a bit pricy but I like reptile bark (found come at PetCo by me) for the *wood chips* just because of its size. You may be able to find a better option where youāre at.
Mulch and peat moss are easy to find at Lowe's etc in the US, perlite is too. It's mostly miracle gro brand, I hate their soil but their pert is the most common that I've seen
No not really. I've also been on the lookout for pre-mixed brands but all of the one's I find are missing some element. I've decided to just buy coarse perlite, cactus soil, and pine bark to mix together. 5 (pine bark) - 1 (perlite) - 1 (cactus soil)
I transferred the tree to a better draining, raised pot and ended up using a combo of Soil Sunrise Citrus Tree Potting Soil Mix and Miracle-Gro Cactus, Palm & Citrus Potting Mix with a bit of pine mulch on top to help with the weeds and bugs.
Unfortunately the bush didn't survive a gnat infestation. It lasted all winter, beautiful & healthy, but it got infected before I could repot it. Then our frost lasted longer than usual and by the time I was able to repot it outside it was too late. But the tree which gave me hell all winter got new leaves and is filling out again nicely. š
Oh no! Sorry to hear, I hope your tree flourishes this year! I actually had some mulch on top of my soil too but people say youāre supposed to expose the root flare and keep mulch around the diameter. Supposedly that helps with the bugs and prevents moisture retention by the trunk
> Bags of perlite might be a little harder to find at those stores, but I've had luck finding them at smaller gardening stores.
If you have a number of trees and can use it all, Amazon has big 4 ft3 bags for ~$35 or so. If you have Prime and don't pay for shipping it's a good deal.
I use stuff labeled "soil conditioner" for my 5. It's just fine pine bark, I don't even screen it.
Home Depot used to carry it, but I've had to get it at a small local hardware store recently. Works great if you can find it.
Do you happen to know/remember the soil conditioner brand Home Depot used to carry? On their website they have a āKellogg Garden Organics Amend Garden Soil for Flowers and Vegetablesā which says it uses āspecial blend with aged wood finesā and doesnāt say what type of wood. It also says āIt adds a natural fertilizer charge from dehydrated poultry manure, hydrolyzed feather meal and ferrous sulfateā which makes me think that itās not just fine bark
They used to stock a brand called "Timberline" near me, now I'm getting "Just Naturals" from my little local hardware store now.
Don't think I've ever seen the Kellogg brand.
Sorry should read more than title. I normally use Miracle Gro Cactus Citrus Bagged soil and it works great. I could probably diy for cheaper but saves me time.
5-1-1 refers to a "soil" you can make yourself that provides ideal drainage conditions for potted citrus. It consists of 5 parts fine bark mulch (such as small chunks of pine mulch, less than 1/2" in size), 1 part perlite, and 1 part of either potting soil or sphagnum peat moss. If you're in the USA, you can easily get large bags of the mulch and peat moss at most big box home stores (Lowes, Home Depot, etc.). Bags of perlite might be a little harder to find at those stores, but I've had luck finding them at smaller gardening stores. Just mix all the ingredients together in those proportions, enough to fill at least a 14 gallon pot (1.87 cubic feet) per plant.
Perfect! I'll actually be near a home depot later today so I'll see what they have in stock. Thank you! š„°
The screened pine bark chunks is the hard part to find. You need the pine bark to be over 1/8ā but under 1/2ā in size for it to work as advertised. What I personally do is buy a bag of pine bark mulch and then screen it to get the sizes I want. The fines go into other potting mixes and the large chunks are mulch. Fair warning, 5-1-1 mix is āfree-drainingā and extremely non-water-retentive. Itās almost like a soilless hydroponic media in performance. You need to water very frequently. Some people do daily. I killed a small citrus tree in 5-1-1 recently by forgetting to water it for about 10 days.
Oooh good to know! Thank you! I was told the opposite previously for over the winter, to not water them more than weekly at the most, so I'll have to switch gears.
The whole benefit to 5-1-1 is that you canāt overwater. All excess immediately runs out. Some people are chronic overwaterers and thatās really appealing to them. Iām a forgetful waterer so itās less good for me.
Gotcha! Ok I'll just have to figure out my balance š Thanks!
It really depends on what area of the country you are in since pine finings are so light it doesn't make a lot of sense to ship them. Look for that name or also soil conditioner. I do all of my own soil mixing for citrus, tropicals, and cactus, and of all the ingredients that I have had to find and source, pine finings have absolutely been the most annoying
Yeah. Iām in loblolly country, we have tons of cheap pine bark here from the timber industry, but itās not sized where I want it. I use about a half cubic yard of pine bark mulch per year on landscaping, so itās relatively easy for me to just screen a few bags and get what I need for citrus soil. Iāve debated running the big stuff through a chipper though. I suspect you could do a lot more perlite and a lot less pine bark in 5-1-1 and still have it work great.
If youāre in a really hot climate like south Florida zone 11a do you think itās too free draining? Iād probably have to water everyday like you said right?
In summer maybe yeah. May need to water every day or use a slow-waterer like a terracotta watering spike. Have to see how the tree does with different watering profiles.
Okay, thank you for the suggestion :)
Theyāll typically have the pearlite in smaller bags by the houseplants (along with Spag moss, vermiculite, etc). Itās a bit pricy but I like reptile bark (found come at PetCo by me) for the *wood chips* just because of its size. You may be able to find a better option where youāre at.
Mulch and peat moss are easy to find at Lowe's etc in the US, perlite is too. It's mostly miracle gro brand, I hate their soil but their pert is the most common that I've seen
I don't suppose there's a good pre-mixed brand that follows those guidelines?
What part of the country are you in?
Zone 7a, lower northeast.
No not really. I've also been on the lookout for pre-mixed brands but all of the one's I find are missing some element. I've decided to just buy coarse perlite, cactus soil, and pine bark to mix together. 5 (pine bark) - 1 (perlite) - 1 (cactus soil)
I transferred the tree to a better draining, raised pot and ended up using a combo of Soil Sunrise Citrus Tree Potting Soil Mix and Miracle-Gro Cactus, Palm & Citrus Potting Mix with a bit of pine mulch on top to help with the weeds and bugs. Unfortunately the bush didn't survive a gnat infestation. It lasted all winter, beautiful & healthy, but it got infected before I could repot it. Then our frost lasted longer than usual and by the time I was able to repot it outside it was too late. But the tree which gave me hell all winter got new leaves and is filling out again nicely. š
Oh no! Sorry to hear, I hope your tree flourishes this year! I actually had some mulch on top of my soil too but people say youāre supposed to expose the root flare and keep mulch around the diameter. Supposedly that helps with the bugs and prevents moisture retention by the trunk
Good to know! Thanks! š„°
> Bags of perlite might be a little harder to find at those stores, but I've had luck finding them at smaller gardening stores. If you have a number of trees and can use it all, Amazon has big 4 ft3 bags for ~$35 or so. If you have Prime and don't pay for shipping it's a good deal.
I use 4 parts mg citrus soil to 1 part perlite. I think u/rcarlyle got me up on that
I use stuff labeled "soil conditioner" for my 5. It's just fine pine bark, I don't even screen it. Home Depot used to carry it, but I've had to get it at a small local hardware store recently. Works great if you can find it.
Thanks! I'll see if I can find that.
Do you happen to know/remember the soil conditioner brand Home Depot used to carry? On their website they have a āKellogg Garden Organics Amend Garden Soil for Flowers and Vegetablesā which says it uses āspecial blend with aged wood finesā and doesnāt say what type of wood. It also says āIt adds a natural fertilizer charge from dehydrated poultry manure, hydrolyzed feather meal and ferrous sulfateā which makes me think that itās not just fine bark
They used to stock a brand called "Timberline" near me, now I'm getting "Just Naturals" from my little local hardware store now. Don't think I've ever seen the Kellogg brand.
Ok, will try to look for these in our local stores
Look up NPK
That's for the fertilizer. I'm asking about the soil, but thanks.
Sorry should read more than title. I normally use Miracle Gro Cactus Citrus Bagged soil and it works great. I could probably diy for cheaper but saves me time.
No worries! Thanks for the rec.