fertilizer

[dbarney]

Wondering what is the best fertilizer for tree's new and old.

 

[John Paul McMillin]

have your soil tested to see if you need to fertilize or not . over fertilizing can be much worse than nothing at all. organic compost is by far the best fertilizer for anything. it is slow release and will not burn and isnt full of salts. Try to immitate nature , remove the turf under the tree and add compost like a tree growing in the woods would have. JPM

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

fish emulsion

 

[Jay Banks]

I thought it was seaweed extract JPS?

 

[underwor]

At a meeting this past winter, I heard a soil scientist say that a study of all materials recycled back into the soil in a forest situation amounted to about .13-.17 pounds of N per 1000 sq. ft. This about 1/35 of the normal suggested rate of 6 pounds per thousand.

Another recent series of articles in TCI magazine pointed out that tent caterpillars will grow 530% faster on fertilized trees than unfertilized. They also have a much higher survival rate from the eggs. Nitrogen is part of the building block for the machinery the plant uses to produce carbohydrates (food). Nitrogen is food for insects. If there is extra N in a tree, it is tying up carbon (carbohydrates) to maintain the C:N ratio and it is making the tree more tempting to insects and some diseases. We may end up starving the tree and feeding the bugs.

Food for thought!!!

Bob Underwood

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Yup, I had been thinking that for a few years when I first heard about that study at a convention, a few months before the article. I thought my observations were just circumsytancial, that I was just looking more, so this was why I was seeing highter populations of pests then I did befor I started doing sprays.

Jay, I've been preaching both. I even add in sewage sludge now and then when I'm feeling realy pedantic. I just want a low N amendment with a braod spectrum of minor and trace elements. I especialy like that one seaweed juice though, because of the fine root development I've seen, which they claim is from the high levels of cytokinin that stay stabil because they donot apply heat like the dry seaweed vendors do.

But over all it is the content of available minerals that I want to see. Then there are the other products like sugars that they are saying may be bebeficial to stressed trees. Sugars applied to foliage set off a stress responce which slows down growth and increases the phytotoxins and other compounds associated to resistance......

 

[John Paul McMillin]

I am the Arborist at a golf course , so you know i have grass under all of the trees and alot of fertilizers too. Well i have scale on everything , i problably have almost every species I really think that too much synthetic fert along with the competition from the turf and trees stressed from drought are very appealing to insects . the home landscape may be similar , thats why i think we need to try to imitate the natural place where trees grow when we can . Its not always possible so we must use what ever measures we can to keep the trees healthy like i do at my job. but if possible talk people into using leaves or pine needles under there trees and try to creat something a little more natural for the trees . then youll get the beneficial nematodes and all the good microorganisms in the soil that the trees need.

 

[John Paul McMillin]

Fish emulsion and seaweed and manure and compost are all great fertilizers to use .

 

[Gopher]

Another ratio I look at is the Ca/Mg ratio, which should be 7.5 to 10 to 1, or some of the micronutrients may be present but not taken up by the woody plants. The "floating" triangle of Ca/Mg/K should also be looked at.

I appreciate the comments.

Mr. Sanborn, I have not heard anything back from DHD on the additive you are referring to. Is there somewhere else I can go to get the fertlizer I need and would like?

Gopher

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

That's interesting Dave, try ProGreen Plus at 888-776-4733 aske for Mike. Let him know I sent ya. Maybe let him know of the site, maybe he would want to advertise.

I don't know if they carry the seaweeed juice, but they are good people and may help you out.

 

[Gopher]

Thank you John. Soil nutrient availability, ratios, and soil plant relationships are where many of our problems and successes begin.