When to fertilize??

[ray]

I have just planted some live oaks that are about 8" caliper. When is the best time of the year to fertilize? Can I over fertilize them? How can I get the most rapid growth possible?

any ideas?

ray in south louisiana

 

[monkeypuzzle]

Have a soil analysis done and go from there.The county Extension office in your area can provide soil tests,cheap!!...It is whats best for the plant,plus 8" cal. trees are sizey,,,,What size were the pots? Are they transplants?

 

[treeclimber165]

Oaks that size will take at least a year to establish themselves after transplant. Unless soil analysis reveals extreme deficiencies, I'd wait a year before fertilizing. I'd also set up a regular watering routine where they each get at least 20-30 gallons of water 3 times per week.
I've also witnessed many times where smaller trees were planted at the same time as larger trees of the same species. Within 5 years the smaller (2"-3" caliper) trees outgrew the larger (4"-5") oaks due to faster establishment.
We planted 200-300 trees per year when I worked at a local municipality and I pass through there often looking at the trees I planted several years ago.

How did you move trees that big? The largest I ever moved were some 6" live oaks and we used a 80" spade on a huge truck. We didn't think a couple were going to make it but all came through and are doing well 7 years later.

 

[Jay Banks]

That's right I'd do the soil test find the deficiencies and wait at least a year. I would say that your trees will take longer to re-establish themselves. I'd say one year for each inch of caliper before you should consider your trees established.

What is established? When the rooting system has returned to the estent of growth that it had prior to digging at the nursery.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Another problem can be drainage depending on the soil. those planting holes can fill up and drown a tree.

Get a perk test done too.

One thing to help get the roots going is to do some radial trenching out from the ball. till the soil and amend. Some guys I know use a stump grindr to do this.

 

[ray]

I don't know how big the spade was that they used but all 6 of them came in on an 18 wheel flat bed trailer. They had a machine that dug the hole and the tree fit almost right in to the hole they dug. 8" caliper was the biggest ones the nursery grew and we wanted to get as good a head start as possible, so we got the big ones.

The tree service told me that I should water them the three times a week but I haven't had the nursery call me back.

Thanks for the replies.

ray in south louisiana