I have been grafting a few years but see a lot of my trees lack to push good growth. I have had wonderful help on here already even with this topic. Can anybody recommend good fertilizer to put on young trees? Esp from a big box store that can be bought and not need to be mixed! Much appreciated
Best fertilizer for young grafted Apple rootstock
- Thread starter Luongo43
- Start date
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
Have you done a soil test in the area that your trees are planted?
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5 year old buck +
Soil test is the way to go. I recall you have sandy soil. So your going to add small amounts in april and may. General rule of thumb is a coffee cup of fertilizer per inch of trunk size. Sandy soil I'd do half a cup twice.
Plain old 10-10-10 will do ok.
Lack of growth can have alot to do with lack of moisture. IF you can align your trips to camp when the trees need it. Or give them water at the end of your weekend up there can make a big difference. A little miracle grow won't hurt either. Little hole in a bucket slow watering method works great.
Besides a soil test being worth its weight in gold, mulching around the base of the tree.
Extending a good growth spurt before a tree goes into water stress probably does more than fertilizer for most folks.
Vigoro 40 lb. All Purpose 10-10-10 Fertilizer for Plants and Gardens 100550934 - The Home Depot
This 40-lb. All-Purpose plant fertilizer by Vigoro is ideal for growing bigger, bolder, and better gardens. Enhance your outdoor plant care routine by adding the multi-purpose food to vegetable gardens,
www.homedepot.com
Plain old 10-10-10 will do ok.
Lack of growth can have alot to do with lack of moisture. IF you can align your trips to camp when the trees need it. Or give them water at the end of your weekend up there can make a big difference. A little miracle grow won't hurt either. Little hole in a bucket slow watering method works great.
Besides a soil test being worth its weight in gold, mulching around the base of the tree.
Extending a good growth spurt before a tree goes into water stress probably does more than fertilizer for most folks.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
I use this in my grow pots and put them a few inches away from roots when transplant bareroots. I use them on apple, spruces, dogwood, mulberry, and will be using them on witch hazel and pussy willow too.
www.seedworldusa.com
Many nurseries use these in potted plants. Mums, trees, perennials. They also have micronutrients too like boron, copper, manganese.
One tablet in the bottom of a grow pot. I use 4-6 of them in bareroot planting holes. Mixing manure in your planting spot is probably the best for sandy soil. You get material that feeds and holds moisture. If I have time to do it, I bring clay soil from home and mix some in too.
Agriform Fertilizer 20-10-5 Slow Release 21 gram Tablets
Buy Bulk Agriform 20-10-5 Planting Tablets Plus Minors which consistently and efficiently deliver proven results.
www.seedworldusa.com
Many nurseries use these in potted plants. Mums, trees, perennials. They also have micronutrients too like boron, copper, manganese.
One tablet in the bottom of a grow pot. I use 4-6 of them in bareroot planting holes. Mixing manure in your planting spot is probably the best for sandy soil. You get material that feeds and holds moisture. If I have time to do it, I bring clay soil from home and mix some in too.
H20fwler
5 year old buck +
Triple 10 or 12
I am very stingy with it the first couple years on young trees, very easy to burn the roots. After a tree has been in ground a couple years I give them a half cup sprinkled around the drip line late March early April when buds start to pop. When trees get a little bigger I may up it to a cup twice in spring, I never fertilize after early June.
I am very stingy with it the first couple years on young trees, very easy to burn the roots. After a tree has been in ground a couple years I give them a half cup sprinkled around the drip line late March early April when buds start to pop. When trees get a little bigger I may up it to a cup twice in spring, I never fertilize after early June.
No I have not. Ill look to purchase but for the first year or two want to keep in pots to easily access them!
Your always such a big help. Always appreciate your help!Soil test is the way to go. I recall you have sandy soil. So your going to add small amounts in april and may. General rule of thumb is a coffee cup of fertilizer per inch of trunk size. Sandy soil I'd do half a cup twice.
Vigoro 40 lb. All Purpose 10-10-10 Fertilizer for Plants and Gardens 100550934 - The Home Depot
This 40-lb. All-Purpose plant fertilizer by Vigoro is ideal for growing bigger, bolder, and better gardens. Enhance your outdoor plant care routine by adding the multi-purpose food to vegetable gardens,www.homedepot.com
Plain old 10-10-10 will do ok.
Lack of growth can have alot to do with lack of moisture. IF you can align your trips to camp when the trees need it. Or give them water at the end of your weekend up there can make a big difference. A little miracle grow won't hurt either. Little hole in a bucket slow watering method works great.
Besides a soil test being worth its weight in gold, mulching around the base of the tree.
Extending a good growth spurt before a tree goes into water stress probably does more than fertilizer for most folks.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
dairy one is who I use. I advise you use the field or general soil test. They told me 6 tons / acre for a apple tree prep. They assume you're tilling down to 24". You need a category 3 tractor with a serious subsoiler to get that deep.
I'd pick one of the field ones like rye with clovers no till. You have to pay extra for nitrates test. Mountain and hillsides tend to have variable soil quality. One spot has alot of organic material from washouts, and sometimes just 25 yards away have a very shallow topsoil layer. They have a $1 per sample pH only test. You can use that for different areas, or trouble spots.
Penn state has soil tests more aligned with homeowners and hunters. However, I never tried them.
I'd get that test done soon. If buying by the bag, some places have sale prices in the spring. Also, you can only truck in so much. i am almost an hour away from the nearest place to get lime at camp. Also, lime isnt popular anymore to the average homeowner. Sometimes you can only get 10 bags or so. someplaces only restock for the growing season. Or you get there and stuck with the busted up bags.
I've breathed a good bit of lime dust over the years of doing this. This is a good respirator if you need one. Pelletized lime is less dusty than pulverized. However, it still puts out alot of dust with a broadcast spreader.
pruple n yellow cartridges are good for some pesticides. Home depot also sells malathion pesticide, great for aphids and caterpillars or almost any critter that bothers apple trees.
I'd pick one of the field ones like rye with clovers no till. You have to pay extra for nitrates test. Mountain and hillsides tend to have variable soil quality. One spot has alot of organic material from washouts, and sometimes just 25 yards away have a very shallow topsoil layer. They have a $1 per sample pH only test. You can use that for different areas, or trouble spots.
Penn state has soil tests more aligned with homeowners and hunters. However, I never tried them.
I'd get that test done soon. If buying by the bag, some places have sale prices in the spring. Also, you can only truck in so much. i am almost an hour away from the nearest place to get lime at camp. Also, lime isnt popular anymore to the average homeowner. Sometimes you can only get 10 bags or so. someplaces only restock for the growing season. Or you get there and stuck with the busted up bags.
I've breathed a good bit of lime dust over the years of doing this. This is a good respirator if you need one. Pelletized lime is less dusty than pulverized. However, it still puts out alot of dust with a broadcast spreader.
3M Medium Professional Multi-Purpose Respirator 62023HA1-C - The Home Depot
3M Multi-Purpose Respirator is intended for workplace and occupational jobs. Comes with exhalation valve cover for safety.
www.homedepot.com
pruple n yellow cartridges are good for some pesticides. Home depot also sells malathion pesticide, great for aphids and caterpillars or almost any critter that bothers apple trees.
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RGrizzzz
Administrator
What soil are you using in the pots? You need to consider pH even in pots. Not all potting soil is neutral. For anything potted, I'd use Osmocote.
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I graft my apple trees in the spring, then plant them in a pot and baby them for 1-2 years. While in their pots, I sprinkle a little urea or 10-10-10 on them a couple times a year - usually whenever I happen to be fertilizing something else. I've never had any problems with this plan, but I'm sure it is possible to cause damage if you put too much fertilizer on the young trees.
Fertilizer will encourage fast growth that could encourage fire blight. Happened to me last summer after applying a triple 19 around my 3 yr old trees. I won’t do that again
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5 year old buck +
2nd on the osmocote. IT is a bit expensive for fertilizer, but worth it. I am getting ready to pot grafts here. Atleast the pots n soil part while I wait.
I use a shallow handful in each pot. Probably like a tablespoon. Glad grizz mentioned it, I am out of it.
3 gllon growpots and most rootstocks you get, I would do one year only. Great part about grow pots, plant anytime. Done 4th of july, mid august, september, october, november, even december once. Had to work the shovel because there was a layer of frost already in the soil. The get the whole dormant season to build a little bit of roots, and they get every bit of springs rains n gentle growth.
IF you must do 2 years, I'd plant some in 5 gallons ones, then move up a pot size from 3 to 5 in the fall before winter freeze. Then, you got to deal with freeze protection of the pots. Burry them in mulch, hill them in soil, etc. Much easier just ot be done with it one season. Apples from seed, yeah I do 2 years there.
I use a shallow handful in each pot. Probably like a tablespoon. Glad grizz mentioned it, I am out of it.
3 gllon growpots and most rootstocks you get, I would do one year only. Great part about grow pots, plant anytime. Done 4th of july, mid august, september, october, november, even december once. Had to work the shovel because there was a layer of frost already in the soil. The get the whole dormant season to build a little bit of roots, and they get every bit of springs rains n gentle growth.
IF you must do 2 years, I'd plant some in 5 gallons ones, then move up a pot size from 3 to 5 in the fall before winter freeze. Then, you got to deal with freeze protection of the pots. Burry them in mulch, hill them in soil, etc. Much easier just ot be done with it one season. Apples from seed, yeah I do 2 years there.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
I finished blending my soil for my tree pots. I noticed the scooper in the oscmocote bag puts out a touch over 2 ounces of pelletized lime per level scoop. 1 scoop of pelletized in 5 gallons of soil is about 2 tons/acre of lime going in 6 inches deep.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
Triple 19 is pretty hot. Apple trees need alto of potassium, a bit less phosphorus, and even less nitrogen. Looked at several commerical orchard offerings they seem to have the ratio 5-8-12. A bag of triple 15 or 12, a bag of 6-24-24, and a 1/2 bag of potash will get you around that ratio. My local AG place stopped selling triple 12, they only got 15 and 19. I try to get the 15 over the 19.
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5 year old buck +
A big thing on fertilizer, apply between april and early june. Maybe twice. After that, let the tree focus on hardening the wood and not making more soft fresh wood.
ORchards often spread potash in the winter to give soil time to absorb it.
ORchards often spread potash in the winter to give soil time to absorb it.
b116757
5 year old buck +
If my trees don’t show at least 10”-12” of new growth I’ll throw about a cup of triple 10 or 12 per inch of trunk diameter around the tree. I try and hit the big box stores late fall or winter they will sometimes run sales on fertilizer and try and grab a few bags for stuff like this.
