5 years in Napa oil dry

[Shima]

Alaska fertilizer

Is it the pellets? Great stuff. Fish emulsion without the mess.

 

[drew33998]

Is it the pellets? Great stuff. Fish emulsion without the mess.

It is the pellets. They are heavy enough they don't was away like most of the organic ferrilizers you buy. Honestly i didnt think it smelled very strong either

 

[TN_Jim]

I think you should be fine. If you are concerned then perhaps just go with 2:1 DE or akadama to lava. Why use bark?

Thanks for your help.
I have heard that DE has a CEC around 30, and that sifted pinebark is around quadruple that. However, I have also read many complaints of roots growing into/through the bark and causing inevitable root loss and problems during repotting, subsequently weakening a tree.
I am pretty new to this and have not experienced this problem yet. Do you believe sacrificing the higher cec is the best way to go? Does a tree even require that higher cec to flourish!!?

 

[drew33998]

Thanks for your help.
I have heard that DE has a CEC around 30, and that sifted pinebark is around quadruple that. However, I have also read many complaints of roots growing into/through the bark and causing inevitable root loss and problems during repotting, subsequently weakening a tree.
I am pretty new to this and have not experienced this problem yet. Do you believe sacrificing the higher cec is the best way to go? Does a tree even require that higher cec to flourish!!?

As simple as I can state it is you want to have a balance of water and oxygen.

If you take it further its about three things:
Giving and receiving water
Giving and receiving nutrients (CEC)
Giving and receiving oxygen

Even further you can say that if roots only grow around particles and not through them there will be a certain number of roots. If they grow around them and through them there will be a greater number of roots. So if you have akadama, lava, and pumice the roots will grow through the akadama and the lava. That is going to leave you with more roots in the pot and subsequently a stronger tree with finer ramification eventually than say a pot with just DE and lava. Because roots do not grow through the DE. But DE and lava is cost effective for me. Honestly, I would just pick something and try it out. Don't get too caught up in the fine details yet.

Lastly its going to take you some time to learn how to water your trees to. It may sound dumb, but you don't want to over or under water them. You will probably make the mistake that most of us do when we start out by overwatering, which is fine because its better than underwatering.

 

[drew33998]

Some photos of roots of another tree I repotted today. Do remember that I had holes drilled into the sides of these pots all over so that is why you don't see many circling roots. The last picture is of the bottom after teasing out a small bit prob 1" or so and trimming them back. All the trees were super packed into their pots.

 

[M. Frary]

Does a tree even require that higher cec to flourish!!?

The "gold standard" akadama doesn't have as high of a number.

 

[drew33998]

The "gold standard" akadama doesn't have as high of a number.

Nope. But roots do grow through it therefore making more roots

 

[0soyoung]

if roots only grow around particles and not through them there will be a certain number of roots. If they grow around them and through them there will be a greater number of roots.

Nope. But roots do grow through it therefore making more roots

The question I have is

what causes roots to branch/ramify?

 

[drew33998]

The question I have is

Generic and environmental factors.