So many fertilizer questions, so little time.

[markyscott]

Sorry if I missed this, but what is the timing, then? All of my trees are pre bonsai, starting to leaf out. Should I wait until they harden?

For trees in development, don’t wait. Almost every deciduous tree in the US is in development.

S

 

[Vindeezy]

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Water until it runs out of the bottom. Do it once a week. I do it on Saturday morning during the growing season - February through December. I take January off.

What fish emulsion do you use? I got some 5-1-1 I think ? Alaska brand

 

[markyscott]

What fish emulsion do you use? I got some 5-1-1 I think ? Alaska brand

The most important thing is to use it. Everything else is trivial. Alaska is fine.

 

[Shima]

The most important thing is to use it. Everything else is trivial. Alaska is fine.

Hamachi. Only the best will do!

 

[sierrajuniper]

So remember the Hosta Gro?

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Here are the dilution rates:
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In other words 1 oz per gallon will give you a NPK 0f 6-12-6 and 1/2 oz per gallon will give you an NPK of 3-6-3.

So if we're making 40 gallons of fertilized water and we fill up the 16 oz bottle we get:

16oz/40gallons or 0.4 oz/gallon. That's a fertilizer with a strength of about 2.5-5-2.5, a good dilute weekly feed.

Scott

Hi Scott,

Do you use Medina Humic Acid? It's the same company that makes Hastagrow.

 

[markyscott]

Hi Scott,

Do you use Medina Humic Acid? It's the same company that makes Hastagrow.

I haven’t, but I’d probably look into mixing it or alternating it with fertilizer if I did.

 

[queenofsheba52]

I'm interested in adding fish fert but I'm afraid it will attract every kitty in the neighborhood.

Thoughts? Experiences?

 

[sierrajuniper]

I'm interested in adding fish fert but I'm afraid it will attract every kitty in the neighborhood.

Thoughts? Experiences?

In my case, fish fertilizer attracts racoons (3 or 4 every night), cats and skunks.

 

[sierrajuniper]

I haven’t, but I’d probably look into mixing it or alternating it with fertilizer if I did.

Do you use Hastagrow when you transplant to help transplant shock? Thanks Scott

 

[markyscott]

Do you use Hastagrow when you transplant to help transplant shock? Thanks Scott

Hi SJ. I don’t use anything for transplant shock. I just resume normal watering and fertilization when the tree starts growing.

S

 

[ConorDash]

Hmm as I’m reading, thought of a random question..

Is there an advantage or disadvantage to scattering organic fert pellets over top of the tree substrate, rather than”cakes” in multiple locations?

I tend to lightly scatter them around all of the surface, thinking the water will then have the nutrients deep in to the whole rootball, not just concentrated in areas like cakes. But everyone uses cakes so it can’t be bad...

Anyone know the difference between the 2 options?
I’ll be starting my fertilising routine soon, when spring really arrives, so I’d be curious to try anything different.

 

[Cable]

Theoretically, the watering is dissolving a small portion of the cakes and distributing that fairly evenly

 

[markyscott]

Hmm as I’m reading, thought of a random question..

Is there an advantage or disadvantage to scattering organic fert pellets over top of the tree substrate, rather than”cakes” in multiple locations?

I tend to lightly scatter them around all of the surface, thinking the water will then have the nutrients deep in to the whole rootball, not just concentrated in areas like cakes. But everyone uses cakes so it can’t be bad...

Anyone know the difference between the 2 options?
I’ll be starting my fertilising routine soon, when spring really arrives, so I’d be curious to try anything different.

Use teabags to keep the broken down bits out of the soil.

S

 

[ConorDash]

Use teabags to keep the broken down bits out of the soil.

S

My fert doesn’t really get any bits like that, I believe.. it’s just all completely gone and dissolves.
Thanks though,

 

[markyscott]

Although much of what I do remains the same, some things have evolved a bit over time. I still think the most important thing is to just fertilize in whatever way works for you. But I’ve fallen into a routine involving 3 parts to my spring fertilization program.

 

[markyscott]

Part 1) Fertilizer bags on the top soil. I mix these two components 50:50.



Scott

 

[markyscott]

I mix the two parts thoroughly and scoop them into wedding rice bags. I put a few bags onto the soil surface as soon as the buds begin to swell in spring. As the tree starts growing more, I add more fertilizer bags. I’ll replace all the bags in late summer - somewhere around September for us. I leave them on through the winter and pull them off when I start fertilizing again in early March.

 

[markyscott]

Part 2) Fertilizer injectors. I’ve installed these devices in my watering system. I don’t know how I lived without them. Just fill it up with fertilizer and it will inject a micro dose everytime the watering system comes on. Fertilizer lasts about a month - just long enough to get through spring. I put in a gallon of Hasta Gro Plant in March and let it do its work. I’ll put in another gallon in September. Takes 5 minutes to fertilize. Game changer.

 

[markyscott]

Part 3). I still hand fertilize every week to 10 days in spring and again in Fall. Pretty much the months of March and October. I’m mixing these components:

The fertilizer base combines two components: fish emulsion and Hasta Gro Plant


To that base, I add fulvic acid, kelp and Pro-Tekt (a silicone solution that claims to help protect plants from heat).

 

[markyscott]

Is everything necessary? I don’t know, but I like how my garden grows in spring.

But break 3 weeks ago.