I’ve historically tried to let my trees fight for themselves and tried to stay away from fertilizers of any sorts. Both of my sources for scion wood this year suggested a very light dose of 10-10-10 to get good first year growth but I hesitated. As we approach July, most of my rootstocks seem to have peaked and are no longer creating new growth. I don’t think any of this year’s grafts have produced more than 7" of growth, which was my experience last year as well. All my trees are in pots with untreated topsoil.
Should I consider putting a small dose of 10-10-10 on them or is it too late to do anything and leave them be?
Apples can be hard to get going again once they set terminal buds. Stone fruit much easier. Trees in pots need regular fertilizer. Much more often than in ground. The nitrogen leaches out of a pot and the trees quit growing.
So then should I be adding fertilizer yet, or just do it next spring then? I had done some reading that suggested you need to stop at July so the trees can start getting ready for winter.We’re in the WI/IL border area so it’s hot through August and starts tapering off relatively quick after that.
That should be fine. An option is to use a liquid fertilizer which will effect the plants very quickly and will be used up quickly so the fertilizer will effect your plants in June and part of July if applied now.
Any recommendations for what to use? It seems finding 10-10-10 in my town is akin to finding unicorns. I can find pretty much any other mix, typically MUCH higher though. I’ve seen some lower ones such as 20-20-20 or 9-12-12, but most seem to be aimed at flowers.
10-10-10 or 20-20-20 is basically the same fertilizer. Only thing different - amount to use. In one cup of 10-10-10 there are 30% of fertilizer and 70 of a filler. 20-20-20 has 60% fertilizer and 40% filler. Now, if you need a cup of 10-10-10, then you applying about 0.3 cup of clear fertilizer.For 20-20-20 one cup will contain 0.6 cup of clear fertilizer. So to make it 0.3 you just need half cup of 20-20-20. If you put it on top of the pot and water, there wouldn’t be any difference between 1 cup of 10-10-10 and half cup of 20-20-20.
Whatever I use will be borderline overkill. I’m in what I think are 3 or 5 gallon pots. (I forget at the moment) so I’ll literally just be sprinkling a dash of whatever on the soil. I’d rather have under performing grafts for a year than burn them out juicing the soil too much.
In case it hasn’t been made clear here or elsewhere, I’m not highly educated on this stuff. I’m learning as I go.
You can use slow release (you actually better add it to the soil before planting, but you can do on top too, just cover with some mulch or more soil) Osmocote. They listed dosage per gallon to use in the pot. Slow release wouldn’t burn you plants.
So I’m kicking this back up as it’s time to take action. I sourced a fairly decent size bag of 10-10-10 but it’s directions are for fertilizing a 100 sq ft garden, not a 3 gallon pot. Any pointers on how to learn proper dosage for this? I know ideally you measure the soil first, but after a year of rinse down from city water I think we’re safe to assume the soil is rather depleted. I understand from fruitnut’s posting that pots need rather regular feeding but I want to make sure I don’t over feed them being too eager.
I was WAGing that about a tablespoon per pot would be a fair starting point.
I was thinking about a tablespoon per gallon of mix.
Personally,my potted trees are getting water soluble Miracle-gro at about 1 tablespoon per gallon of water,every 3 weeks.
Last year,they were given some time release stuff,about 1 T per gallon of mix and the growth rate was okay,not great. Brady
I water my trees about 1/3 to 1/2 a gallon of water 2-3 times per week depending on rainfall. The mix (custom*) I used isn’t fantastic at moisture retention as invariably when watering I will get water running out the bottom of the pots. Since this 10-10-10 is more of a standard broadcast and soak type fertilizer I don’t know how that will translate.
Water should be running out the bottom,when irrigating.I check the moisture level by feeling down about 3 inches.
Since changing to mostly grow bags this year,it’s a little difficult to tell if there has been enough added,so it’s a judgement call.
My mix is about 60% conifer bark mulch,20% Peat and 10% perlite or pumice.
Maybe monitor and see what growth’s like and add extra fertilizer if more is wanted.Brady
Depends on what you are growing. You can calculate the surface area of the circle and do some conversions. If you just want trial and error then 1 tablespoon sounds safe for a 3 gallon pot. Mix it into the top inch of soil. Wait 2-3 weeks and if you are not satisfied with the growth add another table spoon.