I have a small front yard where Peach(10 years old), Sour Cherry(7 years old), Plum(4 years old) and two apple trees(1 years old) planted. I didn’t fertilize neither trees nor grass for many years, though my dogs doing it daily using the yard for potty break. This year I severe pruned my peach in order to renew it and also I was not happy with how much growth apple trees and cherry added last year, so I started to read about fertilization. I found this link: https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/SP307-A.pdf
In the document they count fertilizer in actual nitrogen:
Fertilizer rates are dependent on the type of tree, vigor,
last year’s growth and fruiting and the ground cover under and
around the tree. For most fruit trees that are grown in sod except
pears, use a basic rate of 0.1 pound actual nitrogen per year of tree
age. Level off rates at about the sixth to seventh year. When tree
age is not known, use a basic rate of 0.1 pound actual nitrogen per
inch of trunk diameter measured one foot above ground. Level
off rates at 0.6 to 0.7 pound actual nitrogen. Although other fertilizer
materials besides nitrogen may be needed, recommendations
are based on nitrogen, as it is the element found to be most frequently
growth-limiting. Fertilize pear trees at one-half the basic
rate.
So if i take 10-10-10 fertilizer, every pound contains 0.1 pound of nitrogen. It means that my peach and cherry need at least 6 pounds of it each? And all together I will need 6+6+4+1+1 = 18 pounds of fertilizer? Seems to be awfully a lot?
Or may be 10-10-10 is not good choice? If not, then what is? My soil is very uneven in the front yard - some is pure junk, some (later added to level) is rich top soil(with junk bellow it), so testing is very problematic.
Without a soil test,it might be kind of tough to tell what is needed.
I’m trying to stay near a 3-1-2 ratio with combinations like,9-3-6,12-4-8 etc.For my potted trees,they are getting Miracle-Gro with 24-8-16 in small amounts. Brady
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I fertilize my young trees to promote growth. My older trees I seldom fertilize once they are bearing fruit heavily unless the leaves are off color. If so, I may give them a light fertilizer application to green them up but I do not want to promote a lot of vegetative growth on them.
I suppose I should get a soil test but I just let the plants tell me if they need more nitrogen or not. For newly planted bare-root trees I prefer to fertilize with a liquid fertilizer at 1/2 of suggested rate and apply in early-mid june (after planting in April). No use fertilizing them at planting time as they do not have enough root system to really take up the fertilizer. Container grown trees are different and I do fertilize them at planting time at full strength with a liquid fertilizer.
In subsequent years I prefer to fertilize young trees with a granular fertilizer as it is cheaper. 10-10-10 or 28-0-0 depending on what I have on hand. For 10-10-10 I apply in mid-May and sprinkle around the dripline of the tree at the rate one would apply salt to a nice piece of beef before eating. Too much is not good!
If using 28-0-0 then cut the rate back by 1/2.
My goal is to have my young apple trees grow about 18"-30" a year with new growth. If less then that, then increase the amount of fertilizer you apply the following year. If you are getting more than 30" of new growth, then reduce the amount of fertilizer applied the following year.
I know this is a low tech approach but it works for me. Let the plants tell you what they need. At least for nitrogen needs this has worked out fine. If I had issues with other nutrient shortages then a soil test might be a better choice.
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