Pee as fertilizer questions

I know a thread on this subject got annoying to many of you. But I have a couple questions about the use of it.

First a story: have a pear tree that was planted last year and didn’t grow much last year or this year until I put pee on it in mid June. I have put pee on it three times and have gotten surprising growth. So I am a fan of using it on young trees.

Here are my questions: I am in Zone 5 near Omaha NE. when should I stop putting pee on for the year?

How long does this N stay in the soil if not used? related to that how often should it be given a dose?

In your zone, I would probably stop in september. I give my trees a gallon
every week. Nitrogen does not stay in the soil very long.

I’d quit now. Last winter killed a lot of trees in your area. And that’s not really unusual. If it’s growing well now it doesn’t need another kick in vigor. We are not that far from fall.

I’d tend to agree with fruitnut, stop now. I am in a similar location (a bit colder than you), and it is time for trees to stop growing if they are going to be ready for that first frost. The folks at St Lawrence Nurseries used to say not to fertilize past June, but they were a z3 or 4.

You might get lucky and it stays warm until the end of Oct, or there could be a killing frost in as little as 5 weeks or so. Best to have the trees winding down early.

Established fruit trees are often fertilized in the early spring only. I stop fertilizing establishing trees in July in Z6. After Aug I don’t want them overstimulated. However, I believe the threat of dying in winter due to excessive growth in fall is highly exaggerated. I have seen no conclusive research on the subject and I have experience of trees growing very vigorously in the fall being just fine with a subsequent extremely cold winter. Only the stimulated tips were damaged by cold, not the big wood.

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