I’ve had some (I’m using some loosely, it’s either 2 general soil fertility or a handful of smaller fertility issues).
I was looking at the growth rings on a pine tree earlier today… it’s not really a 1 for 1 comparison with with fruit trees because white pines tolerant and acidic environment better than fruit trees but it’s a rough approximation seeing as how the add lime advice fixes nutrient availability but I digress.
The growth rings on the pine tree are pretty healthy until about 23 years of age…and then bam…they tighten up… incredibly, like 10 rings per inch where B4 it was 3 or less.
The first explanation is that the pine trees in that area are crowded, as in very mature trees with only about 10 to 12 feet between them and as the trees matured they competed with each other.
The second explanation which also explains my issues with the soil fertility in my trees is that the normal nutrient cycling into the soil broke down as in the available nutrients that normally get cycled in temperate areas through the off-season by dormant grasses, weeds et cetera broke (in the wooded areas except for barberries there isn’t anything really in the way of brush to decompose and add in Nitrogen or any nutrients back into the soil)
Let me know your thoughts.
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IMO, it is only competition. Pine creates an acid soil profile and is capable of absorbing nutrients most effectively when soil pH is in the 4.5 to 5.5 range.
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