Since you and @TNHunter seem to be using the Tone series, I wanted to ask if you see any concerns with using Holly Tone as a general purpose fertilizer and for pots as well is instead of just for blueberries?
I can def get the tree tone but wanted to check on this.
I think I remember seeing that @Drew51 uses holly tone everywhere so maybe he is a better person to answer this Q. Sorry if I’m misremembering Andrew and if it wasn’t you that posted that somewhere here.
For 1-3 year old trees I fertilize with whatever the cheapest kind of fertilizer I can find.
Once trees are bearing I just mulch with wood chips heavily
@SoCalBackyard … on holly tone.
Below their description.
Holly-Tone Plant Food is for acid-loving plants, such as hollies, azaleas, camellias, evergreens, hydrangeas, dogwoods, blueberries, strawberries and rhododendrons. It is rich in natural organics and enhanced with Bio-tone microbes. Used and recommended by Professionals. Holly-tone’s all natural formula contains Bio-tone, our proprietary blend of beneficial microbes. Bio-tone biologically enhances our natural plant food to ensure superior plant growth.
Note Holly tone includes 5% Sulfur to help acicify your soil.
I need that myself for my blueberries … with my applications of holly tone my ph runs between 5 and 5.5… which works well for rabbiteye blueberries.
Reading their list above… i will put some on my strawberries this year as well.
Raspberries like Hollytone too. You can use it for trees but eventually I would switch as you don’t want to change pH that much. Well if you added a little wood ash that would nix any lowering. I have to fertilize over 200 plants so I look for deals. I don’t need any right now but I’m tempted to buy Hyr BRIX fruit and berry fertilizer. 40 bucks for 45 pounds. I have used this before its excellent. Free shipping at125 bucks so I have to buy three or four bags. I just might! Sale at AM Leonard.
Right now I’m using a slow release fertilizer that NASA developed for use in space. But since it doesn’t ever dump it’s superior to most others. Comes in 90,120, and140 days. Meant for trees and shrubs. Usually way over priced but I got it pre inflation. It went up by fifty dollars to 120 bucks for 50 pounds. Oh well I’ll use something else when I run out. I still have 40 pounds.
I do like using organic and when I cull some plants out I will use more. I still grow strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries organically.
Look at the percentage Sulfur in the ingredients. Soil Acidifier is 30% and you need to add a fair bit of it to acidify heavy clay. Hollytone and Berrytone are both 5% sulfur and fairly close on the other macro and micronutrients.
Unless you’re growing in straight sand or coco coir or something I doubt it makes any difference which one you use. You’re probably not breaking out a scale and precisely measuring fertilizer by weight. If one’s on sale I’d go for that one and ignore the marketing.
I agree you certainly can use Hollytone for anything. The sulfur is low and it would take years to lower pH. A handful of compost will bring it back up to. Not a bad idea if in pots to add a little bacteria that’s in compost. Even if using other tones. I get wood chips every once in a while and besides mulch I line my garden paths. The next year it’s rich local bacteria filled goodness. I shovel it off in a bucket and top my pot bound plants.
I stopped fertilizing at one point. I did notice after a couple years the trees grew less. Vigor was waining. Growth and vigor increased once I started again. I think my soil is decent here but nitrogen is used quickly. They needed more. It didn’t seem to hurt them but since peaches fruit on one year wood. You want to make sure you have enough. If you do without fertilizer you don’t need it. I was not happy with growth and production so I went back to fertilizing.
For my fruit trees, almost nothing: I just put a couple shovel fulls of compost, mulch, and clover seed in late winter/early spring, right after I prune. They grow well.
Pecan trees have barely been growing- trying 19-10-5 with zinc this year.
Raspberries and blackberries get a springtime sprinkle of compost and 12-10-10.
I put some fertilizer on my trees in November since the ground was not frozen yet. I am planning on putting more on them, especially under my peach trees. If I get more fruit or better looking trees I will keep doing it. I did not notice much difference on my older fruit trees. So I stopped spending money on fertilize.
I put raspberry fertilizer on my black raspberry patch and have had horrible crops , or lack of berries since. I did that three years ago. I would have quarts of berries without doing anything, just pick them when they were ripe. For 20 years. Since added the fertilizer maybe a half quart total. Maybe off topic about raspberries but it reminded me about fertilizing or not.
Bad weather or dying/diseased/infested root system or something else that can actually cause that? Between the plants using it and rain washing it away the fertilizer is gone in three years.
Black raspberries are like the canary in the coal mine. The most sensitive of brambles or rubus plants. I lost Jewel and Niwot both just died one year. I’m still not sure why? Luckily I had a bunch seedlings and they are growing great and none have died. I just removed stray black tip roots that were all over the garden. Some might have been new seedlings. Four years now with two seedlings and they are spreading and doing really well.
I used a local wild to breed with and that seems to be the answer for me. I would try others and watch them. If problems occur try to figure it out. With mine I think one problem I have is not enough water. I think mine died from being drought intolerant. The local black raspberry seems used to drought.
Often red raspberries carry viruses and are completely asymptomatic. In other words show no symptoms and grow fine. When blacks are put in they often become infected and die. Since a lot of rubus plants have been in my garden that is a possibility what happened to mine. Not sure if virus or drought? The local wild grows great. It’s eight years old now I still have it. Its offspring are four years old and doing great too. My black raspberry harvest is very good.
If you wanted to lower the PH Balance, use some fish sauce such as Alaska or Seaweed extract. I use to own the PH test and notice the drop in the PH Balance. I use to buy Alaska Bloom a gallon for around 10 dollars, but now it’s over 20 dollars.