# fertilizer ?



## treeman82 (Apr 13, 2003)

Hey guys, I am going to be fertilizing a weeping cherry that was planted in memory of a girl who went to my school that died in a car accident. I plan on doing this the drill hole method way. I plan on making 2" diameter holes. The tree is about 6 - 7 inches in diameter  What would you guys suggest for the diameter I should cover? I was thinking of doing a 7' diameter circle, but I am unsure if that will be enough. The tree was planted back in `95 I believe. Going to back fill with some form of organic fertilizer, and sand because it's in an area where the kids go when they want to eat lunch outside. 

Any help you could provide would be much appreciated. Thanx guys.


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## jimmyq (Apr 14, 2003)

Best Management Practices (Tree and Shrub Fertilization)states (figure 5) " ... holes should be evenly spaced from the trunk to the dripline..." spaced evenly, with a difference of 2 inches between the top of the fertilizer and the soil surface. hole spacing would probably be in the 18 inch range being as the cherry would be considered a medium density canopy (my opinion). Number of holes at this spacing for a 1000 square foot area is about 444.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Apr 17, 2003)

If you have not doen this yer, i would stay away from the basal area by 3 ft so you dont drill into any for the first order roots,

I wouls go 3ft for each inch of DBH on the radius of the treatment area This will cover the critical root zone or whatever it is called these days. I've doen mostly liquid injections on a 2 ft grid.

So on a 7 inch tree starts 3 ft from the trunk and goes out 21 ft. 

I strongly recomend low N (7% or less) fert with a wide spectum of other elements available. Milorganite or other sewage sludge product, seaweed....Mixing with a good sandy loam would not be bad if you have poor soil.

The biggest problem with drilling is that the holes glaze.


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## jimmyq (Apr 18, 2003)

Any suggestions to minimize glazing or eliminate it entirely? A different machine or method?


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## John Paul Sanborn (Apr 18, 2003)

IMO liquid injection is best, but I understand small operations cannot do it.

The hugher the clay content the more glazing there will be, no way around it.

I have heard of people introducing * native* macrobiota to the holes; worms et al. Not many, the thought is that they can find cracks and spred the amendment soil around.

I say native because they are finding that nightcralers are chainging the environment around northern lakes where people have dumped their bait after fisshing.


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## jimmyq (May 3, 2003)

Have you ever introduced mycorhizzae to a tree other than new planting? I am wondering of the benefit of treating a tree that is not performing to par. I have tried adding to a 4 inch caliper weeping cherry that has not done much over the last few years since transplant, no visible change yet, to early to tell I figure. It is on a commercial site that had that grade changed with imported soil from a virgin site.


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## John Paul Sanborn (May 4, 2003)

Mycco inoculation is falling off as we understand it a little more. Seems that msot trees do have some sort of colonization, just not always the best one. It is hard to get new specise of fungi to take after one has filled the niche.

Some are questioning the viability of the dry products on the market now, seem that the drying procsess may kill the spores.

Finding a truffle that likes te specicise may work better, or diging some forest soil from a member of the genus and innoculating with a native species.


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## mquinn (May 5, 2003)

> Some are questioning the viability of the dry products on the market now, seem that the drying procsess may kill the spores.


 there's also some question about the survivability depending upon the pH of any irrigating water.


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## dbeck (Mar 18, 2004)

what are your feelings about cambistat? seems like a lot of people are using it now, but are they just using it as a moneymaker? any research available to back it up?


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## Guy Meilleur (Mar 19, 2004)

> _Originally posted by jimmyq _
> *Any suggestions to minimize glazing or eliminate it entirely? A different machine or method? *


The machine I use is really high- tech, but it should be in your budget. It's called a pick--you know, the kind miners use to crack open rocks. I use it to crack open clay subsoil (which is often on the surface).

Stand with your back to the trunk and swing the pick deep into the ground at a 45 degree angle. pushing up on the handle will fracture the soil in all directions. After pulling the pick out, fill the holes with expanded slate, compost, aged pine bark, wood ashes and yes native soil, with roots, collected from around the same species.

Then water in with dilute liquid fert. in one of those hose-end bottles. The goal here is to rebuild abused and artificial soils by introducing life and life-sustaining oxygen. I buy the packaged stuff from PHC for use in special situations; not often. I'd rather do it in as natural a way as possible.:angel:

The pick glazes a little but the cracking makes that moot. Sound doable?


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## Reed (Mar 19, 2004)

America wants to see a couple of service techs in surgical scrubs and bio-gear exit from a white brand-new F-150 truck with carrying cases of stainless steel and pyrex bottles and a lap-top heading for the tree with pressure tanks and miniture micro-caps of di-ethylparatetrachloro-d-3,7-8 hydroxychlorate acetic acid. Then set-up a parabolic satellite transceiver and a few orange flags then some TREATMENT ZONE tape. 

Guy, you remind me of me.


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## Guy Meilleur (Mar 19, 2004)

> _Originally posted by oakwilt _
> *
> 
> Guy, you remind me of me. *


Reed, that's plain scary. 
O and the America I deal with buys the soilbuilding service described above. Many even take a turn swinging the pick and stuffing compost in the holes.  There are plenty of people like that; reaching them is not that hard (at least around here).


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## bushman (Mar 20, 2004)

I like to vertamulch drilling, i back fill my holes with aleaf compost and a grandular mycorhizzae.I think that is the most natual thing to do , better than in organic ferts.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Mar 20, 2004)

I've seen pictures of glazed holes with drilling, so it is not all tha good in clayey soils.


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