Super feeding

[bodhidharma]

Thanks Bretts. Can i employ you as my secretary What Bretts has said is also what i think but i also do it for leaf size and to produce ramification quicker. I have found this to be the case when i employ this technique on Elms. The elm in question is doing wonderfully Bretts. I will post it shortly.

[Bretts]

Might have to stay on a voluntary basis Bodi, I am not sure you can afford me

I wanted to add that the one time I had issues with a little birch tree dieing on me was also from solid fertiliser (DL) It was a long time ago and some thought a tree would not be affected so quickly. As it was years ago I could not be certain either. I plan on overloading a volunteer soon to see if I can re-create what happened. I do have some pretty cool pics of it on a drive that I think will show how dramatic the death was but I can't access that at he moment.

[will baddeley]

Yes Brett and a good memory you have there. I have often used leaf pruning to kicstart a tree into extending. I've had good results with EE and Prunus spinosa in particular but my feeding at that time was somewhat lazy.

[kcpoole]

I have liquid Amber that I defoliate a bout 3 times each season.

Not really power feeding, but use Neutrog on the surface of most pots all year, and supplement with Liquid Fert and Seasol.

Ken

[alpineart]

I hope we are not confusing Mother Nature with our actions Alpine Hard to find that fine balance between being over the top or nicely balanced. I guess we are already going against Mother Nature by confining trees to pots This would lead to the question of how much trees feed in their natural enviroment. Bugger, my head hurts [/quote]

Hi Bodhi , Mother nature is a changing thats for sure .These last two seasons have been at the ends of extreme . This Summer we had temps up to 32 Degree's on a couple of occasions averaging 25-28 over the full summer and our rainfall was 1260mm. Last year we tolerated constant 42-45 degree temps for weeks and our rainfall was 670mm .My feeding regeme which ever fert i used is balanced out even to the point were i blend 60-70 watering cans of seasol power feed or dose bonsai with 1 teaspoon per medium pot , less or more for pots either side of the equation .Ground grown trees/plants are fertilized per square metre . Yes it is power feeding but it is balanced and calculated not willy -nilly , i cant expect uniform results unless a shedule is maintained and the rate dispersed is monitored . The tree's i'm referring too are in the ground so i haven't interfered by restricting them to pots just yet .Mother nature can grow a tree in a crevice without soil so i think we are very generous playing happy bonsai in well fertilized nurtured containers . Cheers Alpine

[DMS]

I have always found that to be a good gardener ( bonsai grower ) it pays to read and follow directions. The fertilizer needs to be in response to the growing action of the plant at the time. What I mean is that early a season bud and root growth ( deciduous trees ) is fueled by the energy stored under the bark from the previuous Autumn. New shoots and roots would resent high levels of nitrogen due to weak juvenile cell walls and if you have just repotted it is a waste of fertilizer as sufficient food is in the soil. Once growth begins to harden slightly and elongation is just laking place then it is a good time to supplement with nitrogen. I like to use cultisol GROW, which is a soluble, in the early part of the season. I have bath tubs under nearly all my stands to catch this water and i use it at a 2 week intervals until early summer dormancy. I water with normal water in between and use the water from the tubs underneath also. Towards the end of the season I switch to a cultisol BLOOM which is lower in Nitrogen and assists in hardening off in preparation for Winter. The timing of your pruning and current weather conditions also play a major role in determining whether extra food is warranted or a waste. I was put onto cultisol by an orchid grower who recommended it because it does not have any salts that accumulate in the soil ( that white powder you may have seen.)