Fertilizing your trees correctly is a big part of having healthy trees-when you use the soil mix I do (akadama,pumice,lava,charcoal) it's imperative. Since there is no organic material in the soil, the trees health is reliant on what you give it.
I use a mortar tub to mix the ingredients, which are all organic meals. Cottonseed, blood, and bone meal are used (5p,1p,1p) and then I throw in 3 parts organic pellets which hold it all together when the cakes are made. The pellets are from a nursery, and their NPK is 7-5-7. This is a mix that was given to me after a discussion from some club members of BIB, and it worked GREAT last year.
Heres what it looks like with the water added, just enough to make it the consistency of soft mud. I use the putty knife to keep the end edge clean, as i drag the melon baller up the edge of the mortar tub, pressing firmly to form the cakes. The trick I found is using a cup of water and dipping the melon baller every couple of cakes, so that the balled up fertilizer comes free of the melon baller without sticking.
Once the plastic plates (thanks IKEA) are full, they are left to dry out, and then scrape them off the plastic plates with the putty knife. Whatever little bits fall off, I throw that in the garden for the peppers, and place the cakes as needed on the surface of the trees, fertilizing slowly every time I water. I replace them monthly, turning my trees when I do that, and throw the old cakes in the garden, and replace with new cakes.
Here's a shot of the finished product-this ought to get me started....
5 comments:
Scott, great post! Timothy had a good idea that he shared with me a year or two ago. He uses a PVC pipe and a dowel rod as a make shift fertilizer play-do factory. I've been using that method ever since. Seems to work well and save a little time. I was never very successful with the melon baller.
John,
Thats a great idea, but does the fetilizer dry in the PVC for a while? Then push it out, and it doesn't get stuck? The melon baller IS a bit of a pain, but after so much use, it's starting to get like second nature. If it comes out of the pvc after drying, you could buy a few big pieces, and load em all up at once for the whole season! I read on Michael Hagedorns blog that he uses a melon baller with a ratchet arm inside, like an ice cream scoop. I've never seen one before. Thanks for the tip John.
Scott
Hi Scott,
This brings back memories - fun, smelly memories. If creatures didn't run off with the stuff after a single night, I'd have a bunch out drying myself.
Jonas
great post Scott. I have the same problem Jonas has though, and though I've heard of people drying them in their oven, I am just not that dedicated to making my own fertilizer balls!
The last picture looks like a tray of bakery goodies... which in a way, they are, just for the trees, not for us!
-Heather
Heather,
They seem to be less attractive to animals when they are really dried through. I give em a couple full days to dry, and that seems to help as opposed to spooning it right onto the soil surface. Sure, the garage is a bit smelly, but it goes away, and I can't beat the results I get.
Scott
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