North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Jay Cutts <orders@cuttsreviews.com>]

Hi, All.

I read on a list somewhere (don't know if it was this one) a debate 
about whether to fertilize trees in the spring or fall. I think the 
argument for fall was something about making the fertilizer available 
for spring growth. The argument against fall was that it can cause late 
growth that is too tender.

I'm not quite sure how fertilizing works. I have a suspicion and wonder 
if anyone can confirm or contribute. We're in a location with very poor 
soil, in fact  mostly sand with few nutrients. It's been common for some 
to plants to put on less than an inch of growth during a season. Last 
spring I added both manure and organic corn gluten fertilizer to trees, 
scratching the fertilizer into the top of the soil. By the end of the 
season, most of the trees had still put on very little growth, maybe 
1-3". Frustrated, I upped the fertilization this spring by putting 
cottonseed meal fertilizer into holes punched in the ground to get more 
to the tree roots.

However, as things leaf out this year, I see lots of the trees already 
putting on 6-8" of new growth right away! It's as though the fertilizer 
that they got last spring didn't add to last year's growth but prepped 
the plants for strong growth this spring. Is this how it works, at least 
with the slow release, organic fertilizer I'm using?

These are all fairly young trees, from a couple feet high to 5 or 6 feet.

Regards,

Jay

Jay Cutts
Director, Cutts Graduate Reviews
Lead Author, Barron's MCAT Prep Book
Lead Author, Barron's LSAT Prep Book (2013)
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