Fertilizing the Christmas trees today. How much do they get?

Hello from the flanigan homestead today Is april 16th i’m going to be putting Some fertilizer down today uh we got it Here in the gator actually josiah’s Holding the camera right now he’s going To be putting most of the fertilizer Down but this is what we’re doing um The trees have not flushed out yet which We want to put it on before they do the Root growth is starting typically in This area if you look at the research The root growth has started already and The Limb growth is going to be starting soon You’ll see the trees budding out Flushing out and growing and So we’re going to try to get the Fertilizer on the ground we’re gonna Sprinkle it around the trees here a Little bit and gonna let the rain start Getting it into the ground so that uh When the tree is really doing a lot of Growth it will have it already in the Ground so no the buds have not flushed Out and another reason we want to do it Before the limbs flush out is If we do sprinkle on the branches which You’re going to see we’re going to get Some on the branches the noble fur and The granford needles have kind of a waxy Covering that are very protective the New growth will not have that and if the Chemicals are caught up in that and get Wet it can do a little bit of damage uh

In the past we’ve seen that it hasn’t Done much to be honest but it’s just a Little bit more protected this way to Put the fertilizer down now Okay some years we do a soil test and uh We get an exact reading of what we need Most years though uh when we know that We’re in a For the most part our soil’s in pretty Good shape we get a standard christmas Tree fertilizer here from valley egg and It’s a 23 0 10 plus boron so obviously There’s a lot of nitrogen the boron is a Trace element that is added and it helps Produce bud production so that the trees Fill in more full so 23 23010 is pretty Much what valley egg mixes up for just a Standard universal christmas tree Fertilizer here in the pacific northwest [Music] [Applause] All right we like to put our fertilizer In a bucket a five gallon bucket if you Fill it up is pretty heavy if you only Have a halfway full then you’re reaching Down too Deep so this bucket i don’t know what it Is probably a couple gallon bucket seems To be about right and we take a scoop We sprinkle Approximately two ounces of fertilizer Per foot height of tree so an eight foot Tree is going to get 16 ounces of Fertilizer a four foot tree is going to

Get eight ounces of fertilizer uh we’ve Had measuring cups and done this in the Past and could see exactly what it is Then you don’t actually measure out Every tree once you get a pretty good Idea what it is you just start going up And down the rows and do approximate Good okay One thing that we’ve found in the past Now i don’t have that many tall trees Left right now because we’ve been shot Through But when you’re going around taller Trees if you just shake this out and you Walk around in a circle by yourself and You do that too many times you’re going To be really busy so just uh If josiah and i were doing this together I would do one side of the tree working It down he would do the other side I would also recommend even if you’re Doing it by yourself is to just take This and go down One half of the trees Going going down the rows that way and When you get all the way to the end then You’ll come back the other side of the Tree And then you’ll come up the row And you’ll just be sprinkling the Fertilizer Around the drip line All the way here so you’re not spinning Circles getting really dizzy

Okay again we should have about two Ounces per foot height a tree this is a Over six feet tall so we should have at Least 12 ounces i’m going to be Sprinkling this around the drip line of The tree so some of it is going to get Caught up in the branches and we’ve Found that you know the rain will just Wash that right down into the ground and It’ll be absorbed into the ground so Where the drip line edge is There’ll be fertilizer about six inches Inside of that and to six inches outside Of that and as the rain uh dissolves it And spreads it out it’ll be Going into where the roots are the most Active so then we’ll just sprinkle this And like i said some of you caught it Getting caught up in the branches [Music] Some is on the ground [Music] All right there we have it a pretty Simple process of fertilizing christmas Trees uh when you have taller trees i Know a lot of people will take actually A broadcast spreader and drive down the Rows and throw it out and the branches Will catch it and then drop it on the Ground right on the drip line but we Have so many big trees gone and we’re Filling in that that’s not going to be Efficient here so we sprinkle around all The trees so thanks for joining me on

The flanigan homestead where christmas Trees are my business teaching including Horticulture is my job and outdoor Projects are my passion Be blessed everyone [Music] [Music] [Music] You