Fall is for fertilizer

A few weeks ago I was struck by yellow foliage on a number of my young pines. After thinking about it for a moment, I came to the conclusion that I hadn’t been fertilizing enough. Black pines in development require a lot of fertilizer. If they don’t receive enough food they can quickly turn yellow. Fortunately the solution is simple – feed more! I began feeding my trees more frequently – about twice a week with fish emulsion – and applied chelated iron to help the trees green up. As you can see below, some of the trees greened up more quickly than others.

The tree on the left is still a bit yellow – both trees receive full sun

Feeding this time of year is important for all varieties as it’s the last chance trees get to increase their strength before winter. This is especially important for trees that we may not feed as heavily in the spring like white pines or deciduous varieties.

Depending on the weather, some varieties will continue to grow into December where I live. Others are already slowing down. I’ll continue to feed the trees that are active and slow the feeding schedule as the weather cools.