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Originally Posted by Ekka  Well, I read everything.
30-10-7 is pretty darned aggressive especially when injected into the soil profile, I wouldn't advise it here and it might even burn a few natives.
I cannot see how the soil itself is improved? I cannot see if there's any organic matter going in there. As far as plants building up defences I'd debate that point till no tomorrow.
Trees will sacrifice defence over growth every time, more nutrient availability means more growth, could also lead to over extended and more likely to fail trees ... could grow till they break.
It's one thing to pitch an angle that suggests the fertilizer replaces what's natural in a forest, that's some tricky snake oil there. Been to a forest? Oh, there's mulch not lawn, there's diversity, there's grafting and shelter with fauna (critters) all working together. So now we chemically duplicate the forests soil nutrient content, forget all the other things that go on in a forest and give it to our urban trees. Interesting, I'd like to see the long term repercussions of this and I certainly wouldn't trust any of the manufacturers data on it.
These ain't veggie crops or beans, we're talking trees here, that can fail and kill you. Trees that get cut, weed whacked, compacted etc and defence is a critical component, so is trying to create some natural sustenance such as mulch, water, decompaction, beneficial microrhizae etc.
Sorry mate, I aint sold, the warning bells are going off. Dont like the one size fits all approach either.  |
That 30 of N has only 5% available right away, the rest is very slow release. We use it here in the middle of summer, up to 90 degree weather without burning trees at all.
Clearly it doesn't improve the soil itself, or at least the soil composition. It adds NPK and other nutrients, it definately doesn't make high clay soil more loamy. Done by liquid injection it also helps break up compacted soils and adds suplemental water to the soil.
When they say it helps plants build up defences what they are saying is that a tree that has sufficient nutrition is less likely to be as severly affected by harmfull insects or disease. Healthy trees are stronger right
I have not seen this excessive growth that is talked about. I have seen customers residences that have been getting the stuff every year for 10 or more years in combination with proper pruning and their trees look great.
I also don't like the one size fits all approach. Every situation should be evaluated individually, fertilizers can be usefull though.