Do trees need compost when planting in a field?

I'm thinking about whether to ditch soluable feeds entirely in favour of slow release granular (which presumably waste less, and do away with all the faffing about mixing up etc.)

Osmacote, or similar. So many different types to choose from though ...

 

Re compost / no compost when planting tree: I planted 30 trees today and to cover all bases, on the problem of new research over old myths, I sprinkled in a bit of compost (way less than i'd normally use) and left the rest as the soil I found in the field (a combination of clay and quite nice dark brown topsoil) - as it'll take about 10 years before they're established, I may not remember to let you know how they 'got on' LOL. My next problem is the footballs so head teacher told me to buy a fence to put round them - i was thinking more of a cage LOL!!!

 

have a look at AACT (Actively Aerated Compost Tea) .... I am ditching fertilizers such as miracle grow and the likes

once you have the equipment, it works out very cheap ... the equipment which I have bought cost me under £50 on ebay .... a decent aquarium pump, a porous circular bubbler stone, a cylyindrical bubbler stone and a heater .... I still need to find a paint straining bag (B&Q and Homebase don't have them .... it has to be 400 microns mesh)

The basic compost tea needs 2 cups of good compost and 3 tablespoons of molasses .... that makes 20 litres of compost tea and costs a few pence

if you want to take it a step further and make a really good compost tea, you add nutrients such as humic acid, seaweed extract, fish emulsion, bat guano, worm humis (vermicastings), volcanic rock dust etc

I have worked out that 20 litres using all the above ingredients will cost me less than £6 .... and a little goes a long way if used as a foliar spray

If you want to use it as a lawn feed, and wish to have a higher nitrogen content, you add a handful of dried blood etc ....

then use it as a foiliar spray using a backpack sprayer with a course nozzle and one that does not exceed 70 pounds psi or it will kill the fungi/bacteria....

I have read that 20 litres of compost tea applied with a backpack sprayer will cover more than an acre of lawn .... you will spend a lot more on granular fertilizer to fertilize a lawn of that size

My equipment arrived today, so will start brewing on tuesday, and will apply it in a garden on thursday ....

I will test it compared to using miracle grow liquid feed aswell, and will test it on plants that have been planted a week ago (same species, same size, planted in the same location and planted exactly the same) ... I will fertilize once a month ....

I have also planted 2 musa basjoo in the same garden, and they are heavy feeders and fast growers, so I will test the compost tea on one of them, and use miracle grow on the other

loads of info on youtube and google, and seems to be favoured by the guys who grow giant veg for competions etc

 

Thanks *Dim*. I've been following your posts on this, and am keen to try it too.

My particular point about liquid feed on pots was that some/much runs out the bottmo. A foiar feed would get around that, but if I water pots with Compost Tea I'm going to get the same "waste".

Using it, or another liquid feed, on plants in the ground is different (although private gardens are responsible for something like 100x the "fertilizer runoff", per unit area, pollution of rivers / ground water as Farmers cause!!

 

good points about the pollution .... I recently read this article:

http://www.snydercounty.org/Depts/Conservation_District/Pages/AgriculturalMutrientManagement.aspx

snip:

Every farm in Pennsylvania that land applies manure is required to have some type of a written plan that describes how the manure and other nutrients are managed. This includes manure application by various types of equipment and/or direct application by animals on pastures and in animal concentration areas. By following the application requirements, the farmer will optimize yields and protect streams, rivers, ponds and groundwater.

as regards the watering/fertilizing, , a basic compost tea with a few nutrients will cost cheaper than chemical fertilizers ...

and even cheaper if you use it as a foliar spray in combination with a yucca based wetting agent

if you are watering, and there is a huge runoff, perhaps you are overwatering? .... by doing that, you also flush out all the nutrients in the potting soil

try watering less, just until you see the 1st drops of water dripping .... you will then get the 'feel' of how much to water per specific potsize

I'm glad that you are thinking about the compost teas .... it would be nice to see other people's reactions to using it, as it's starting to become popular

I dont grow veg, but would like to see tests on these ... as results are rapid compared to shrubs or plants that only start growing when the temperature is correct (like palms)

It makes gardening a lot more interesting, as you learn about nutrients .... and you have more control growing .... suppose it can be termed as 'pimping my garden' ).... I read that somewhere)

spoke to some of my clients and they all want to buy this stuff for their indoor plants ....

Hmmmm .... I smell money! ....