How To Plant A Fruit Tree

For a 3 gallon bag size dig a hole 18" round and 24" deep. Make sure the hole has adequate water drainage. Mix thoroughly 2 to 3 pounds of well composted manure and 1 cup dolomite lime and 1/2 cup treble superphosphate into the soil dug from the hole. Cinders up to 33% may be added to help drainage. Organic matter such as Macadamia husks, wood chips, or compost may be added up to 33% by volume. Gently remove the plastic bag from the root ball, by cutting the bag or pot with a knife, and set the tree into the hole. Then put that mixture back into hole and around the tree roots positioning the tree so that the soil level at the trunk is the same as it was in the container. Water thoroughly! Mulching in a 4 foot diameter circle around the tree but not next to the trunk 4 to 6 inches in depth with composted dead plant material such as wood chips or composted leaves is most desirable.

How To Fertilize

Top dress fertilizer immediately after planting and every 4 to 8 weeks with fertilizer with a 3-1-2 ratio of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium for optimum growth of the tree for the first year or two. Use 1 pound per inch of trunk caliper per application per tree of a 6% nitrogen formulation (adjust amount used according to the percentage of nitrogen by weight). Fertilizer should be applied to an ever widening circle around the tree, starting at the drip line and extending 2 more feet out from the trunk. The idea is to encourage the roots to grow out to seek nutrients. The canopy of the tree will follow the root growth. Mulching with composted plant material is beneficial by providing the plant with humus and humic acid, which hold nutrients (minimizes leaching), keeps more even soil temperature and promotes living soil. Dolomite lime, minor and trace nutrients should be applied annually or semi-annually, depending on species and location. Some fertilizer formulations also contain minor nutrients with the regularly applied N-P-K, such as "palm-citrus special," and others.

Bug Control

We recommend Integrated Pest Management on fruit trees. The basic idea is to identify and understand the pest in question and to control the damage, not necessarily eliminate the pest. Using strong broad spectrum pesticides kills all the insects, both good and bad ones. This method leaves no predator insects left to control populations of the bad bugs when they reinfest. Aphids can be controlled by Safers Insecticidal Soap. Mites can be controlled by wettable sulfur. Many funguses can be controlled with Tri basic copper.