fertilizer regimen for young plants

[zone5figger]

I would be interested to hear how folks fertilize their young rooted fig starts and plants.
I try to stick to organic fertilizers whenever possible, and so when I decided it was time to start feeding my wee plants I began giving them 1/4cup/gallon of 'Liquid Neptune' seaweed extract, just like I do my veggies. This is mostly micronutrients and phosphorus(0-1-0). Usually I'd introduce the nitrogen in the form of liquid fish fertilizer, but as this crop cohabits our living space, I ruled that out because of the smell. I've been using a fermented plant tea that I made last fall as a substitute, mostly comfrey, dandelion and bit of yarrow and chamomile- less smelly, plants also love this stuff and I use it at about 1/2 cu/gal in addition to the seaweed extract. I also add a scoop of fresh worm castings from my worm bins for all of the beneficial microbes. Last time I also added a pinch of wood ash. All of this gets stirred together really well and aerated and has been applied at every watering 'fertigation' style. My bins of 24 plants get a 10 second dunk in a 4" deep tub, then are placed in another tray to drain.
Most of my plants seem to be doing well with this, and are growing nicely.

[zone5figger]

When I up-pot these come springtime, I plan to include some compost and slow-release granular fertilizer in my potting mix. A locally available organic option is by North Country Organics, 'Pro-start '(2-3-3) which includes a medley of stuff like greensand, seed meals, blood meal, kelp etc. I will also add some azomite for the micronutrients, and biochar for nutrient retention. I hope to assemble the ingredients for Al's 5-1-1 mix, or a slightly modified version. Most of my plants will be encouraged to root into the soil under their containers, I hope this will help them fend for themselves a bit.

[hoosierbanana]

I used Botanicare Pure Blend Pro Grow last season on newly rooted cuttings @ 10-15 ml per gallon. Also some seaweed extract and CA MG+. Roughly once a week. I foliar feed every other week at the recommended reduced rates. Later on I use a local product called EKL plus which has a higher nitrogen ratio.

[Kelby]

I usually mix in a small amount of GardenTone or PlantTone, whatever is handy, into my rooting mix, as organic fertilizers are less likely to burn and for the fungal inoculation. Have you ever seen mushrooms grow out of your rooting pots?

Once they start are rooted and growing I use a weak solution of Jack's Classic fertilizer nearly every time I water. When they are up potted and stronger I use these fertilizer tabs, they last a pretty long time and I've had good results with them.

[eboone]

Jesse, how old is the plant in the pic? When did you start rooting it?

[zone5figger]

That plant was started 12-7 and the photo is about a week old or so. (love this comment feature!)

[AscPete]

This is the fig fertilization schedule that has evolved over the past 3 years growing figs.

Potting Mix;
5 - parts Pine Bark Mulch
1 - part Peat Moss
1 - part Perlite
1 - part Oil Absorbent(Fullers Earth @ Tractor Supply)
Plus - 1 cup Dolemite Limestone and 1 cup Espoma Plant-Tone per 5 gallon.
Plus - 1/4 cup Ironite mineral supplement per 5 gallon.

Fertilizing Schedule for Rooted Cuttings:
Weekly feedings of Miracle-Gro All purpose @ 1/2 teaspoon / Gallon of water for cups and increasing to 1 tsp / Gallon for well rooted cuttings and 1 gallon containers, with 1/4 teaspoon Epsom salt / gallon.
Monthly Feedings of Espoma-Tone @ 1 -2 tablespoons per 1 gallon container.

Fertilizing Schedule for 1-2 year old potted fig trees:
Weekly feedings of Miracle Grow General purpose @ 1 tablespoon / Gallon of water with 1/2 teaspoon Epsom salt / gallon.
Monthly Feedings of Espoma-Tone @ 1/2 cup and Dolemite Limestone @ 1/2 cup per 5 gallon container.
Miracle Grow and Espoma are stopped at the end of July or mid August to allow for "hardening off".

Fertilizing Schedule for 3 years and older potted fig trees:
Weekly feedings of Miracle Grow General purpose @ 1 tablespoon / Gallon of water with 1/2 teaspoon Epsom salt / gallon.
1 cup of Espoma-Tone at start of season.
Miracle Grow is stopped at the end of July or mid August to allow for "hardening off".
I will be looking for 2-3 feet of growth at the fruiting branches yearly.

Fertilizing Schedule for In Ground trees; 1 time in early spring.
Dolemite Limestone/Epsom Salt/Borax (80/4/1 ratio, Mittlieder Gardening pre plant mix) @ 2 cups / 50 Sq Ft.
Espoma Garden Tone @ 2 cups / 50 Sq Ft (to inoculate the soil with microbes).
Soak tree drip line with Miracle-Gro All Purpose @ 1 tablespoon / Gallon of water.
Layer of compost and a layer of Mulch all under the drip line.

The Organic Espoma contributes micro-nutrients and mycorrhizae to the mix, in addition to other insoluble nutrients. The Dolemite Limestone adds Calcium and Magnesium, which are introduced over time as it breaks down with the other insoluble nutrients and the microbial action in the soil from the fungal and bacterial cultures (mycorrhizae). The Ironite adds Iron and other micro nutrients. The Espoma-Tone, Limestone and Ironite act like slow release fertilizers. The potted trees are watered daily, so the potting mix is always kept moist and never allowed to dry out. The Miracle-Gro can be replaced with any other balanced water soluble organic or chemical based fertilizer. There are several Hydroponic fertilizers that may perform better, I'm currently trialing General Hydroponics MaxiBloom 5-15-14 NPK as a replacement for Miracle-Gro for potted fruiting plants.

[richardk]

Where do you find Espoma-Tone ? is that the same as Espoma plant tone?

[AscPete]

richardk ,
Its an abbreviation for several different 'Tone' fertilizers produced by Espoma...

I use / always have Bio-tone, Garden-tone, Tomato-tone, Holly-tone and I've used Plant-tone in the past (but none in stock currently).

[FiggyMcFiggleson]

What is considered a "rooted cutting"? I have cuttings I planted 2 weeks ago that have started to grow some green buds. I assume they're rooted, but don't know what the root structure looks like since they are in black tree pots.

[Rob Ster 010]

I use Dynagro grow (7-9-5) 0.5 ml / liter and Dynagro Sea Spirit 1 ml/liter at every watering.
That's about 2 times a week.
I rinse with water after every 4 feedings and feed again the day after.
All my starts are in a 50%/50% seedling soil-perlite mixture.

[Harborseal]

I use tomato tone plus worm castings and osmocote. I also use Dyna Grow and occasionally miracle grow, cow manure and Espoma Iron tone. Then we have 35 degrees at night in late June and Early July and it stays cold all summer so I might as well have used plain water

[AscPete]

We had consistently cold nights this past summer also, most trees produced good crops, but only half developed sweet jammy interiors...
I plan on noting the cultivars that were good even under those cool conditions...

[cis4elk]

This is my 3rd year of growing trees out from cuttins. My first year I didn't fertilize at all(young plants from cuttings) and up potted to my big tree mix as soon as possible, the later cuttings I started that year I began to add some big tree mix to my starter mix and liked what I saw with that. My second year I again mixed my starting mix with some of my big tree mix which has several organic nutrient sources at a ratio of 2/3 starter to 1/3 big mix. This works alright, but I did lose a few cutting to sudden cutting death syndrome( when a perfectly healthy rooted little treeling with leaves still in the cup just up and dies for no apparant reason) and I attributed that to possibly being from the microbes in the big tree mix. With the exception of part of my first summer ever growing fig trees, I have maintained using only organic fertilizers, until now. This 3rd year of starting cuttings I am back to starter mix only 2/1/0.5 of screened perlite/peat/vermiculite, and when I initially cup the cutting I spay it with a mister enough to drip out the bottom, let drain and then set on paper towel to draw all excess water from bottom of cup(have always done this). But this year in addition I am using Ionics Grow at a rate of 350ppm over my tap waters ppm(my tap water is ~150ppm so my fert solution is 500ppm) in the mister. So far, this is looing good, my initial growth is better than ever, but I am also using a heat mat set to 75 that I set my cups on once they need light(never did that in the past). I use fert water about every 3rd time, sometimes I mist from top, sometimes I bottom soak, it just depends if the top is getting too dry.

[zone5figger]

Could you share your big tree mix with us, Calvin?
Pretty please?

[cis4elk]

I will copy it over when I get home later tonight.

[Harborseal]

What's your Big Tree Mix?

[cis4elk]

It's what I grow my trees in once they get past the cup stage. To be added as above.

[cis4elk]

Big tree mix=

-1 Bag EKO organic potting mix (1.5 cubic ft/42.5 L) Ingredients off of bag: Peat Moss, Fir Bark, Compost, Perlite, Alfalfa meal, Kelp Meal, and Dehydrated Poultry Manure
-3 gallons Pine bark 1/4" screen
-1 blue bag (8qt) Epsoma Perlite, Screened ~1.5 cups Kelp meal
~1 cup Dolomite Limestone
~1.5 cups Azomite
~1 cup Plant tone 5-3-3
~1 cup crab shell
~Heavy 1/2 cup Irontone
~1 cup Espoma Garden Lime

[drivewayfarmer]

Jesse ,
I've been growing my figs organically as well, because that is how I grow everything.
When I was starting more cuttings earlier in the Winter , if I thought they needed fertilization I just used a little sprinkle of Pro- Gro 5-3-4 on the surface of the pot away from the
stem. It does smell ,so I usually premixed it with some of the potting mix I was using , Vermont Compost Company Fort Lite , to lessen the odor in the basement grow area.

Once they moved up to a 5 gal SIP or 25 gallon Sip this is the basic mix I use :

Three - 5 gallon buckets of Vermont Compost Company's Fort Light ( a compost based potting mix)
Two cups Pro-Gro 5-3-4
One cup dolomitic lime
Two cups greensand
One cup Azomite
Three quarts Worm castings
Three quarts Coast of Maine Lobster Compost
Eight quarts extra coarse perlite

[zone5figger]

Very helpful, thank you Kerry. That's going in my recipe book!

[AscPete]

Thanks for sharing your SIP recipe...
I'm starting a dozen 5 gallon SIPs this spring for some long term testing...
How long is this SIP mix viable? Thanks

[drivewayfarmer]

Pete , my 5 gallon SIPs I try to root prune every 2 years , but for many it really turns out to be every 3 to 4 years just like my 25 gallon SIPs.
This is the basic mix to which I add early each season : 2 cups Pro-Gro 5-3-4 (or equivalent Espoma product ) , 2 quarts worm castings (homegrown) ,and blood meal.
I found for my zone it was best to push growth hard as early as possible and I had been waiting too long to start fertilizing.
My 25 gallon SIPs are like Bills Figs version except that I leave off the plastic cover in order to allow rain access and to top dress organic fertilizer as needed.

[AscPete]

Thanks for the reply and info.
Its also been my experience that fertilizing early yields the best results, that's why I use the MG All Purpose, to make the soluble nutrient readily available to the roots.
I'll post my results once I get the SIPs up and running...

[grasshopper]

Since this is one of the most common questions during cutting rooting season, I would like to bump this up with a version from Richard which would be helpful to growers from the warmer regions. This has both an organic and non-organic alternative to fertilizing.

https://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-home/449610-fertilizing-deciduous-fruit-trees-start-to-finish