First, lets recall the black letter rule: For the first year, no fertilizer in the root-ball until leaves have fallen. This will simply stimulate leaf growth. Remember 90% or more of the roots have just been removed. Your new tree is thirsty! Pushing leaf growth the first year will simply exacerbate the acute imbalance.
However with root stimulators, it is quite a different matter. These may be applied at any time, but only in the in the “donut” (a ring extending 2-3 feet outside the transplant rootball). Do not put them in the root-ball until dormancy is reached in the first year.
The same must be said for pruning the first year. It too will push leaf growth and stress the trees. Only prune the necessary problems.
Fertilization and root stimulation: sounds the same, but it is not. In these United States fertilization is mostly N-P-K, with occasional discussion of “trace" elements. In England, for quite some time, there has evolved a more sophisticated understanding of things. Since the 1950’s the Brits have identified some 60 compounds in composted seaweeds that are beneficial to root growth. Because in the states we (the public) are about 50 years behind the Brits in the comprehension of root stimulation, let us see what they have been writing. W.A. Stephenson wrote “seaweed contains all major and minor plant nutrients, and all trace elements; alginic acid; vitamins; auxins; at least two gibberellins; and antibiotics. All are found in fresh seaweed, dried seaweed meal and liquid seaweed extract -- with the one exception of vitamins: these, while present in both fresh seaweed and dried seaweed meal, are absent from the extract.
We will deal first with alginic acid as a soil conditioner. It is a matter of common experience that seaweed, and seaweed products, improve the water-holding characteristics of soil and help the formation of crumb structure. They do this because the alginic acid in the seaweed combines with metallic radicals in the soil to form a polymer with greatly increased molecular weight, of the type known as cross-linked. One might describe the process more simply, if less accurately, by saying that the salts formed by alginic acid with soil metals swell when wet and retain moisture tenaciously, so helping the soil to form a crumb structure.
As to water-retaining characteristics, Miss Constance MacFarlane of the Nova Scotia Research Foundation told members of the Fourth Seaweed Symposium at Biarritz, in 1961: 'In the spring of 1956 I was greatly impressed with fields in the island of Jersey. This was not in any way a scientific experiment, but the results were most obvious. The year 1955 had been exceedingly dry. The only fields suitable for a second crop of hay were those which had been fertilized with seaweed. All the others had dried out, and had to be ploughed up for other crops.
As to water-retaining characteristics, Miss Constance MacFarlane of the Nova Scotia Research Foundation told members of the Fourth Seaweed Symposium at Biarritz, in 1961: 'In the spring of 1956 I was greatly impressed with fields in the island of Jersey. This was not in any way a scientific experiment, but the results were most obvious. The year 1955 had been exceedingly dry. The only fields suitable for a second crop of hay were those which had been fertilized with seaweed. All the others had dried out, and had to be ploughed up for other crops.
Auxins in seaweed include indolyl-acetic acid, discovered in seaweed in 1933 for the first time. Two new auxins, as yet unidentified, but unlike any of the known indolyl-acetic acid types, were also discovered in 1958 in the Laminaria and Ascophyllum seaweeds used for processing into dried seaweed meal and liquid extract. These auxins have been found to encourage the growth of more cells -- in which they differ from more familiar types of auxin which simply enlarge the cells without increasing their number. One of the auxins also stimulates growth in both stems and roots of plants, and in this differs from indolyl-acetic acid and its derivatives, which cause cells to elongate but not to divide. The balanced action of this seaweed auxin has not been found in any other auxin.
We have seen that seaweed contains all known trace elements. This is important. But it is also important that these elements are present in a form acceptable to plants.
These brief notes cover two examples: one of the way in which seaweed helps to produce a crumb structure in the soil, another of the way in which it helps soil to retain moisture.
It is known that plants treated with seaweed products develop a resistance to pests and diseases, not only to sap-seeking insects such as red spider mite and aphides, but also to scab, mildew and fungi. … The reason why seaweed and seaweed products should exert some form of biological control over a number of common plant diseases is unknown. Soil fungi and bacteria are known to produce natural antibiotics which hold down the population of plant pathogens, and when these antibiotics are produced in sufficient quantities they enter the plant and help it to resist disease. The production of such antibiotics is increased in soil high in organic matter, and it may be that seaweed still further encourages this process.
I have said elsewhere in this book that the evidence of the disease-controlling qualities of seaweed came to us as a complete surprise. It was those who used seaweed extract as a foliar nutrient, or seaweed meal as fertilizer, who first discovered these characteristics, and described them to us. We make no other claims than these, only record what users say, and it would be a poor service to truth to censor this evidence of the value of seaweed because it has not been confirmed in all respects by trials at research stations…”
Seaweed Agriculture and Horticulture, by W.A. Stephenson {{{hot link}}}
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At Trees on Wheels we compost 50 -100 tons of seaweed per year so that we can offer high quality root stimulant to our customers free of additional charge. The composting process takes about 3-4 years. We supply our customers withh 10-15 gallons of our root stimulator with each tree sold. This is to be applied over the roto-tilling and and drip hose, but under the mulch ring.