posted
Curious to hear if any of you fertilize mast and/or forage/browse for your deer? I've not really done much of it before but we have had so much rain this year, I think I could make use of some fertilizer. Chris Surtees mentioned the fertilizer spikes which sounds like a great idea for out of the way places. Anyone else have any tips and details for fertilizing?
-------------------- "Being there was good enough..." Charlie Lamb reflecting on a hunt TGMM Brotherhood of the Bow Posts: 9537 | From: Ranger, GA | Registered: Mar 2003
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I have done that around white oak trees a few times. The best time to do it that I found is around the first part of March, the spring rains help the fertilizer to soak into the ground. I fertilize from about two feet from the trunk out to the "drip line" of the branches. I used about 3 lbs (small coffee can) of 13-13-13 per tree. The trees that I fertilizer usually have really large acorns.
Posts: 161 | From: Pensacola, FL | Registered: Aug 2008
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Ditto what Rufus said about the drip line - it is very important so you don't burn the root system. I've used the spikes with good results on my 12 fruit trees. Also, they do make fertilizer spikes specifically for fruit and nut trees. You should be able to find them at any Home Depot nursery.
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We put 10-10-10 around a bunch of our oaks and persimmon trees at the club. Everywhere except that woodlot that your stands are in....
8-0
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"If you are twenty and aren't liberal you don't have a heart...if you're forty and not conservative you don't have a brain".....Winston Churchill Posts: 4386 | From: Gray, Ga. 31032 | Registered: Mar 2003
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-------------------- "Being there was good enough..." Charlie Lamb reflecting on a hunt TGMM Brotherhood of the Bow Posts: 9537 | From: Ranger, GA | Registered: Mar 2003
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Fertilizing Japanese honeysuckle is a great way to attract deer. They will walk over most anything else to get to it, and will eat it down to the big stems.
-------------------- Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.- Ben Franklin Posts: 2390 | From: New Albany, MS | Registered: Jul 2008
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Don't advertise that!!! The folks that monitor invasive species, want all the honeysuckle eradicated. I used to work with them and we had heated discussions about it's food value all the time.
-------------------- SELFBOW19953 "When I aim at something, that's what I hit. When I hit something, that's what I aimed at." Loretta Young in "Along Came Jones" Posts: 1742 | From: DELAWARE | Registered: Mar 2003
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I have done it to white oaks, red oaks, and honeysuckle. Deer will eat the honeysuckle as high as they can reach. LCH
Posts: 558 | From: burlington,nc | Registered: Apr 2009
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You are better off clearing all other trees,bushes,and saplings from under and around your oaks so they don't have to compete for sunlight and water durring their mass producing months.
Posts: 1941 | From: Va | Registered: May 2004
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Biggie, That's messed up for sure!! I am going to have to talk to my dad about trying this, and see what the expense might be. Anyone have a cost per tree figure out or anything? Mark
-------------------- "Better to be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt"-Abe Lincoln Posts: 736 | From: Jefferson City, Missouri | Registered: Dec 2006
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quote:Originally posted by overbo: You are better off clearing all other trees,bushes,and saplings from under and around your oaks so they don't have to compete for sunlight and water durring their mass producing months.
If you do that AND fertilize you are really talking. If you can't clear the grasses or shrubs out as much as you would like to you are probably better off using the spikes and concentrating them along the drip line.
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Traditional Bowhunters Of Florida Charity Shoot January 26, 2013. State Championship Shoot March 1-3, 2013. Come shoot with us! Posts: 4871 | From: weirsdale, fl | Registered: Mar 2004
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Phil, not to worry! There's so much Japanese honeysuckle down South, there's no way it could be eradicated. There's even more of it than kudzu, which is also everywhere down here. If anybody wipes yours out, I'll be glad to send you some.
-------------------- Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.- Ben Franklin Posts: 2390 | From: New Albany, MS | Registered: Jul 2008
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I have been using the stakes for years around the drip line...really seems to help. Plus you can throw them in your pack in a plastic bag and put them in while stumpin or shed hunting.
-------------------- Proverbs 16:9 TGMM Family of the Bow
Terry Barker Posts: 1747 | From: Indiana | Registered: Jan 2006
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Where Can I find a "mast" to fertilize and what the heck is it??? Posts: 2981 | From: Somewhere over the Rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
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