Fertilizing Mast Trees

[JC]

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?

[Rufus 25]

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.

[TommyBoy]

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.

[Biggie Hoffman]

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

[JC]

I knew I could count on you Biggie    

Thanks for the info guys...keep it coming.

[Don Stokes]

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.

[SELFBOW19953]

Don,

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.

[DEATHMASTER]

Been doing it for years. All things need food to grow to the max.
I get 50 cent piece hickory nuts of two trees.

Tim

[LCH]

I have done it to white oaks, red oaks, and honeysuckle. Deer will eat the honeysuckle as high as they can reach. LCH

[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.

[flatlander37]

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

[gregg dudley]

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.

[Don Stokes]

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.  

[oneshot-onekill]

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.

[IB]

Where Can I find a "mast" to fertilize and what the heck is it???    :confused:

[JC]

Here ya go Vance...

From TN Ag Office:
"Mast is an important diet component of many wildlife species. Mast is the fruit of a tree or a shrub and is called “hard” (acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts, etc.) or “soft” (fleshy fruits of dogwood, blackgum, black cherry, etc.). Some of the most important trees and shrubs that produce mast in our region are the oaks, dogwoods, hickories, black cherry, blackgum, beech and maples. The oaks are probably the single most impor tant group of trees for mast production for wildlife."

Leave it to one of you out west guys to ask that question....heck, do you even have oaks in Wy?    

I'm leaning towards the stakes just for portability. The areas where I usually find these types of trees are devoid of any undergrowth under or near the tree so that won't be an issue. Thanks for the input guys.

[Terry Green]

Haven't read any replies...aint got time.


But do it NOW....Feb is even better from what I've heard as nutrients get into the ground and are ready to be absorbed by March when the sap rises.

[Liquid Amber]

You're wasting your time.  

There are "too" many variables involved in mast production for 13-13-13 or any other to have much influence.  You can put all of it out you want but if a red oak had two much rain during a certain period last spring...it ain't going to have any mast this fall.  If a white oak has too much rain during a certain period or we have a frost at the wrong time or other stuff, this spring, it won't have squat this fall.

There are mast trees that are good producers, fair producers and poor producers.  We cannot at this time look at an acorn or seedling or sapling and determine the tree's potential mast production.  An application of fertilizer won't move any up in class.

There is little to no scientific evidence fertilizing mast trees provides return for effort.  Unlike browse, trees's reaction to fertilizer is slow, if at all.  Browse, however, is benefited by fertilizer and the result can easily be seen.  

You want mast production, you do the following.  If the tree "is not" growing in the open with "no competition" around it....you open the canopy up.   A mast tree in a closed canopy or understory don't need 13-13-13, it needs sun.     All mast trees respond to opening their crowns.  Mast production is controlled by the size of the crown.  Pretty simple, eh?

If you have permission of the lanowner or own a piece of property, and you have mast producing persimmon....get their heads in the sun.

One of my hunting properties belongs to the wife's cousin and I clear cut it 15 years ago, leaving a mature [100 year plus old white oak, hickory and beech] SMZ and all mast producering persiommons I could locate.  The persimmons were flagged to prevent their accidentaly harvesting.  All these trees have had their head in the sun since and the landowner bush hogs regularly and keeps the competition from them.  They are great stands.  

Best mast producing oaks on the property are two crown heavy dudes that were valueless as fiber and left in the clear cut area [on purpose].     They are still above the canopy and produce huge amounts of mast most every year.

But, like cover scent, if fertilizing makes you happy, have at it.  

[IB]

YES....We have OAKS in Wyoming      


 Special Order from "Home Depot" all the way up to 2x10s

[Don Stokes]

Don't know about the oaks, but it works for soft mast species. It won't make the plants produce in a year when conditions restrict pollination or there's a late freeze, but a healthy plant will always produce more when conditions are right for fruiting. You can overdo it, though. Too much fertilizer can make the plant grow more vegetative growth at the expense of the fruit. Peaches, for instance, can grow so many small branches and leaves in the spring that they shade out the fruit, which need direct sun to develop properly.

Deer love peaches, too.