Despite the fact that you’ll find bone meal in most garden supply stores, you won’t necessarily require this natural fertilizer for optimum fruit tree growth and creation. Bone meal provides phosphorus to fruit trees. As one of the three important macronutrients for crops, phosphorus promotes early growth, root formation and fruit development. But many soils have a sufficient amount of potassium, therefore adding bone meal might be a waste of money.
Nutrients in Bone Meal
All fertilizer package labels have a three-number fluid level printed on them. The typical fertilizer grade for bone meal is 3-15-0. This implies bone meal comprises about 3 percent nitrogen, 15 percent phosphorus and no potassium. When used as a fertilizer, bone meal discharges the phosphorus and the small amount of nitrogen over a one- to 12-month period.
Fruit Tree Nutrient Requirements
Fruit trees are heavy metals of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. When the soil is deficient in one of these nutrients, it is possible to correct the deficiency by employing an appropriate fertilizer. You’ll need to apply a fertilizer with a high nitrogen content each year since many soils are deficient in nitrogen. Conversely, you probably wo not need to use a fertilizer like bone meal to give phosphorus because most soils contain sufficient potassium for fruit trees.
Recognizing a Phosphorus Deficiency
To determine if the soil is deficient in phosphorus, collect soil samples in the region around the tree. Utilize a home soil test kit to test the soil samples for phosphorus content. If a test isn’t available, look for signs of phosphorus deficiency in the fruit tree. You’ll see that a tree deficient in phosphorus grows slower than anticipated. The old leaves could have a lighter, abnormal color and the tree may produce few blooms.
Utilizing Bone Meal for a Fertilizer
In case a phosphorus deficiency is detected from the soil, you may use bone meal as a fertilizer for some soils. But before you apply bone meal, it’s important that you know the pH of the ground. Bone meal is alkaline and should just be applied to soil with a pH of over 7 days. Do not apply to soils with a pH greater than 7 since the phosphorus won’t be available to the trees. Utilize a home soil test kit or pH meter to find the soil pH of their soil near the tree. If the pH is less than 7, apply bone meal once in the time of planting. Place 3 pounds of bone meal in the base of each planting hole. Mix the Sea supper using a handful of soil and plant.
Other Sources of Phosphorus
Many other fertilizers also supplies potassium to fruit trees. The compound fertilizer superphosphate using a fertilizer grade of 0-45-0 provides a massive amount of phosphorus. Place 1 pound of superphosphate in the base of the planting hole before planting the tree. Balanced fertilizers, like those with a grade of 20-20-20, supply ample amounts of potassium and nitrogen in addition to phosphorus. Since many fruit trees require an application of nitrogen every year, you may use a balanced fertilizer to likewise provide phosphorus. Do not place the balanced fertilizer in the planting hole. Rather, spread the fertilizer within an 18- to 24-inch circle around the tree back in August or early September and water the tree as usual. Apply about 2 pounds of this balanced fertilizer to your little fruit tree and up to 5 pounds for a large, mature tree every year.