I have just transplanted a small spruce from the woods out behind my house, to my side yard. The tree is about 15 inches tall, (smallish). Can I put a Jobe-spike in the hole now, or should I wait awhile, until the transplant "shock" wears off? -- pj
Wait a year, you can harm a small tree with fertiliser, one spike is rated for inch size of the trunk so its also possibly to much fertiliser. How good is your soil, Best might be just spreading out good soil or compost around it.
If you're in an area where below freezing temps occur, don't do anything that would encourage new growth. Leave it alone until spring.
You want to help it overcome the transplant shock without encouraging new upper plant growth. Use a weak miracle grow mix followed by a root stimulator fertilizer. (low 1st number with high second number, like
2-20-6).Bob S.
I would suggest you can use them, but I would put only a few and only like a foot away from the root ball. That should encourage root growth out of the existing root ball into the surrounding soil. You don't want to shock it with a lot of fertilizer now.
I was surprised to find that searching for "fertilizing new trees" at Google produced anything at all, but it did.
I'd wait a few months. You should have added compost to the hole during the transplant? Give the transplant a thorough soak every week. Compared to deciduous trees spruce don't need much fertilizer at all.
If the tree is in a sodded area you shouldn't have to fertilize at all -- the tree will get enough nutrients from the lawn fertilizer you use. Also, I'd recommend against using the fertilizer spikes which are, in my opinion, a victory of marketing over substance. With a spike you've got a superabundance of fertilizer in one location which is likely to kill off adjacent roots, and little or no fertilizer over most of the root ball. You'll wind up with green blotches of turf around each spike but inefficient or even counterproductive fertilization for the tree. If the tree is not in a lawn area where it can benefit from the lawn fertilizer, scatter a fertilizer with slow release nitrogen on the surface. You can check with your extension service about recommended ratios of chemicals, but probably something like a 1-1-1 ratio (e.g., 8-8-8) or a 1-0-2 ratio (e.g., 10-0-20) with most of the nitrogen being slow release should be satisfactory. Regards --
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