If you found this video helpful, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach! Thanks to watching 😊 TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Intro To My Best Fruit Tree Tip 0:51 3 Benefits Of Compost For Fruit Trees 2:59 The Best Compost Types 4:50 When To Apply Compost: My Compost Schedule 7:00 How Much Compost Should I Apply? 7:53 Fertilizing Fruit Trees And Applying Compost 11:26 Final Fruit Tree Tips Discussion 12:21 Adventures With Dale
I don't how many people won't listen when you tell them that mulch, compost, and amend the soil at the right times is their best friends. Apparently hard heads grow abundantly in the gardening community. I'm glad you made this video!
Thank you! The simplest things are often overlooked. There’s a reason why when a team gets a new head coach, they often go back to basics. Losing teams usually neglect the fundamentals. It is always important to maintain a strong foundation.
@@TheMillennialGardener I want to do all of that, but I honestly don’t know when to do it and what to put in. I’m so afraid of overfertilizing and killing my plants and trees, that I end up only mulching them. This video is so informative and exactly what I need. Please continue making videos like this. Keep up the great job!
Great information as always. However there have been a LOT of gardeners especially this year who have bought contaminated compost. The recommendation has been to take some soil from each bag and grow a green bean in it too test it. Once the green bean comes up if the soil is contaminated it will turn brown and die. Don't use that soil. It only takes a couple of weeks and could save your garden.
This is why I recommend getting your compost locally and not from a big box store. Simply drive over to a local landscaping place and look at their compost pile that they make onsite. Talk to the people that work there. Order some for delivery. Usually, you can get a truckload of a couple yards for around $100 delivered. Expensive? Maybe, maybe not, but it's worth its weight in gold.
@@TheMillennialGardener I get my compost locally from a horse farm and I know they feed only their own hay that isn't sprayed. It's about 150 per dump truck full but absolutely worth it. 👌
@@carricowherd3826 you want to be sure that you hey aren't using persistent dewormers on their horses as well they will continue in the composted manure and wipe out earthworm populations if you aren't careful
You need to ask your local people what they spray with. I didn’t see this comment so I left a similar comment. Redundant Caution is necessary. Persistent herbicides like Grazon kill broad leaf plants but not grass. People are losing their gardens. It’s awful and we should all agitate against this poison monstrosity. 🙏🏾💜
I followed this. In the spring, i gave 5.5.5 fertilizer, compost, and mulch. My leaves looked amazing. Blueberry leaves, 6:18 leaves are amazingly green. But now its june 15 in zone 7B zone and im noticing some tree's leaves at the very top are lime green. So im doing my 2nd one now. They have nice fruit too on the tree's. I have strawberries around my fruit tree's so ill have to maneuver mulch around but they do well on this too.
Thank you for the tip about the Lowes there in Wilmington. I live in Winnabow NC ( about 20 or so minutes south of you) and the primary reason I watch you is because your issues with weather, environment, etc is the same as my issues. You are very knowledgeable and I appreciate your content and expertise.
@@TheMillennialGardener lol that is crazy, good ole BC! Keep those videos coming =) my garden thanks you. As a side note, your puppy is flipping adorable! Oh my gosh
It's been a really rough year for the figs, but they're slowly coming back. We'll have some amount of harvest. It won't be a great one, but we'll get something. Dale says hi! 🐕
Hey MG, followed you for a few years now, enjoy your videos. I almost moved to Wilmington but we ended up in Idaho. Still love it out there. Hey, I would encourage you to also make some compost tea and not buy the premade compost. Instead, plant some cover crops including some beans to infuse Nitrogen. Then dig them under, put a nice layer of straw and let it decompose. Add some more after winter and pile grass clippings and other organic stuff on top and just continually feed it. The worms and other bugs will come up and eat it and you'll have a uniform, continuously building of soil and supply of nutrients. Plus, alot less work! Pour some tea in throughout the year, every few years add some micro nutrient grainuals and you'll be fine. You'll get more bang out of it too because the entire soil around your trees are nurished evenly and the fungus that grows underneath will help the roots uptake nutrients more easily. You never know what's really in those bags of compost. Good job on the figs, all they need is bacon around them and a bbq.
Thank you for this video! I have two trees that are finally starting to bear fruit and I just keep confusing myself with all the info. This was easy to understand and I know what to do this weekend!
I bought a dwarf grafted fig, 5 years already, It hasn't grown much, i am in Fl, some people say it is nematode problem...maybe, i Also planted Too deep, i had no experience back then. I will try your way. Thanks. By the way i bought the Japanese prune knife from your store, will use it on my avocado tree.😁
This is our first year growing fruit trees. I am going to go get compost and 5/5/5 fertilizer to apply to our 3 apple trees and 1 peach tree. Thank you! (they were planted in the Fall of 2021)
I've learned so much from watching your videos. My fig trees are doing amazing and we've been picking figs everyday for the last couple of weeks! Finally was able to find a nice size persimmon tree, so excited to plant that next! I refer to your videos all the time to help guide me with planting techniques. Thanks for such great tips!
I was not aware of that compost was locally grown, that is great information. It is practically half the price of the black kow. I will be picking some up next time I’m at Lowe’s or Home Depot.
Black Kow is $5-6 a bag. The stuff I use is $2.78 a bag, it's much better, almost always fully composted and the company is right down the road (they have a few locations). If you search "Landscaping Supply" or "Mulch Yard" in Google Maps, you'll find a bunch of local companies that make their own compost onsite. All my garden beds are filled with turkey compost from a local company. The compost pile they use is 30 years old. They add to it and turn it twice a day with a backhoe. It's a family business - I think the guy said his dad started it. You'll find plenty of gems like that locally.
Your welcome, keep making the excellent videos, really learned a lot from them, found your videos very informative, concise, Some are very interesting, and mentally well thought out, to the point, like a professional instructor, school teacher,
on small property if you want to make your own compost. use indoor bokashi buckets(very inexpensive to make). let them sit their max time when full and then add that to an outdoor compost bin with maybe a ratio of 60 browns to 40 greens . its not as ideal for quick break down with this ratio but it will create a mix that attracts less pests and creates less smell plus its already started when you bring it outside. then after letting that sit for a bit and turning it occasionally you can start sifting it so you can add it to the garden. bagged compost can get pretty expensive and with a garden that size plus regular eating you end up with a lot of material to turn into dirt plus if its more than just you and you are all eating a wide variety of nutrient dense foods you really don't need bagged product or concentrates like a bone meal or blood or any of that just the mix of compost is all you need. the bokashi process also removes pathogens and things so you can safely compost anything in a small space and not worry about all the problems that come with it. plus on top of all this you get the bokashi tea
Always detailed and concise, with every detail in there. Thanks man! Good to know the compost needs to be fully finished before applying. Can I do a compost tea with compost that is not fully broken down?
Great video. Does the same apply for fruit trees grown in large containers? I currently have them mulched with leaves. Growing mission figs, Dorset apple, persimmons, peach, lemon and plum trees. Thanks!
I do add compost to my potted trees every year. You can only add so much annually in a container, but it is a good idea at the start of every season to bulk them up with some compost.
For this reason, I recommend finding a local source. Some Lowe's and Home Depot's have contracts with local suppliers (like mine do). If you don't have that luxury, go directly to local landscape supply yards and local mulch yards. They're usually very plentiful and common if you search Google Maps.
Thanks so much for all your content. I love that your presentation is straightforward and to the point. Did a quick search for local mulch and found pine bark and cedar bark, but I have a feeling that these are not the optimal choice. Could you please confirm?
That's my general recommendation for people growing deciduous trees that deal with hard frosts and freezes. If you are growing evergreens and live in a subtropical or tropical location with few to no freezes, you can fertilize like this every season.
Your babies are coming back! I’ve been wondering about tour fig recovery project. Great to see all the new growth! I landscaped the area around my fig about 2 years ago (before planting the fig tree) and due to weeds, I used weed block mesh material and I laid mulch on top of the weed block. When I planted my tree, I cut a circle about 2 feet wide in weed blocker and I left the circle clear of mulch. Do you recommend I remove the weed blocker and just mulch directly on exposed soil? I’m kind of new to tree growing, but really enjoy seeing my figs produce yummy deliciousness. Love your channel. Always learn new things. Waiting for the clearance sale on fertilizers. Hopefully soon
Potted plants need an entirely different routine. They don't have miles of roots to search through the entire Earth for nutrients. You need to target feed them regularly as shown here: th-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIFNbJEUdApbh_E57uNBLG2j.html
How do you feed your fruit trees if your planting grass around the tress its burmuda sod grass??? I'm getting plum peaches lemon orange n pomegranates fruit trees one of each. I live in arizona.
Thanks for this. Right now i'm trying to figure out what to do with my pear tree. I didn't know that it is NOT a good idea to have a juniper plant within 1000 feet of a pear tree. Now it's gotten orange rust. Wondering if i should just get rid of the pear tree. Tons of juniper in the neighborhood.
My apples and peach trees are already flowering. I live in Texas. But our last frost date isn't until March 16th. Not sure what to do. I haven't fertilized or composted them yet. Also, I started these 2-3 years ago and never fertlized. I was naiive and thought the soil was sufficient. Do you think they can still make it and produce fruit or do I need to start over? Thanks
Container trees are entirely different. Container trees don't have a significant microbiome, and they don't have a network of roots that can search the Earth for nutrients. Container trees need regular fertilizing with soluble fertilizers. This is a guide for fertilizing citrus trees in containers: th-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/w-d-xo.html
You mentioned that you should only put compost around Fruit Trees twice a year because of it possibly growing too much soft growth and that freezing off. But I live in South Florida where there is no freeze. Can I apply compost year-round?
I cut my figs back hard. They grow 6-10 feet in a season. Find out where you want the “chalice” structure to be and cut it back to that point annually. Remove any inward-growing branches.
Figs can be grown all the way to Massachusetts. They're quite hardy. You just need to make fig variety selections based on how much warmth you have to ripen them. That's the real challenge: pairing varieties with your climate. There's no difference in cold hardiness from variety to variety, but there is a lot of variation in time to ripe fruit. I have a detailed playlist on cold protection techniques here: th-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIG1w1u_K6CDIhfsqG8dMnPj.html
Direction can't be provided on when to water trees planted in-ground, because it will depend on your unique climate and the tree itself. How much rainfall you get, how strong your sun is, how hot your temperatures are, how much moisture your soil retains, etc. will dictate on how often you need to water. The short answer is I cannot answer that question for you. You need to monitor the trees, and you also need to understand that trees aren't like annual vegetables - they don't show immediate signs of drought stress, so they can be suffering and not let you know. The best thing to do, always, is to provide a thick, rich mulch layer at all times to preserve natural moisture levels in the soil and prevent evaporation.
Container trees are entirely different. Container trees don't have a significant microbiome, and they don't have a network of roots that can search the Earth for nutrients. Container trees need regular fertilizing with soluble fertilizers. This is a guide for fertilizing citrus trees in containers: th-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/w-d-xo.html
Hi! I am a local neighbor and noticed your mulch. It looks like sugar cane? I am able to get straw (which is so expensive these days…) where do you find sugar cane mulch and do you find it both cheaper and without the issues so many of us have been having with aminopyralids? Thanks!
I treat almost all my fruit trees the same, including bananas. However, bananas like extra fertilizer. I like to dump a 5 gallon bucket with soluble potash crystals mixed in a couple times a year to give them a boost. They go nuts for muriate of potash crystals.
Is there a secret way to make tomatoes and ripen faster? I have several spring tomato plants that are full of green tomatoes and have been for almost a month now. Any advice?
@Lynette☆The Latin Queen of All Trades☆ good point. They are in containers and now get afternoon sun not morning Sun. I should probably move them back to where they were getting morning Sun. Good idea thank you.
@@ouch65 is there somewhere where they can get both am/pm sun? Edit: I only ask because when I moved my tomatoes to where they get sun nearly all day it seemed like snow I always have something ripening
If you're growing indeterminate tomatoes, the only way to make them ripen faster is to remove fruits. Indeterminate tomatoes always put an exceptional amount of energy into growing new vines, so you'll always be competing with vegetative growth to get ripe tomatoes. If you want ripe tomatoes faster, I *strongly* recommend growing determinate tomatoes. Your first plants that you plant each season should be determinates, because they stop producing vegetative growth after around 6-8 weeks of growing, so the tomatoes ripen a lot faster. Then, you can harvest the determinates while you wait for the indeterminate tomatoes to produce.
As long as it is a natural mulch. Don't use dyed mulch since it's usually ground up pallets and old lumber artificially dyed to look like real wood when it isn't. Don't use rubber mulch. Don't use stone mulch for fruit trees, because it has little value. Anything that's natural: hardwood, cedar, cypress, redwood, straw, ground up leaves, wood chips, grass clippings, that's all fine.
This year my grapevines got a disease or blight or something …could the compost carry a disease? I used mushroom mulch but I smell it and it always seems fully composted
I think a lot of people do not use any fertility products because of the cost regardless if its a fruit tree or vegetables. When my trees go in the ground, I spread pine or maple stump grindings as a starter mulch knowing it will improve the soil and the feeder roots will benefit from the fertility.. Last week, I was mixing Black Kow with Pine Bark mulch and topdressing new grapevines; year two I fertilize and top with cypress mulch for weed and water control. [Feed the soil not the plants]
I'm wondering how you'd do it with potted citrus? I think I need to do this now but wonder if adding soil to the pots might bring the soil above the graft point.
Container trees are entirely different. Container trees don't have a significant microbiome, and they don't have a network of roots that can search the Earth for nutrients. Container trees need regular fertilizing with soluble fertilizers. This is a guide for fertilizing citrus trees in containers: th-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/w-d-xo.html
Even places with "early frost" don't see frost until some time in mid-to-late September. An application of fertilizer and compost around July 1 is just fine. What you don't want to do is start pushing fertilizing into late summer. Placing compost at this time still gives you a ~90 day frost buffer.
It looks like you trim your trees down to like 2 feet in the winter. I have one large brown fig tree and I have very few new figs. Northern Virginia area is my home. I think I should be 1 to 2 weeks ahead of your schedule. I have too many leaves and not enough figs 😥
The trees look like this because they all got decimated last winter and killed back badly. This isn't my normal pruning. Many were killed to the ground, because we had 3 weeks of 70 degree temperatures leading up to an ice storm and two lows in the teens.
Trees in containers benefit from placing some compost in there annually, but they need to be fertilized very differently since they're limited to the nutrients in a tiny container. I have a series on fertilizing them here: th-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIFNbJEUdApbh_E57uNBLG2j.html
Hello! I am transplanting my fruit trees into 15 gallon tubs and using the Grow A Little Fruit Tree pruning method. Can you tell me the best souls to use? What about Mel’s Mix? Thank you!!
I find pre-bagged potting mix to be too expensive with hit-or-miss quality. I make my own potting mix shown here: th-cam.com/video/t3kx5PhCJU8/w-d-xo.html
My dwarf pomegranate is in trouble. The fruit dried up overnight and assume of the leaves turned brown. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix the issues with it?
You'd have to provide more info. Is it in ground or in a container? Did you spray it with something? Do you water it? How old is it? Is it established or newly planted? Check the tree over for pests and disease.
@@TheMillennialGardener good morning. I bought it in May from a local nursery. I have it growing in a container. I had flowers on it and it was beginning to fruit. I saw about eight pomegranates growing. After I watered it two days ago, I walked outside to look things over, and I saw that all of the fruit had dried up, and the two flowers. Also, the same with one of my blueberry plants about 6 feet away. I was going to fertilize with fish emulsion today, but I saw this video and decided to ask you before I destroy it. I haven't seen any of your videos tackling this issue before. Thanks for any advice that you can give me.
My zone is too warm for cherry trees. You can look into pyrethrin. Insect netting will also be helpful. If you don’t want to use those items, another option is to coat everything in Surround kaolin clay. The flies won’t be able to get into the fruits.
Another good video. Question for you. I have a giant fig bush. I think the name has the word 'turkey' in it. I cut it back hard this past winter and it has exploded and gone giant on me, again. There are figs on it, but they're near the center of the bush and very difficult to either see or get to. Last year, most were small and not very sweet. About half of the branches this year are just leaves, no fruit. Can I cut it back now? I'm thinking of taking all of the non productive branches back. I'd also like to cut back some of the producing branches to where the fruiting starts. Will that kill it? How long will the fruiting continue? I'm afraid I'm not very knowledgeable on figs. Looking to change that. Thanks!
Yes, you can remove the branches you don't want. No, it will not harm the fig tree. It's really hard to kill a fig tree through pruning. You can cut it down to the base every December and it'll be 10 feet tall by September. Remove the branches you don't want so you can access the fruit. If your main stems are taller than 6 feet, consider pinching off the growth tips to stop the vegetative growth, which will speed up fig maturity. Your figs probably weren't sweet because they either ripened too late when heat was inadequate to develop sugars, or you're harvesting them too early. I will tell you that Brown Turkey is one of the least sweet varieties, though. If you ever want to know more about fig varieties, check out Harvey's collection: www.figaholics.com/cuttings.htm
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you for the information. I at one time had a fig that came from an old homestead in Tifton, GA. I took cuttings from it and had 4 survive. I gave 2 to an ex coworker and kept 2. Mine didn't survive, but his did. That nameless variety had the biggest, sweetest figs. I've been thinking about it for a couple of years and I'm going to go ahead and contact him and get new cuttings.
![5 Reasons Your Fruit Trees AREN'T GROWING [And How To FIX It]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FWsaiKgCXFY/mqdefault.jpg)
![5 Reasons Your Fruit Trees AREN'T GROWING [And How To FIX It]](/img/tr.png)
If you found this video helpful, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach! Thanks to watching 😊 TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Intro To My Best Fruit Tree Tip
0:51 3 Benefits Of Compost For Fruit Trees
2:59 The Best Compost Types
4:50 When To Apply Compost: My Compost Schedule
7:00 How Much Compost Should I Apply?
7:53 Fertilizing Fruit Trees And Applying Compost
11:26 Final Fruit Tree Tips Discussion
12:21 Adventures With Dale
I don't how many people won't listen when you tell them that mulch, compost, and amend the soil at the right times is their best friends. Apparently hard heads grow abundantly in the gardening community. I'm glad you made this video!
Thank you! The simplest things are often overlooked. There’s a reason why when a team gets a new head coach, they often go back to basics. Losing teams usually neglect the fundamentals. It is always important to maintain a strong foundation.
@@TheMillennialGardener I want to do all of that, but I honestly don’t know when to do it and what to put in. I’m so afraid of overfertilizing and killing my plants and trees, that I end up only mulching them. This video is so informative and exactly what I need. Please continue making videos like this. Keep up the great job!
Hard heads? More like know it all's!🤣
And when yours are bigger they will pretty much conceal the fence. Nice little space.
Great information as always. However there have been a LOT of gardeners especially this year who have bought contaminated compost. The recommendation has been to take some soil from each bag and grow a green bean in it too test it. Once the green bean comes up if the soil is contaminated it will turn brown and die. Don't use that soil. It only takes a couple of weeks and could save your garden.
This is why I recommend getting your compost locally and not from a big box store. Simply drive over to a local landscaping place and look at their compost pile that they make onsite. Talk to the people that work there. Order some for delivery. Usually, you can get a truckload of a couple yards for around $100 delivered. Expensive? Maybe, maybe not, but it's worth its weight in gold.
@@TheMillennialGardener I get my compost locally from a horse farm and I know they feed only their own hay that isn't sprayed. It's about 150 per dump truck full but absolutely worth it. 👌
@@carricowherd3826 you want to be sure that you hey aren't using persistent dewormers on their horses as well they will continue in the composted manure and wipe out earthworm populations if you aren't careful
You need to ask your local people what they spray with. I didn’t see this comment so I left a similar comment. Redundant Caution is necessary. Persistent herbicides like Grazon kill broad leaf plants but not grass. People are losing their gardens. It’s awful and we should all agitate against this poison monstrosity. 🙏🏾💜
I'm smiling big. You guys were loving that dog so sweetly. Uplifting.
We love Dale more than anything. NO EXCEPTIONS! 🐕😀
I followed this. In the spring, i gave 5.5.5 fertilizer, compost, and mulch. My leaves looked amazing. Blueberry leaves, 6:18 leaves are amazingly green. But now its june 15 in zone 7B zone and im noticing some tree's leaves at the very top are lime green. So im doing my 2nd one now. They have nice fruit too on the tree's. I have strawberries around my fruit tree's so ill have to maneuver mulch around but they do well on this too.
Thank you for the tip about the Lowes there in Wilmington. I live in Winnabow NC ( about 20 or so minutes south of you) and the primary reason I watch you is because your issues with weather, environment, etc is the same as my issues. You are very knowledgeable and I appreciate your content and expertise.
I actually live in Brunswick County. I just put "Wilmington area" so people know where it's at. You're probably within 10 mins of me.
@@TheMillennialGardener lol that is crazy, good ole BC! Keep those videos coming =) my garden thanks you. As a side note, your puppy is flipping adorable! Oh my gosh
Thanks bro. Very informative and dynamic vid as always! 🙌😊
You’re welcome! Thank you for watching!
Thanks for the reminder!🙂 Y'all's fig bushes and banana plants are looking great!👍 Howdy and a sweet pat to adorable Dale!🐕
It's been a really rough year for the figs, but they're slowly coming back. We'll have some amount of harvest. It won't be a great one, but we'll get something. Dale says hi! 🐕
You always deliver awesome nuggets of wisdom.
Thank you! I appreciate that.
Ty, hope I can save my old fruit trees
Hey MG, followed you for a few years now, enjoy your videos. I almost moved to Wilmington but we ended up in Idaho. Still love it out there. Hey, I would encourage you to also make some compost tea and not buy the premade compost. Instead, plant some cover crops including some beans to infuse Nitrogen. Then dig them under, put a nice layer of straw and let it decompose. Add some more after winter and pile grass clippings and other organic stuff on top and just continually feed it. The worms and other bugs will come up and eat it and you'll have a uniform, continuously building of soil and supply of nutrients. Plus, alot less work! Pour some tea in throughout the year, every few years add some micro nutrient grainuals and you'll be fine. You'll get more bang out of it too because the entire soil around your trees are nurished evenly and the fungus that grows underneath will help the roots uptake nutrients more easily. You never know what's really in those bags of compost. Good job on the figs, all they need is bacon around them and a bbq.
Thank you for this video! I have two trees that are finally starting to bear fruit and I just keep confusing myself with all the info. This was easy to understand and I know what to do this weekend!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!
Great Videos ! Your puppy enjoys a good life.
Thx very helpful. I've started from seeds. One is in ground and sprouted from last Oct. I have 8 more still tiny in cups.
I took your advice my cukes and squash are great thanks to my fav gardener
I'm so happy to hear that! Congrats!
I love your fig tree videos I love them and watch them
Thank you! Hopefully, it will be an ok season this year. I had a lot of trees killed back last winter, so it's been a poor season so far.
I have a 2 year old plum tree that I composted heavily this year. It has its' first plums already!
I bought a dwarf grafted fig, 5 years already, It hasn't grown much, i am in Fl, some people say it is nematode problem...maybe, i Also planted Too deep, i had no experience back then. I will try your way. Thanks. By the way i bought the Japanese prune knife from your store, will use it on my avocado tree.😁
This is our first year growing fruit trees. I am going to go get compost and 5/5/5 fertilizer to apply to our 3 apple trees and 1 peach tree. Thank you! (they were planted in the Fall of 2021)
I've learned so much from watching your videos. My fig trees are doing amazing and we've been picking figs everyday for the last couple of weeks! Finally was able to find a nice size persimmon tree, so excited to plant that next! I refer to your videos all the time to help guide me with planting techniques. Thanks for such great tips!
Aloha from big island Hawaii! Love your channel, thank you for time!
I appreciate it! Thanks for watching!
Good and detailed advice We can’t mess this one up! Thank you
Another video packed with information. Omgoodness that dog 🤣😁🐶💙🙏
Thank you! Dale is always adorable🐕 He's got us wrapped around his paws.
I was not aware of that compost was locally grown, that is great information. It is practically half the price of the black kow. I will be picking some up next time I’m at Lowe’s or Home Depot.
Black Kow is $5-6 a bag. The stuff I use is $2.78 a bag, it's much better, almost always fully composted and the company is right down the road (they have a few locations). If you search "Landscaping Supply" or "Mulch Yard" in Google Maps, you'll find a bunch of local companies that make their own compost onsite. All my garden beds are filled with turkey compost from a local company. The compost pile they use is 30 years old. They add to it and turn it twice a day with a backhoe. It's a family business - I think the guy said his dad started it. You'll find plenty of gems like that locally.
@@TheMillennialGardener shoot I’m your neighbor so all that local info is very useful! Thanks
Thank you. Susan from South Carolina
You are a very good teacher! I use Scotts earthgro steer manure compost blend on my avocados, figs
Thank you! I appreciate that!
Your welcome, keep making the excellent videos, really learned a lot from them, found your videos very informative, concise, Some are very interesting, and mentally well thought out, to the point, like a professional instructor, school teacher,
Just a couple hours from you, and the sand is CRAZY!!!
I always love hearing you talk. Cool accent I never hear.
Great video as always 👍🏽
Thank you!
on small property if you want to make your own compost. use indoor bokashi buckets(very inexpensive to make). let them sit their max time when full and then add that to an outdoor compost bin with maybe a ratio of 60 browns to 40 greens . its not as ideal for quick break down with this ratio but it will create a mix that attracts less pests and creates less smell plus its already started when you bring it outside. then after letting that sit for a bit and turning it occasionally you can start sifting it so you can add it to the garden. bagged compost can get pretty expensive and with a garden that size plus regular eating you end up with a lot of material to turn into dirt plus if its more than just you and you are all eating a wide variety of nutrient dense foods you really don't need bagged product or concentrates like a bone meal or blood or any of that just the mix of compost is all you need. the bokashi process also removes pathogens and things so you can safely compost anything in a small space and not worry about all the problems that come with it. plus on top of all this you get the bokashi tea
Thank you MG! Dale is adorable, as usual 👍
He always is 🐕 Lucky guy to be so handsome!
helpful even for Chicago area with my peach tree
As always right on, thank you very much from Shreveport La
Thanks for watching!
Always detailed and concise, with every detail in there. Thanks man! Good to know the compost needs to be fully finished before applying.
Can I do a compost tea with compost that is not fully broken down?
A brother of patience!!!
Thank s very much bro it always nice to learn something new God bless you guys
It’s a shame I’m not fond of figs, but I love the foliage, so it’s a win win, as my husband eats the figs.
fantastic video, thanks!
Great video. Does the same apply for fruit trees grown in large containers? I currently have them mulched with leaves. Growing mission figs, Dorset apple, persimmons, peach, lemon and plum trees. Thanks!
I do add compost to my potted trees every year. You can only add so much annually in a container, but it is a good idea at the start of every season to bulk them up with some compost.
Thankyou for sharing
Great info👍
Glad it was helpful!
lol the doggy
Dale is always adorable 🐕
I often don't trust the baged stuff from h.d. it looks like sludge , nice video love dale.
For this reason, I recommend finding a local source. Some Lowe's and Home Depot's have contracts with local suppliers (like mine do). If you don't have that luxury, go directly to local landscape supply yards and local mulch yards. They're usually very plentiful and common if you search Google Maps.
Excellent video! Do you water these trees every day, during the summer?
Thank you for sharing your knowledge to us
You're welcome!
Thank you man. Love your videos I have 4 different kinds of figs. I’m gonna grow them like yours one single trunk instead of many
I'm glad you enjoy the videos! Thank you for watching!
Thanks so much for all your content. I love that your presentation is straightforward and to the point. Did a quick search for local mulch and found pine bark and cedar bark, but I have a feeling that these are not the optimal choice. Could you please confirm?
Very nice,, thanks 4 info to not fertilize after 4july..... Much appreciated
That's my general recommendation for people growing deciduous trees that deal with hard frosts and freezes. If you are growing evergreens and live in a subtropical or tropical location with few to no freezes, you can fertilize like this every season.
Your babies are coming back! I’ve been wondering about tour fig recovery project. Great to see all the new growth!
I landscaped the area around my fig about 2 years ago (before planting the fig tree) and due to weeds, I used weed block mesh material and I laid mulch on top of the weed block. When I planted my tree, I cut a circle about 2 feet wide in weed blocker and I left the circle clear of mulch. Do you recommend I remove the weed blocker and just mulch directly on exposed soil? I’m kind of new to tree growing, but really enjoy seeing my figs produce yummy deliciousness.
Love your channel. Always learn new things. Waiting for the clearance sale on fertilizers. Hopefully soon
Great info, will do the same on my fruit trees. Thank you.
You're welcome!
I use old aquarium water. Apple tree doing great
The fertilizing timing is different for potted figs, right?
Potted plants need an entirely different routine. They don't have miles of roots to search through the entire Earth for nutrients. You need to target feed them regularly as shown here: th-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIFNbJEUdApbh_E57uNBLG2j.html
Excellent.
"Dont fertilize the trunk of the trees"... got it! never knew that, thanks!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Can you make one for potted guava?
Hello there 🙏🖐️👋 can you please tell me what is it that you use on too of the compost? Thanks.
Thank you for sharing. Great video!!
You’re welcome!
How do you feed your fruit trees if your planting grass around the tress its burmuda sod grass??? I'm getting plum peaches lemon orange n pomegranates fruit trees one of each. I live in arizona.
I add fish 🐟 carcasses and seaweed. Works great in Florida sand 👌 😎
There are a lot less stinky things you can do…I prefer good old odorless compost. My yard would be crawling with critters 😂
Thanks for this. Right now i'm trying to figure out what to do with my pear tree. I didn't know that it is NOT a good idea to have a juniper plant within 1000 feet of a pear tree. Now it's gotten orange rust. Wondering if i should just get rid of the pear tree. Tons of juniper in the neighborhood.
Have you tried natural rust control methods, such as wettable sulfur sprays?
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you. i'll try. i'd hate to give up one or more of my plants. Thanks so much.
Ecopest is a Natural Pesticide with Megalo oil. I is made in India and is succesful used for apple in Wambugu apples in Kenia.
Thank you woke up at 3 am thinking I need to feed my fruit trees
That actually does happen to me.
My apples and peach trees are already flowering. I live in Texas. But our last frost date isn't until March 16th. Not sure what to do. I haven't fertilized or composted them yet. Also, I started these 2-3 years ago and never fertlized. I was naiive and thought the soil was sufficient. Do you think they can still make it and produce fruit or do I need to start over? Thanks
Should i do this with potted fruit trees? Like citrus trees?
Container trees are entirely different. Container trees don't have a significant microbiome, and they don't have a network of roots that can search the Earth for nutrients. Container trees need regular fertilizing with soluble fertilizers. This is a guide for fertilizing citrus trees in containers: th-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/w-d-xo.html
Gold
What if there in pots?
i recently bought a small potted fig tree and it is loaded with figs i need to know if i should up pot it while its fruiting. thank you
You mentioned that you should only put compost around Fruit Trees twice a year because of it possibly growing too much soft growth and that freezing off. But I live in South Florida where there is no freeze. Can I apply compost year-round?
I can’t make my own compost so is black Kow is that a good compost option for fruit trees?
Thankyou 😊
You’re welcome!
Any recommendations for pruning a LARGE fig tree? 9ft tall, 20ft in diameter. Loaded with figs. I want to prune it back this winter???
I cut my figs back hard. They grow 6-10 feet in a season. Find out where you want the “chalice” structure to be and cut it back to that point annually. Remove any inward-growing branches.
Love your doggie!!
Dale's the best!🐕
Thx
You're welcome!
Thank u great tips 🥑🍒
You're welcome!
I would like to know about pruning a fruit tree.
I have a large library of pruning videos if you search the channel: th-cam.com/users/TheMillennialGardenersearch?query=pruning
Nice
How do you protect your Fig trees and Bananas during the winter? I’m surprised that they can even grow in a cold climate like North Carolina.
Figs can be grown all the way to Massachusetts. They're quite hardy. You just need to make fig variety selections based on how much warmth you have to ripen them. That's the real challenge: pairing varieties with your climate. There's no difference in cold hardiness from variety to variety, but there is a lot of variation in time to ripe fruit.
I have a detailed playlist on cold protection techniques here: th-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIG1w1u_K6CDIhfsqG8dMnPj.html
Good tip
Thank you!
You talked about the fig trees. How often do you water fig trees?
Is this process good for banana trees and other citrus trees?
Direction can't be provided on when to water trees planted in-ground, because it will depend on your unique climate and the tree itself. How much rainfall you get, how strong your sun is, how hot your temperatures are, how much moisture your soil retains, etc. will dictate on how often you need to water. The short answer is I cannot answer that question for you. You need to monitor the trees, and you also need to understand that trees aren't like annual vegetables - they don't show immediate signs of drought stress, so they can be suffering and not let you know. The best thing to do, always, is to provide a thick, rich mulch layer at all times to preserve natural moisture levels in the soil and prevent evaporation.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you for a speedy response. Zone 9 , brutal sun. But will adhere to your suggestions. Thanks very much.
Fantastic. Can I do the same for my container figs and citrus?
Container trees are entirely different. Container trees don't have a significant microbiome, and they don't have a network of roots that can search the Earth for nutrients. Container trees need regular fertilizing with soluble fertilizers. This is a guide for fertilizing citrus trees in containers: th-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/w-d-xo.html
Hi! I am a local neighbor and noticed your mulch. It looks like sugar cane? I am able to get straw (which is so expensive these days…) where do you find sugar cane mulch and do you find it both cheaper and without the issues so many of us have been having with aminopyralids? Thanks!
Do you do the same for the banana tree?
I treat almost all my fruit trees the same, including bananas. However, bananas like extra fertilizer. I like to dump a 5 gallon bucket with soluble potash crystals mixed in a couple times a year to give them a boost. They go nuts for muriate of potash crystals.
Is there a secret way to make tomatoes and ripen faster? I have several spring tomato plants that are full of green tomatoes and have been for almost a month now. Any advice?
@Lynette☆The Latin Queen of All Trades☆ good point. They are in containers and now get afternoon sun not morning Sun. I should probably move them back to where they were getting morning Sun. Good idea thank you.
@@ouch65 is there somewhere where they can get both am/pm sun?
Edit: I only ask because when I moved my tomatoes to where they get sun nearly all day it seemed like snow I always have something ripening
If you're growing indeterminate tomatoes, the only way to make them ripen faster is to remove fruits. Indeterminate tomatoes always put an exceptional amount of energy into growing new vines, so you'll always be competing with vegetative growth to get ripe tomatoes. If you want ripe tomatoes faster, I *strongly* recommend growing determinate tomatoes. Your first plants that you plant each season should be determinates, because they stop producing vegetative growth after around 6-8 weeks of growing, so the tomatoes ripen a lot faster. Then, you can harvest the determinates while you wait for the indeterminate tomatoes to produce.
Your trees are pretty close together. I want to plant fruit trees. What is the reason for having them so close? Will that keep them smaller?
Can you use any type of mulch
As long as it is a natural mulch. Don't use dyed mulch since it's usually ground up pallets and old lumber artificially dyed to look like real wood when it isn't. Don't use rubber mulch. Don't use stone mulch for fruit trees, because it has little value. Anything that's natural: hardwood, cedar, cypress, redwood, straw, ground up leaves, wood chips, grass clippings, that's all fine.
This year my grapevines got a disease or blight or something …could the compost carry a disease? I used mushroom mulch but I smell it and it always seems fully composted
I think a lot of people do not use any fertility products because of the cost regardless if its a fruit tree or vegetables. When my trees go in the ground, I spread pine or maple stump grindings as a starter mulch knowing it will improve the soil and the feeder roots will benefit from the fertility.. Last week, I was mixing Black Kow with Pine Bark mulch and topdressing new grapevines; year two I fertilize and top with cypress mulch for weed and water control. [Feed the soil not the plants]
I'm wondering how you'd do it with potted citrus? I think I need to do this now but wonder if adding soil to the pots might bring the soil above the graft point.
Container trees are entirely different. Container trees don't have a significant microbiome, and they don't have a network of roots that can search the Earth for nutrients. Container trees need regular fertilizing with soluble fertilizers. This is a guide for fertilizing citrus trees in containers: th-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/w-d-xo.html
West Michigan, 6bish zone so I probably need to have my second application earlier than you because my frost date would be sooner right?
Even places with "early frost" don't see frost until some time in mid-to-late September. An application of fertilizer and compost around July 1 is just fine. What you don't want to do is start pushing fertilizing into late summer. Placing compost at this time still gives you a ~90 day frost buffer.
Birds often attack my figs😢
What do i do?
Is that pine needles or straw? Seems like straw or hay but I’ve heard good things about pine needles for things like blueberries
They provide acidity that blueberries love.
It looks like you trim your trees down to like 2 feet in the winter. I have one large brown fig tree and I have very few new figs. Northern Virginia area is my home. I think I should be 1 to 2 weeks ahead of your schedule. I have too many leaves and not enough figs 😥
The trees look like this because they all got decimated last winter and killed back badly. This isn't my normal pruning. Many were killed to the ground, because we had 3 weeks of 70 degree temperatures leading up to an ice storm and two lows in the teens.
What about fig trees in pots?
Trees in containers benefit from placing some compost in there annually, but they need to be fertilized very differently since they're limited to the nutrients in a tiny container. I have a series on fertilizing them here: th-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIFNbJEUdApbh_E57uNBLG2j.html
@@TheMillennialGardener I’ve watched then all! Lol thanks for the info I was just curious if I could compost my pots.
Hello! I am transplanting my fruit trees into 15 gallon tubs and using the Grow A Little Fruit Tree pruning method. Can you tell me the best souls to use? What about Mel’s Mix? Thank you!!
I find pre-bagged potting mix to be too expensive with hit-or-miss quality. I make my own potting mix shown here: th-cam.com/video/t3kx5PhCJU8/w-d-xo.html
My dwarf pomegranate is in trouble. The fruit dried up overnight and assume of the leaves turned brown. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix the issues with it?
You'd have to provide more info. Is it in ground or in a container? Did you spray it with something? Do you water it? How old is it? Is it established or newly planted? Check the tree over for pests and disease.
@@TheMillennialGardener good morning. I bought it in May from a local nursery. I have it growing in a container. I had flowers on it and it was beginning to fruit. I saw about eight pomegranates growing. After I watered it two days ago, I walked outside to look things over, and I saw that all of the fruit had dried up, and the two flowers. Also, the same with one of my blueberry plants about 6 feet away. I was going to fertilize with fish emulsion today, but I saw this video and decided to ask you before I destroy it. I haven't seen any of your videos tackling this issue before. Thanks for any advice that you can give me.
Great information. Do you have any videos on keeping fruit flies from laying eggs in my cherries?
My zone is too warm for cherry trees. You can look into pyrethrin. Insect netting will also be helpful. If you don’t want to use those items, another option is to coat everything in Surround kaolin clay. The flies won’t be able to get into the fruits.
Does anybody have any ideas to save fresh spring fruit flowers from a late season freeze?
Another good video.
Question for you. I have a giant fig bush. I think the name has the word 'turkey' in it. I cut it back hard this past winter and it has exploded and gone giant on me, again. There are figs on it, but they're near the center of the bush and very difficult to either see or get to. Last year, most were small and not very sweet. About half of the branches this year are just leaves, no fruit.
Can I cut it back now? I'm thinking of taking all of the non productive branches back. I'd also like to cut back some of the producing branches to where the fruiting starts. Will that kill it? How long will the fruiting continue?
I'm afraid I'm not very knowledgeable on figs. Looking to change that.
Thanks!
Yes, you can remove the branches you don't want. No, it will not harm the fig tree. It's really hard to kill a fig tree through pruning. You can cut it down to the base every December and it'll be 10 feet tall by September. Remove the branches you don't want so you can access the fruit. If your main stems are taller than 6 feet, consider pinching off the growth tips to stop the vegetative growth, which will speed up fig maturity. Your figs probably weren't sweet because they either ripened too late when heat was inadequate to develop sugars, or you're harvesting them too early. I will tell you that Brown Turkey is one of the least sweet varieties, though. If you ever want to know more about fig varieties, check out Harvey's collection: www.figaholics.com/cuttings.htm
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you for the information. I at one time had a fig that came from an old homestead in Tifton, GA. I took cuttings from it and had 4 survive. I gave 2 to an ex coworker and kept 2. Mine didn't survive, but his did. That nameless variety had the biggest, sweetest figs. I've been thinking about it for a couple of years and I'm going to go ahead and contact him and get new cuttings.
My compost smells like oil...engine oil. Any ideas why? And yes it killed my strawberries.
You bought something that was clearly contaminated. Your compost should smell like clean dirt.
Great video. Just curious but how often and how much do you fertilize your potted citrus trees?
I have a video all about that here: th-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/w-d-xo.html
@@TheMillennialGardener I knew you would! Thanks for the link. Almost impossible to search for things on individual channels.