Best fertilizer for Idaho locust

GardenForums.com a friendly and growing community of gardeners. We feature a Garden Discussion Forum and Garden Photo Gallery. It's a fun and friendly place to talk with other gardeners, ask questions, share you knowledge, view and post photos and more! Whether you're a master gardener, or brand new to the hobby, you'll find something of interest here.



P

prr

Member
I planted an Idaho locust 2-3 years ago. It is healthy enough. After the first year, I was ok with taking off teh stake, because the trunk was so thick.

Only issue is that it only blossoms for 1-2 weeks, once or twice a year. I planted it thinking that it would be displaying those beautiful pink-purple blossoms a lot.

I'm going to keep this---it is a beautiful tree, regardless--but I'd like to see if there is anything I can do to get it to blossom more times, or longer each time.

Is there a fertilizer regimen I should give it? I'd say it gets plenty of water. Apart from the blossoms, it really does not act or look like a sick tree in any way, shape, or form.
 
Hi Prr,
The usual blooming time is late spring, May to June!
There is nothing you can do to change the blooming time, or even extend it. They are genetically programmed!

Locusts are pretty tough trees and and do well without any added moisture....other then rainfall.
You could use a balanced fertilizer, designed for flowering trees, in early spring.
Best to do this once a year...
 
Thanks. I'll go to Lowes. I didn't see anything on their site for anything other than grass, but I'm sure they have something.

OK---when you say "balanced," you mean "the best fit for flowering trees," right? I have some triple 16 in the garage, but I've only used that for lawns.
 
I'm looking for Scott's (or anyone's) flowering tree fertilizer (11-7-7 IIRC) and its nowhere to be found, locally.

Is there some nitrogen rich fertilizer I can use instead? I can get it on amazon if I have to, I suppose, if that is my only option. I have plenty of steer manure, but that is like 0.5-0.5-0.5, so I'd need to mix in some other nitro rich fertilizer.
 
7-7-7 seems to to be popular.
cattle manure will be great to spread around the root zone and it will help add organic matter to the soil...you can never add enough, so a yearly treatment would be a good idea if the soil, like most, is low in organic matter!

Is there a lawn under the tree?
 
No lawn, just some dirt and a few pebbles---for about a 4-5 foot diameter. Outside of that, the ground has tarp, and rocks over it.

So I can use 7-7-7 for a flowering tree?

If so, then I could spread just a bit of some 16-16-16 lawn fertilizer, correct?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


Gardenforums.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

Back
Top