Does everyone follow the No fertilizer for one month after repotting "rule"?

Japonicus

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I immediately water in with Super Thrive + K-L-N a liquid rooting hormone + ProTekt 0-0-3 + Neptunes fish and seaweed 2-3-1 diluted
repeating weekly till growth/recovery is evident, then my normal weekly rotation starting with the weakest of the
foods I normally rotate, like Alaska fish emulsion then Plant or Holly Tone to MiracleGro 1.5 Tbsp : 2 gal water...
However I do not feed white pines in Spring hardly at all.
 

Cadillactaste

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I immediately water in with Super Thrive + K-L-N a liquid rooting hormone + ProTekt 0-0-3 + Neptunes fish and seaweed 2-3-1 diluted
repeating weekly till growth/recovery is evident, then my normal weekly rotation starting with the weakest of the
foods I normally rotate, like Alaska fish emulsion then Plant or Holly Tone to MiracleGro 1.5 Tbsp : 2 gal water...
However I do not feed white pines in Spring hardly at all.
Now that you mention...I used BioGold Vital soaked my wisteria in it bare rooted as I prepared the pot and such for repot. I don't classify it fertilizer. It is comparable to Super Thrive. Forgot that. It was a first for me...as the wisteria wasn't waking. By end of the day of repot they were showing green.
 
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leatherback

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I'm not sensing a consensus.
I am sensing.. Fertilize whenever.

Some side-thoughts on this topic..

The whole myth about not fertilizing is about "Young roots burning".
Interestingly, in roots, it is the young tips that do most of the nutrient and water uptake. The white part of the roots is where most of the action takes place. So the whole idea that young roots get damaged by fertilizer makes little sense.

What does make sense is the risk of accumulation. If you fertilizer and there are no roots to take it up, if could accumulate. However, with the way most of us water our trees, we constantly drain the nutrient pool so I see little risk there.

Third thing is that roots in a nutrient rich environment tent to grow less. (Unbelievable, yet I found several studies confirming this). SO a nutrient-poo environment would encourage root development..?
 

Potawatomi13

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NO! After thourough watering with H2O then water lightly with mixture full strength HB 101 with 1/2 strength 20 20 20 fertilizer mixed together.
 

Paradox

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I am sensing.. Fertilize whenever.

Some side-thoughts on this topic..

The whole myth about not fertilizing is about "Young roots burning".
Interestingly, in roots, it is the young tips that do most of the nutrient and water uptake. The white part of the roots is where most of the action takes place. So the whole idea that young roots get damaged by fertilizer makes little sense.

What does make sense is the risk of accumulation. If you fertilizer and there are no roots to take it up, if could accumulate. However, with the way most of us water our trees, we constantly drain the nutrient pool so I see little risk there.

Third thing is that roots in a nutrient rich environment tent to grow less. (Unbelievable, yet I found several studies confirming this). SO a nutrient-poo environment would encourage root development..?

It was explained to me that a newly repotted tree where the roots were cut wont take up nutrients as readily right away so fertilizing them might be a waste, not that there was a concern for burning new roots.
Also the tree should have sufficient reserves to start recovering on its own and its best to wait until it shows sign of growing, ie being able to utilize nutrients added to the soil.
If it doesnt, then it wasnt healthy enough for a repot to begin with (barring an emergency need of a repot of course).

Who knows for sure, all of this could be one of those bonsai myths
 

Adair M

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I do wait about a month to fertilize after repotting. As someone mentioned, it’s the little white “feeder roots” that take up the nutrients. Well, most all of those were cut off in the repotting process. So, until the tree has had a chance to regrow new little feeder roots, the tree doesn’t have them to absorb the nutrients. Waiting a month gives the tree time to grow some feeder roots. Fertilizing prior to that just wastes the fertilizer.

Oh, I realize that there are probably some feeder roots still intact in the rootball, but most were removed when the rootball was worked.
 
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