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mandrew_gw

Question on soil, planting dormant trees, and potential fertilize

Mandrew
10 years ago

I am a new member so if this is an inappropriate place for this question I apologize.

Yesterday (4/19/2013) I planted a dormant Japanese Flowering Cherry (Prunus x yedoensis) in a big pot after soaking it for 3 hours in water. I used potting soil that says it is designed for trees/shrubs and fertilizer that "promotes root growth." There are even directions on the back for dormant trees.

After I put my baby tree in it's pot I did a little more searching and I found results that essentially say potting soil and especially fertilizer will kill this baby tree and that I didn't soak it for nearly long enough in water.

Is that accurate? Even if not, what would be the "best" possible soil to use. In Florida we get quite a bit of rain and I'd hate to drown this thing. I've seen reference to 5-1-1 (pine fines, perlite, peat, & some lime). Would it be bad for the tree if I switched to this?

And my last question: I've seen quite a lot of talk about coffee grounds being used as fertilizer and even as part of a mulch mixture. As a big coffee person, this would be a great way to recycle of excess grounds. If this would be beneficial for the tree, how often should I mix coffee grounds into the soil?

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