Any comments? I thought I might buy some... it's 5-2-6

here's the blurb:
Brand new from Espoma, the great old company who has been making Holly-Tone, Garden-Tone, and many others since 1929, comes one of their newest, Citrus-Tone for Citrus, Avocados and Nut Trees! This is a PREMIUM plant food, all natural with lots of Organic ingredients, the result of The Espoma Company's expertise in natural organics combined with recommendations from leading research universities! Citrus-Tone's All-Natural formulation assures that your trees will produce delicious fruit. Espoma has led the industry since 1929, and this new product and the NEW Palm-Tone we are also listing today are the result of all this research! The Guaranteed Analysis of Citrus-Tone is 5-2-6!

I know Millet and others use Osmocote but also use a water soluble and wonder if Citrus- Tone would be a good one? Or just hype?

Hype like some of the insect killer products- my husband picked up a bottle of Lowe's and went on a rant- $5 for a bottle of soapy water- he said it should be against the law to sell something like that, lol.

In general, "organic" as a source of fertilizer, has little benefit to citrus trees. The best form of N for citrus trees is nitrate, the same form as used in most "chemical" fertilizers. Most natural or "organic" forms of N are proteins that must be broken down to ammonia and then oxidized to nitrate before it is taken up by citrus.

Supplying organic forms of fertilizer to a garden has much more to do with changing the nature of the soil (increasing organic content, drainage, ect) than the actual form of the fertilizer as most plants take up fertilizer in the various forms supplied by chemical fertilizers.

With citrus, especially container citrus, you are already controlling the organic content of the soil as well as the drainability.

Hi Skeet,

To be honest I was looking more at the "Citrus" in the title and didn't even look at the Organic aspect of it! I hear you, though....

Here's the label
http://www.espoma.com/pdf/citrustone.pdf

I see it doesn't have any of the trace elements.

I have been disappointed by several of the fertilizers I looked at that were labeled for citrus-- none of them had trace minerals. I have been buying plain old Vigero 8-8-8 that has trace minerals. Of course I am fertilizing inground trees with that.

I guess I am a "hybrid" when it comes to organic gardening, I use the principles and materials when appropriate, but I don't see anything special about the fact that it is "organic", whether you are talking about pesticides or fertilizers. I do consider it important to add organic matter to the soil, especially in gardens, but mulches are not good for citrus since they promote root rot. So, if used on citrus, mulches should be kept at least a foot from the trunk of the tree.

"............"The Espoma Company's expertise in natural organics"" .......... They may claim to be the "experts," however I never heard of them. "............ Nitrogen is absorbed by plants both as nitrate (NO3) and ammonium (NH4). Once inside the plant, the nitrogen is transformed into the amine form (NH2) and combines with soluble carbohydrates to form amino acids, which are then translocated to the shoots in the xylem sap, and used in the formation of proteins. Most of the proteins are used in the protoplasm building new cells. When using "organic" forms of nitrogen such as feather meal, dehydrated manures, and what not, the tree simply CANNOT USE THEM until they go through a vast process of change in conjunction with various microbes. This process does nothing more than to convert the "organic" nitrogen right back into chemical nitrate nitrogen (NO3). Citrus trees NEVER EVER do nearly as well when nourished by the "organic" approach using items such as feathers, dried manures, various "meals" and what ever else, as they do using standard fertilizers.. Some people do not like the word "chemical" and think they are doing their tree a favor by feeding it an organic fertilizer. What they do not realize is that in the end (after a round about process) the organic fertilizer is converted back and the tree is actually being feed the same CHEMICAL NITROGEN (NO3) that comes inside a bag of a standard chemical fertilizer. Espoma's type of fertilizer will NOT be doing your tree a favor. - Millet

I feel the same as you about organics! But then I used to formulate bleach cleaning products for a living. I love chemicals! lol.

Millet, I think this company has been around for quite a while, but they have changed their look or logo. Used to be much more plain. I've seen their supplements like Green Sand ?? and others in the fertilizer and chemical aisle at garden centers, and the name always strikes me funny- I see it but think "why are they selling Epsom salts?" lol

So OK, besides Osmocote do you have any brand names of fertilizer you'd recommend?

Susan, I believe what Skeet referred to was really Vigoro. I use this as well as Osmocote & it works very well and has trace minerals as well. You have to remember that what works for some may not work for others. It all depends on what your soil contains to begin with.

I planted a seedling lemon tree in the worst soil you would expect. But to my surprise as well as Millets the seedling outgrew the other by 10 to 1. I have since transplanted this tree to the ground & it is now over 10 ft tall.

See what works for you. I visited Ned last weekend & he can tell you the same... What shouldn't work for planting medium may just turn out to work for you.

Brand names are not important at all. Citrus trees that are planted in the ground really are not all that particular what fertilize they are given, as long as their nutrient requirements are met. However, citrus trees planted in containers rely 100 percent on the nutrients given them for their survival. A citrus tree always absorbs nutrients in the ration of 5-1-3, meaning for every 5 parts nitrogen the roots absorb the will take up 1 part phosphorus and 3 parts potassium, plus the micro nutrients. It is best to use a fertilizer that comes as close to the 5-1-3 ratio (not formula) as you can find. The CCPP at The University of California Riverside feeds their containerized trees at 300 PPM nitrogen with every feeding. Needless to say the CCPP has very nice trees. - Millet

Thanks Lazz for correcting my spelling-- I think the Vigoro is good stuff and it was pretty much the same price as cheap 8-8-8 without trace minerals.

"Espoma's type of fertilizer will NOT be doing your tree a favor. "
why?
Certainly better than not feeding at all.

I did see the Espoma at HD yesterday, but a much better product that I had not seen before was Dynamite -- I don't remember the exact NPK, but it was similar to the Osmocote and it had trace minerals--something like 18-6-12. It said it is a 6 month slow release fertilizer.

18-6-12 reacts different that other slow release fertilizer formulations. 18-6-12 is the ONLY slow release fertilizer to use in a seedling germinating medium, or in a medium used for rooting cuttings. By incorporating 18-6-12 (a slow release nitrogen phosphorus potassium fertilizer) directly into the germinating or cutting medium, the seedling or cutting can begin absorbing nutrients very early, most likely, as soon as the first root is only a fraction of an inch long. ONLY the 18-6-12 formulation (NO EXCEPTIONS) 6 to 9 month formulation is recommended since it has a slow INITIAL release of nutrients, which coincides well with the developing seedling and the favorable nitrogen to phosphorus ratio. Faster release fertilizer sources or even moderate levels of liquid fertilizer may inhibit seedling growth. 18-6-12 also has the desirable property of increasing nutrient release rate with increasing temperature. When container tree seedlings are started out of doors, or in unheated polyethylene structures, the temperature of the medium is low during early stages of seed germination and growth, when demand for nutrients is also low. This nutritional system is easily managed and removes the possibility of too much or too little liquid or surface dry fertilizer relative to seedling size and stage of development. 18-6-12 should be used at a rate of from 67 to 151 grams/cu.ft. of germinating mix with the lower rate for slow growing species in very small containers with peat and perlite or a similar growth medium, and the high rate for rapid growing species like citrus in larger containers or where bark is a component. The key message here is that nutrition during propagation is extremely important and carries over will into the next size container and is a separate factor from the quantity of fertilizer added to the mix in the larger container. The inability of a seedling to overcome the influence of poor nutrition during the early stages of growth cannot be over emphasized. For larger containerized citrus trees Osmocote 17-7-12 at 255 grams per cu.ft. plus 25 grams per cu.ft of STEM is a better formulation. 17-7-12 has a faster initial release followed by a constant slow release rate. Dolomite can be added at a rate of 0 to 168 grams per cu.ft. The amount of dolomite needed depends on the amount of calcium in the irrigation water. If your irrigation water has 25-PPM> calcium, dolomite does not need to be added. - Millet

MILLET- YESTERDAY I ASKED OUR LOCAL NURSARY ABOUT THE BEST FERTILIZER FOR MY ONE YEAR OLD SEEDLING AND HE RECOMMENDED NPK 15-15-15+TE IS THAT A GOOD COMBINATION ? AND WHAT DOES (TE) STAND FOR?
THANKS

TE could mean Trace Elements.

Bodavid, in order to give any type of intelligent answer, one would need to know if your tree is growing in a container, or a tree growing in the ground. Further, if in the ground where do you live? If your one year old tree is growing in the ground, than the answer is no, 15-15-15 is not a recommended formulation for a one year old tree. - Millet