Superthrive for stressed tree?

[SheltieLover]

I have an older box elder tree which is dropping yellow leaves. So I called a nursery & was told to get Superthrive.

The man said to put 3 teaspoons per 1 gal of water & to treat the tree weekly for a month. (Directions say 1/2 teaspoon / gallon.)

I bought a 4 oz. Bottle today, but the nursery manager was not in to confirm what he had told me on the phone.

Anyone have exerience with this product? I am planning to mix in a large, clean trash can & use a water pump to treat the drip line.

Thx!

[BusyBeingBest]

1. I've never used it, but I've heard of it.

I sure wouldn't put 6 times the bottle's recommended dose around the tree every week, unless they have specific tree instructions like that. Big old trees don't usually need fertilizer anyway. If it's been unusually hot/dry, that's probably the tree's problem. Or if it's been unusually wet and the ground stays saturated, it could be low on oxygen in the soil, or have a fungal/rot issue. Or it could be leaf pests, borers, etc. I would consult an arborist rather than a nursery person.

[SheltieLover]

3. Thank you.

That is what my thoughts are.

It is difficult to tell...lol

I spoke to a very nice lady today at the nursery, but she apparently could not grasp that to follow the man's instructions, I would need about 100 bottles of this stuff. Lol

This started during a drought late last summer.

It could very well be that the nursery manager was intent on selling me a replacement. I hate to think that way, but it is really MAGAty here.

I guess I will try mixing & applying per package instructions & if this lovely tree does not look better pretty quickly, I will call an arborist.

Right now, the ground is quite dry. Should I soak it? Rain expected for the next 2-3 days.

Thank you again!

[BusyBeingBest]

5. No problem! You usually shouldn't have to water a large mature tree that hasn't otherwise

been dependent on your irrigation, especially since you're expecting rain anyway, but if it's been dry for a while (check weather sites for your local area precipitation for the month) and it still doesn't rain, it couldn't hurt.

[tikka]

2. I transplanted a 10 ft honey locust that struggled in the second year after planting.

I thought for sure it would go belly up. My DIL suggested Superthrive and it saved the tree.

[SheltieLover]

4. Wonderful!

Did you mix per package instructions?

And did you lightly saturate the drip line, or thoroughly drench it?

It is very dry here now, with rain forecast for the next 2-3 days.

Ty!!!

[mopinko]

6. find the cause.

#1 killer of old trees is that their shoulders and anchor roots get buried.

[SheltieLover]

8. Ty!

Off to google what this means & how to investigate/fix. Ty, Mo!

[mopinko]

10. i've been on a tree crusade.

i have several young fruit trees on my farm.
the permie people i read when i started said trees and hugelulture didnt go together because the soil sinks so much. so i planted them in the path between the piles.
i planted 3 plum trees and was gonna train them into an arch over the path. 1 lasted about 3-4 years.
so i have a little wrought iron arch between them. 2 years ago, i took the arch away. the tree fell over.
the had gooey fungus, which i was spraying for.

all that taught me a ton about trees. including that if i plant them on top of the pile, the sinking will let their anchor roots grow healthy.

all the trees on the parkway around here are at least a little low. then people, i mean assholes, do things like put a 2 high used railroad ties about their entire parkway, burying 3 50 year old trees.
and plant shit like daylillies 3' thick. etc.

i was friendly w a dude in the railroad tie building. condos.
he is really a preening ass. he has 2 sad little what passed for a bulldog these days. bought one, rescued the second.
so sweet. he parades them up and down the block every hour on the hour.
people stop him and pet the dogs all the time, which is what he is after. but he never would let them off the leash, or even let is slack because he claimed he was teaching them not to jump. except he wasnt. they went nuts trying to love me up. and in this bullshit storm, i really could have used that extra bully love.

anyway, talked to the dude, showed him, etc. memorial day weekend.
i nagged him for a while. he said he talked to the board, and he was "steering the boat"
i told him to grab an oar.

still nothing. but he doesnt strut past my house anymore. so i will leave him to karma. funny how thick a disguise some people put on to hide that they are really hollow assholes.

anyway, one more tip. my favorite garden tool is a nozzle they call i sidewalk sweeper. but mine is named street sweeper.
if it is really deep, dig it out some. dig a big hole, a well, at the dripline, and just watch they rest off.
it's fun to do on a hot day. i love water works, and moving dirt around w/o a shovel. you wont nick up the roots.

[OregonBlue]

7. I had a huge, glorious Catalpa tree. One day in a hot dry

summer I came out and realized several large branches were turning to black mush. After lots of reading, I got a pickup load of cow fertilizer, spread it around the tree all the way out to the drip line.
I then ran a sprinkler on it for 2 days. Lo and behold, it recovered. My thinking was that I might as well go for it because I was going to lose the tree anyway.
It had some sort of virus that stopped it from being able to carry water to the ends of the branches. By giving it enough fertilizer and water the undamaged limbs were able to fight off the virus.
Maybe load it up with goodness and water and hope for the best.

[SheltieLover]

9. Great you were able to save it!

Ty for offering some hope.

[OregonBlue]

11. Good luck. I say go for it and cross your fingers.

[SheltieLover]

12. I'm going to do just that!

And if it fails, then call arborist

[OregonBlue]

13. Sounds right to me.

[SheltieLover]

14. Thank you!

Tree has had 1 treatment & soonest I can get arborist is a couple of weeks.

Man I spoke with said box elders are not "nice" trees - prone to structural issues, parasites, diseases, etc.

So we shall see...

[spinbaby]

15. According to my tree man

If mature trees start to go, theres no saving them. I lost an elm last year and have another that only sort of leafed out this year. I expect it will, like its brethren, expire in July.

[SheltieLover]

16. Thank you

Sorry to hear about your trees. I have an arborist coming in a week & keeping my 🤞🤞🤞.

[OregonBlue]

17. Not always true. Per my previous post, I had a huge

catalpa that's major limbs started to turn to mush and fall to the ground. I was told it could not be saved but found an article on the web about possible emergency measures, which I tried and saved the tree. Not only that, but it came back more glorious than ever. I think they should at least try. It's so sad to lose a big old tree.

[SheltieLover]

18. Good news about my big tree! 😁

The arborist just left. Tree has some sun-scorched leaves & Anthracnose.

Remedy is to have it sprayed 3 times in the spring. Twice in March & once in April @ $100/ spray.

He said he does not believe tree will die anytime soon & this disease is not fatal.

He also saw a young elm tree growing in my back yard & pointed out poison ivy under my deck. 😳

I asked about Superthrive & he just shrugged. Not exactly a tree hugger. He reccommended RoundUp to kill poison ivy! 😳🤯 then he said all the "hoopla" about Round Up is just "fake." 🤬 i know better - no worries.

Thank you all so much for your supportive responses.

On Edit: PS - He took samples to send to a lab for testing to confirm disease. Not sure how abrorists make any $. Evaluation & testing were free.

[spinbaby]

19. i wish you well

My elm has given up the ghost and has an appointment with the tree man next week. I think it may be older than my house, which was built in 1928.

[SheltieLover]

20. Awwwww so sorry to hear!

So sad when trees die.