Hello all. I’m very interested in the Apical analysis and products that Ryan has been harping on. Does anyone with a hobbyist collection have an experience they can share about the cost and outcome? Also are smaller quantities of the product? It’s hard to for me to invest a bunch of money into a few trees. Thanks
As someone having a degree in horticulture and having a good understanding of plant physiology and growing things. For most of us this is not the limiting factor in developing trees. I won’t judge its value on high end trees that might have some issues that need correcting because I don’t know enough about it. As a beginner to intermediate most likely you are making mistakes in the way you manage your trees that is limiting. Going apical would then be a costly bandaid while you still have to fix the underlying limitation.
If you a high value tree wether emotional or $$$ and this tree is struggling the bandaid might easily be worth it.
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I have had a few Apical tests done to see what the recommendations might be. One of the recs was to let water sit in a container for 24 hrs to let chlorine off-gas and allow certain dissolved solids to settle out. I’ve been doing that and it was no cost to me besides investing in some 5 gallon buckets. I have about 60 trees but I’m retired, so except for the tedium, the time it takes doesn’t matter to me. Some days I am pressed for time and use the hose on everything except my more valuable (to me, at least) trees.
We have good water here, except for a high pH (around 7-8). I tried adding vinegar, but wasn’t very scientific about it, and some trees didn’t look that great, so I stopped. I never bought any Apical products, since one of the recommendations was to add aragonite and I didn’t want to deal with it, as I don’t have much storage space in my garage, so have gone the low tech method I mentioned above.
One thing I did change was to fertilize more aggressively. I used BioGold this spring and the trees seem to be better (huh, who knew?!).
I am planning on sending some JBP needles from a couple of different trees to Apical next week to see what is up with them, since they are yellowing a bit. Don’t know if you have done any testing, but it might be worth it to do your household water and one or two trees and see what the results are. You might try that, and go from there.
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I have been using apical method on several of my trees. The initial investment of product was a few hundred USD, this would very a little bit depending on how many trees and how many different products you need. I find that most of the recs for my trees are fairly similar with one or two product differences. At the scale I am using the small small quantities that I ordered should last me at least a year. I think the larger investment is the recurring testing at $110 a tree. It does become burdensome to test more than just a couple. I have had a few of my trees that had significant nutrient imbalances that I saw immediate benefit from switching over to apical. The rest of the trees are a little bit nuanced but I would say I’m still seeing positive change in all trees so far. Knock on wood! Hopefully this helps!
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Yes the ferticel products are pricey. I picked up the 10-0-0 since nearly all my recs require it. My last rec had 0-20-0 and I’m also looking for an alternative since it’s just the one tree for now. I think we need to tailor the apical approach to meet our needs and financial budgets:)
I use ~5-8 tbsp of the 10-0-0 usually. Idk if I’ll get through all of it in the 2 yrs but I bet there’s some wiggle room haha. I’ll take a look at those, thanks for the tip. The thing I’ve learned so far is it’s all about the ratios not the levels, so maybe the balance with your phos is still not right?
Hi,
What is the best time to perform the soil testing with Apical? I am trying to see if I should wait for next spring. For broadleaf trees, I understand that you need to cut fresh leaves so definitely not late fall - winter… does anyone have any insight?
Thanks
Mathieu
I recently had Apical testing done on one of my pines and the recommendations include about 12 different products - first soil application, foliar application and second soil application. Even if I order the minimum quantities, this is a substantial investment which I’m not sure I’m up for, as well as not having space in my garage for all the products.
One of my pines doesn’t look too good, so I’m tempted to give it a try anyway. Do you know of a source that sells smaller quantities of the Eden products? How have your trees been doing?
You can buy everything in Quart sizes from Eden
Each product is around $30 per quart
Instead of the Ferticell Fertilizer that cost $200
Buy Blue Gold Fusion Veg
And Alfalfa blend
This will be your nitrogen source or NPK fert
It is not as pure as the way the rec is written but it reduces the cost significantly because Ferticell is only available in large sizes.
If you have questions
Want to share your rec, get my opinion
I am Chris @
gfysinvermont@gmail.com
I would be glad to talk you through it
But I only have 1 full year of growing with Eden products so I am not an expert, and I am no Ryan!!
I will not post application rates in a public forum to respect and honor Mirai and its teachers, There is a very good reason they don’t post them.
But in private email I will pass on what I have learned.
Peace
Oh if you are a pro member
You should send your recs to Mirai
They will tell you application rates for 5 gallons at a time.
They are more knowledgeable than I am .
Then if you need to make a switch like the Ferticell swap or have questions feel free to ask.
If you are a pro member you would definitely want to get Ryan’s take on things before you mess with product swaps.
The more info the better!!
Thank you for your response, Chris! I am very glad to hear they sell in quart sizes; it makes storing the fertilizers a lot easier as well. I will check it out!
Glad the information was helpful.
I will say that a quart of some products will come in a 1/2 gallon sized vented container due to the fact that these are biologically active or alive and they can expand.
Do not store them in direct sunlight or a hot garage or you will see your containers expand and possibly pop open.
To remedy this remove the foam in the cap, use a hole punch to make a hole and line the hole up with the vent hole in the cap.
This however makes them leak if they tip over so store them in a container or box to keep them upright.
Hope it helps…
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