Fish fert is mostly for N and N is to induce greater vigor. When trees are small, I like to get them to size as quickly as possible but once they are bearing meaningful fruit I am careful to not overstimulate vegetative growth with excessive N- damaging fruit quality and making trees and fruit more susceptible to pest problems. Fall fertilization is not dangerous and is actually helpful to get N to the buds before mid spring and get growth to most vigorous start. It is late summer N that can sometimes postpone dormancy and hardening off that protects trees from winter damage. This danger is highly exagerated in the literature in my opinion as you get exactly the same results here when we have early summer drought and then soaking rain in mid-august. Some trees do get a late surge of vigorous growth which itself can suffer winter kill but by my observation the rest of the tree does fine. I'd be curious of the observations of others on this point. This is one of many observations I've made over the years that makes me ever vigilant to expert BS even as I continue to go to pedigreed experts for certain kinds of advice. Speaking of the advice of pedigreed experts, Cornell recommends a general application of 2 pounds N per 1,000 sq ft annually for general orchard maintenance if you are not doing a soil and tissue analysis kind of program.

A variety of different things. Mainly something formulated for citrus & avocado (and usually mango on the label). We have a nice product here by Gro Power Citrus & Avocado Food. I use this because it has a fairly large amount of humus and humic acid in it, which for me being on DG is very helpful. I also will luse Vigoro Citrus & Avocado Fertilizer and have used Lilly Miller's Citrus & Avocado fertilizer as well. And, I've even just used a 15-15-15 fertilizer with micros if that's all I have on hand. Many good choices out there. I would see if there is something formulated for your area, to meet micro needs that might be lacking in your soils. Patty S.

Hi, No, it's not balanced. It has far more K in it than N & P. It was a liquid fertilizer, so I don't imagine it will hang around in the pots very long. I can flush the pots, can't I? The way I understand it is I should water the pots and a short while later, really run water through the soil a couple of times to get rid of built up P & K. Thanks for your kind reply, noss

Jessaka, How to tell when they are ripe depends on the variety and where you live. Different varieties ripen at different times in different zones, and turn different colors when they ripen. Here in 6b Jonathans ripen in late July early Aug and turn red. Yellow delicious ripen in early to mid Sept and turn yellow. Winesaps come on in late Sept and turn red. Ark black ripens in late Oct to early Nov and turns a deep red--hence the name. Those are the apples that I've raised. Size and color are the thing to look at if you don't know the variety. When they reach apple size, sacrifice one and taste it. You'll be able to tell. As to fertilizing, well established apple trees don't need a lot. It is important to keep competition down though so you should remove any grass or weeds to the drip line and put down an organic mulch which will also act as a fertilizer. Young trees can use some compost. It takes a lot of potassium to sweeten fruit of any kind so it might be a good idea to have a soil test done to see what your soil may be lacking.