Jobe’s Slow Release Tree and Shrub Fertilizer Spikes, Easy Plant Care for Oak, Maple, Dogwood, Boxwood, and Many More Acid Loving Trees and Shrubs, 9 Count

Worked around tree as it should.

Use on all my acid loving shrubs and plants in the fall and spring.

I live in south central coastal Florida and about 3 weeks ago used several of these fertilizer spikes on a large lime tree and a mid-size Meyer lemon tree in my yard.The spikes are a convenient way to fertilize and are fairly easy to insert, especially if the package includes the necessary plastic caps, as mine did. Even in sandy soil I found it necessary to use a pointed object (long screwdriver, metal or wooden dowel, etc.) to make and expand an initial hole, which made it easier to pound down the fertilizer spike. In sandy or light soil it is also possible to stick a trowel or small shovel or a pick in the ground to the appropriate depth (about 10-11 inches), wiggle it a bit to make the hole wider, pound in the spike, and then push the loose soil in around and on top of the spike and water it in.Lime tree: This tree, which had maybe a dozen limes on it, was heavily overgrown and on December 3 I had it trimmed back substantially; on December 10 I noticed lots of flower buds in several areas where the tree had been trimmed. I inserted the fertilizer spikes on December 11 and I have noticed lots of new stem and leaf growth in the three weeks since then. However, it is not clear how much of the new growth can be attributed to the spikes and how much to the tree trimming. Since the new buds appeared after trimming and before the spikes were inserted, it seems clear that the new buds were stimulated by the trimming.Meyer lemon tree: This tree, which is currently bearing several dozen lemons, was only slightly overgrown, so on December 3 I snipped off several small branches that were growing beyond the drip line and a few small dead branches here and there--nothing like the heavy trimming of the lime tree described above. Three weeks after inserting the spikes I have not seen any new buds and only a bit of new stem and leaf growth. It may be that since the tree is bearing so many lemons all of its energy is going to grow the lemons, not new buds or stems or leaves.In short, after 3 weeks I can't really tell whether the fertilizer spikes are making any difference; perhaps another 3 or 4 weeks will reveal meaningful changes. However, I know that my trees are in sandy soil and haven't been fertilized for many years, so I am comfortable with having purchased and inserted the spikes, which are convenient to use, have no runoff and no odor, and have a 6-month time release.I will keep track of how my trees are doing and will update this review if I observe any positive or negative developments. For now I will rate these four stars, with potential to go to five stars if results warrant.

Nice product, simple an easy to use. For my few trees theyfertilized them mor than once

I try to buy these every year. I buy them for evergreens and for deciduous tree.I think is helped my trees fight off the Pine Bark Beetle infestation.

My ex used to be in charge of the plants in the house and the garden. She used to use the wrong fertilizer on my Green Giants and she scorched a bunch of them. Then she tried to blame it on the neighbor saying he was intentionally spraying Round Up on our trees. Turns out that wasn't true she just used fertilizer meant for other plants. Since I switched to the RIGHT kind my trees have grown by leaps and bounds. I've saved a lot of the scorched trees and things are looking really good now. Plus you get a good workout hammering the fertilizer spikes into the ground. My advice is to get a rubber mallet if you don't already have one and use that over a hammer. The spikes are solid by they do tend to break easily. The rubber knob they give and a rubber mallet helps keep the spikes in one piece.

I bought this a long time ago for my maple and it is the greenest, tallest and bushiest in my block...

I've always been happy with Jobe's fertilizer spikes for our fruit trees and encourage you to use their products as long as you're not in a hurry. It takes them 4 to 8 weeks to ship your purchase. I'd recommend order in the spring for fall fertilizing and order in the fall to prepare for spring fertilizing.