Course 05 · Quiz 2 of 2 · Feeding plans that follow the tree · Final synthesis

Quiz 2: Feeding plans that follow the tree

Feeding plans built on the label and steered by growth, goal, roots, and weather, the checks that come before feeding a struggling tree, and dilution, records, and reviews, combined with the whole course in case-based decisions across the example city.

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As the final quiz, it also draws on ideas from the whole course.

Before you start

12 questions, each worth one point. Some ask for one answer; others ask you to select a stated number of answers.
For questions with several answers, each correct choice earns an equal share of the point.
Pass with 80%: at least 10 of 12 points.
Untimed and open book. Revisit any lesson while you work.
After you submit, you will see every correct answer with an explanation. Retake it as often as you like.

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Question 1 of 12 ScenarioThe courtyard in June: the courtyard maple, healthy and established in its terracotta training pot of akadama, pumice, and lava, with morning sun, afternoon shade, and water from the brass tap, is in development. Its long low branch, left free to thicken the trunk below it, has added several pairs of large leaves since May. Its card's plan is the 8-4-6 at its outdoor line, 8 mL in the 2 L (about half a gallon) can, every 14 days, fed to a moist mix and logged. Wanting the trunk to thicken faster this summer, the owner proposes 16 mL in the can from now on.What should the plan say?
Switch to the 14-4-14 powder, since its higher nitrogen figure makes a stronger can for growthFeed 16 mL in the can every 14 days, since a stronger can puts more nitrogen into the new woodKeep 8 mL every 14 days, since the low branch's leaves and light, not more feed, build the woodKeep 8 mL but feed it every 7 days, since a free-draining mix loses each feed within a few days
Question 2 of 12 ScenarioThe courtyard in early June: the display trident, the older trident kept compact in its shallow glazed pot, has a card that says the 8-4-6 at half strength, 4 mL in the 2 L (about half a gallon) can, every 14 days through its first flush, then the outdoor line once that flush has hardened, in early summer, and that helpers water only. At its first review, the log shows that the helper who covered the courtyard for three weeks in May fed it at the outdoor line every week anyway. Its new shoots are long, with large leaves and long gaps between them, and still extending. The leaves are green with clean edges, and there is no crust.What should the review decide? Select two.0 of 2 selected
Change nothing else until the next review, since a second change would blur what the first didMove it to a shadier bench as well, since less sun would slow the long new shoots it is makingStop feeding it for the rest of the year, since a tree that grew this long has had all it needsFeed it half strength every 7 days instead, since small, frequent cans keep its supply steadierReturn to half strength every 14 days in the flush, since the extra cans made its shoots long
Question 3 of 12 ScenarioA club member's juniper in late April: three weeks ago, moving it from its nursery pot into a bonsai pot of akadama, pumice, and lava, the club member cut away most of its old, circling roots, leaving few fine roots. Its foliage is green and firm, but no new growth has started, and no root tips show at the holes. It stands in bright shade out of the wind, watered by the checks. Having read that some experienced growers feed root-pruned trees from the start, the club member wants to give it the 8-4-6 at the label rate this week to speed its recovery.What should the club member do about feeding?
Feed it at the label rate six weeks after the repot, since its roots will have regrown by thenFeed it half strength each week from now on, since small, frequent cans suit roots that regrowWait until new tips grow, then feed it light at first, since few roots are left to take it upFeed it at the label rate this week, since some skilled growers feed root-pruned trees at once
Question 4 of 12 ScenarioThe courtyard in July, on the second day of a heat wave near 36 °C (97 °F), with three more days forecast: today is the courtyard maple's feeding day on its card, 8 mL of the 8-4-6 in the 2 L (about half a gallon) can. At the 6 pm check its terracotta pot feels light, a chopstick comes out dry with only the tip faintly damp, and its leaves droop, as they did by late afternoon yesterday.What should the owner do this evening?
Water it now and feed it tomorrow at dawn, since a cool morning makes a feed safe in a heat waveWater it thoroughly and skip today's feed, since a feed's salts would add to the heat's stressFeed the 8 mL now as the card says, since its low branch is growing fastest in the summer heatWater it thoroughly, then feed once it drains, since the label's order is water first, then feed
Question 5 of 12 ScenarioThe courtyard in early June: the courtyard has a Chinese elm of its own, a different tree from the small backyard's, repotted last spring, more than a year ago, into a shallow stoneware pot of akadama and pumice. It stands on the bench, drains freely, and is watered from the brass tap. Its shoots are extending, its new leaves are full-size and green, and white root tips show at the holes. It has not been fed since the repot, first to let its roots recover and then because it grew well without any. This morning its root zone checks Moist, and it stands in morning sun. The owner, who feeds the courtyard maple the 8-4-6 at its outdoor line every 14 days, plans to start the elm on the same feeds today, fed to the moist mix and logged. A visiting friend who keeps bonsai says to leave it unfed while it grows this well.What should the owner do about feeding it?
Hold off feeding while it thrives, since a strong year without feed shows its mix holds enoughFeed it as the maple is fed from today, since its small pot of mix holds little for its growthSpray its leaves with a dilute feed instead, since leaves can take in what the roots would getStart it on the houseplant line, since an elm that grew well unfed needs only half the feed
Question 6 of 12 ScenarioA friend's trident maple in early August: it stands on their sunny patio in a training pot of akadama, pumice, and lava. The friend, its only feeder, has given it the 8-4-6 at its outdoor line every 14 days since May, always to a moist mix, and logged each feed. Since late June a drip line on a timer has given it short sips morning and evening, and water has rarely run from the holes. By late July it had a white crust on the rim, brown leaf edges, and an afternoon droop over a moist root zone. A week ago the friend paused feeding and rinsed the pot with plenty of plain water. The brown edges are still there, and no new leaves have opened since the rinse.What should the friend's plan now say?
Resume its 14-day feeds this week, since the rinse has already carried the built-up salts awayOnce new leaves open clean, resume its feeds and water till it drains, since sips kept salts inResume now at half strength every 7 days, since smaller cans add fewer salts to a pot on a dripKeep its feeds stopped and leach it every week, since the drip's sips will build the salts back
Question 7 of 12 ScenarioA neighbor's Satsuki azalea in late July: it grows in a small glazed pot on their porch and was watered from a rain barrel until the barrel cracked last October. It has had the garden tap's moderately hard, unsoftened water ever since, though a new barrel went up this spring, and since spring the 8-4-6 at its outdoor line every 14 days. Since the May flush its newest leaves have come out yellow between green veins, while the older leaves stay dark green. Its root zone checks moist and drains freely, its morning light is good, and no pests show. Two pour-through samples, taken the same way two weeks apart and read on a borrowed, calibrated meter, both say Slightly alkaline. The garden center stocks the granules and the acid-loving feed. On the fictional labels, the 8-4-6 lists “Iron (Fe) 0.10%, chelated (EDTA)”, the granules “Iron 0.40%” from iron sulfate, and the acid-loving feed “Iron (Fe) 0.50%, chelated (EDDHA)”.What should the neighbor do?
Scatter the granules, since their iron figure is four times the 8-4-6's and it lasts for monthsUse the acid-loving feed and keep the tap water, since its EDDHA iron stays usable when alkalineFeed the 8-4-6 every 7 days instead, since more of its chelated iron will reach the new leavesReturn to mostly rainwater and the acid-loving feed, since the tap water is what raised its pH
Question 8 of 12 ScenarioThe courtyard in July: the young trident maple in its wooden training box, left to grow freely, is on the 8-4-6 at its outdoor line every 14 days and grew strongly through June. Since late June, while the owner works late, the owner's nephew has done the weekday watering, and he can fill a can at the brass tap or at the rain barrel by the gate. For three weeks the trident's newest leaves have come out smaller and a paler green all over, and its shoots have slowed. This morning the owner checked the root zone, which dries back toward Drying between thorough waterings, with firm white root tips at the holes; nothing stands under the box; and it is in full sun, as it was in June. There is no speckling, stickiness, or webbing on the leaves.Which two should the owner look at next? Select two.0 of 2 selected
One conductivity reading of its runoff, since a low number would show that it needs more feedA chart of deficiency colors, since the new leaves' shade will name the nutrient that is shortA laboratory test of its leaves, since a tissue test names the short nutrient without guessworkWhich water the nephew has used, since barrel and tap water bring the pot different mineralsThe feeding log since late June, since its lines show what each can held and who mixed each one
Question 9 of 12 ScenarioThe courtyard in late June: the hornbeam, the oldest tree on the bench, grows in a round blue-gray glazed pot of gritty mineral mix. It had seed-meal cakes until May of last year, when the owner moved the courtyard's trees onto the 8-4-6 and missed it: the log has no feed for it since. Every leaf is a full, even green, but this year's shoots, measured from their bud-scale scars, are about half as long as last year's, in the same good light and with the same watering. Its roots are firm, with white tips at the holes, its root zone dries back between thorough waterings, nothing stands under the pot, no pests show on the leaves or stems, and there is no crust or browning. The owner plans to start it on the 8-4-6 at its outdoor line this week and judge the next weeks' growth; a club member who has seen it would rather repot it into fresh mix next spring and feed nothing until then.What should the owner do?
Leave it unfed until its repot next spring, since the fresh mix will give its roots a new supplyTake a pH reading before any feed, since short shoots under green leaves point to iron locked upWait until its leaves pale and then feed it, since green leaves show that it still has enoughFeed it on the label's rate and interval now, since nothing has gone into its mix for a year
Question 10 of 12 ScenarioA house elsewhere in the example city, in late June: its owner keeps three young trees on the back steps and mixes each feed in a 1.5 L (about 50 fl oz) jug, filled to a line they marked after measuring it. Their card copies the line for outdoor containers from the 8-4-6's label, a fictional label made for this course whose numbers belong to this exercise: “4 mL per 1 L of water, every 14 days while plants are actively growing.” One tree is due today, and the owner works out how much concentrate the full jug needs, to measure with a syringe that reads single milliliters.How much concentrate goes into the full jug?
3 mL, since 4 mL shared across the jug's 1.5 L comes to about 2.7 mL, and that rounds up to 34 mL, since the line's 4 mL is the measure for one fill of whatever container the feed is in6 mL, since each of the jug's 1.5 L takes 4 mL, the same strength the 2 L can gets from 8 mL8 mL, since that is the 2 L can's amount, and the jug holds only half a liter less than a can
Question 11 of 12 ScenarioA house elsewhere in the example city, in late June: its owner keeps three young trees on the back steps and mixes each feed in a 1.5 L (about 50 fl oz) jug, filled to a line they marked after measuring it. Their card copies the line for outdoor containers from the 8-4-6's label, a fictional label made for this course whose numbers belong to this exercise: “4 mL per 1 L of water, every 14 days while plants are actively growing.” A week of rain has just ended. The tree due today, a young Japanese maple on the bottom step, stands in a glazed pot whose saucer is brimming with rain. Its leaves droop, the pot feels heavy, a chopstick comes out dark, cool, and wet along its whole length, and the mix smells faintly sour. The owner has worked out the jug's amount, checked the sum twice, and drawn it up in the syringe.What should the owner do?
Mix the amount into half the water, since a smaller pour adds less water to a pot already wetEmpty the saucer and feed it tomorrow, since a pot that has drained back to Moist can be fedFeed the jug now as worked out, since the sum checked twice gives the label's strength in 1.5 LEmpty the saucer, let it drain, and hold the feed, since roots sitting in water take up little
Question 12 of 12 ScenarioThe small backyard on a cool, cloudy morning in early September, 16 °C (61 °F): the adult who does the evening round, and all the household's feeding, will be home late tonight, so before leaving for work they fed the larch at the bench by the back door. Its pot checked Drying, so they watered it thoroughly first and fed it once it drained: 4 mL of the 8-4-6 in 2 L (about half a gallon) of hose water, half strength, as the card's taper line says now that its long shoots have stopped extending. There is no time for the trident, which is fed on the larch's days, so the other adult will stand in and feed it on this evening's round, from the log. Running late, the feeder plans to write the larch's feed in the log tonight.What should the feeder do before walking away?
Write the larch's whole line on the clipboard now, since tonight's round reads the log firstText the other adult now, since a message reaches them sooner than a line on the clipboard doesWrite it tonight from memory, since the card names one feeder and nobody else feeds the larchWrite the date and “larch fed” now, since the card already gives the amount and the strength

0 of 12 questions answered