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TREE
LIFE - The New Cure
for Oak Wilt???
I am always amazed when, I pick up a newspaper or
magazine and read about new miracle cures for oak
wilt. Don’t get me wrong, I am an optimist and I
believe that there are always alternatives. This
does not necessarily mean that alternatives always
have to have in-depth research. Nature and
Innovation always create accidents, which
sometimes provide
a simple solution to any problem. However, as an
arborist I have an obsession for credible
research.
OAK
WILT has
been researched by Texas A&M and just about every university research
center throughout the United States.
Scientific research is a long, grueling,
arduous task, and the results must be accurate
before the findings are made public.
Accuracy
is the key word, and here comes TREELIFE,
a business with five years experience, and CEO’s with no practical experience or education
even relating to plants, trees or oak wilt. They
claim a ten years research program using
bio-stimulants, microbes, and miracle grow
fertilizer. Their data consists of excerpts,
quotations from various research books, and papers
which are misquoted and construed totally out of
context to make them and their product sellable
to the Texas Public. Their advertisement sounds
like political dirt bashing as if they were
running for Congress. I am ashamed that a company
must resort to this kind of strategy to prove
their varsity is honorable and their product is
bonified
If
the product is good and effective, then sell it
for what the product really is -- Water Bio-Stimulants and Fertilizer. To
knock scientific research and products with a long
proven track records, this demonstrates their lack
of knowledge and good business sense.
I
can only agree that they may correctly identify
Oak Wilt. Soil samples may vary from time of day,
time of year and from season to season. Nothing is
consistent. Alkaline
soil, phosphorus and potassium, soil based
microbes and nutrient levels can be inconsistent.
The
availability and solubility are all relative to
many varying conditions of moisture, acidity or
alkaline levels and other factors.
Refractometer
field testing or lab testing of tree tissue is
also going to vary due to location and all the
reasons mentioned above. A Scientific research is
a very meticulous schedule and timing is
absolutely critical for accurate results. Random
testing will yield random and usually inaccurate
results. Trees have a chemical life and these
levels vary from time of day, temperature,
moisture, sun light, internal growth. A certain
chemical balance may be high early in the morning
and very low in the afternoon, which is relative
to the trees’ growing process. If samples are
taken and improperly
interpreted or evaluated, any prescribed
application may cause detrimental effects.
A
year ago Treelife priced itself at a cost of
$15-20.00 per tree. In their latest article their
new price has escalated to $40-50.00 per tree and
they have come up with a price structure that
every arborist applying ALAMO would dream of and
HELL, one would only need to work no more than a
month out of a year to make a living.
Also they are now coming up with new
standards for the Texas Forest Service to install
trenches at greater depths and wider distances.
Arborists
strive to provide the best options of treatment
and care for trees and to assume that the Texas
Public should be subjected to TreeLife’s
irresponsible showism and lack of providing true
merit of their product is down right despicable
business practice.
Label
Excerpt:
TreeLife
: Bio-Stimulant/Tree Nutrient
A Naturally Derived Plant & Soil
Bio-stimulant
THE
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS:
Extract from plants &
minerals....................... 4.2 %
Inert
materials...................................................95.6
%
Macro and Micro elements at trace levels..... .2 %
APPLICATION
PROCEDURES
TreeLife can be applied to both healthy and
unhealthy trees.
(Is this vigor or
un-vigor)?
Unhealthy
Trees:
Apply a 1% solution of TreeLife as a high volume
spray to the leaf canopy of the trees at least two
to three times per year up to 12 applications per
year(one per month)
apply to ensure complete canopy coverage.
Healthy
Trees:
Apply a 1% solution of TreeLife as a high volume
spray to the leaf canopy of the trees at least
once a year. Apply to ensure complete canopy
coverage.
Soil
Application:
TreeLife stimulates soil microbes and plant root
production. Soil applications can be made year
around TreeLife is diluted at 1/2 ounce (15ml) per
1/2 Gallon of water. For every six feet of canopy
diameter, one
gallon of the diluted mixture is applied to the
soil under the tree canopy.
In
addition to the above dilution of 1 gallon of
TreeLife to 100 gallons of water (this dilution
becomes .046% active ingredients from a 4.6%
concentration),
ten pounds of Miracle grow fertilizer
20-20-20
is added which is about a 2% dilution and
will probably do some good. There is no mention of
Bio-stimulants, enzymes or microbes and very
minute amounts of micro and macro nutrients (.2%)
concentration. Lets face it, the water is the
primary factor here. It is my opinion, that the
water is providing
the greatest benefit to the trees due to four
years of drought conditions and with the small
amount of miracle grow, you will no doubt see some
new growth and vigor.
Back
in the mid 80’s We went through a similar wonder
product that prevented and cured Oak Wilt and was
backed by years of truly scientific research. If,
I sprayed them they’ll live, and also with the
usual testimonials. The end result, a little bit
of fertilizer, fungicide and
insecticide. A formulation so weak to be
completely ineffective to do the trees any good
and better still, to do them any damage.
Today,
we hear the same story....The name is TreeLife
......We’re Back!!!!!!!
Think
of this -- if there are very little active
ingredients and you dilute them even further then
there are even less effective active ingredients.
If ask of the ingredients in the product, that
sound interesting or even logical. You look at the
answer, which could include, I really don’t know
or could include any number of materials on the
label. There is a list of items or benefits like
complex carbohydrates, bio-stimulants, all-natural
ingredients, stimulates beneficial microbes, etc. While there maybe a list of active
ingredients, are active ingredients and nutrients
percentages clearly stated or defined on the
label.
Where
have you applied this material, and the usual
response is with a long list of testimonials, not
science, and according to TreeLife, raving reviews
about how well it performs and what wonderful
results you will get.
Should
You ask if a University has researched and tested
the products, here it gets most interesting. You
are likely to hear quotations from plant
pathologists and research scientist, totally out
of context, absolutely misquoted from some
unrelated subject and unrelated to their product.
Almost any university, for research grant will
test any product or material.
Go
ahead, try the product, you are concerned about your trees, it
won’t hurt anything; after all, it is natural
and it just may help.
All
too often it is this kind of decision to use a
product, which is based on testimonials, claims by
the salesman, and quotations out of context and a
list ingredients or benefits, without clearly
knowing how or if the material really works.
It
is easy to claim that a product improves vigor,
health and will also solve every stress problem
your tree may have. However, an in-depth
university testing under all conditions is needed
to ascertain any claims and to verify the real
findings and benefits of the product.
University
research regarding the use of fertilizers and
bio-stimulants in the proper ratios and applied at
regular intervals will help to improve vigor and
growth but, no research has yet to prove that, fertilization should be
considered as a treatment or a cure for oak wilt.
Most
arborist and tree professionals will research
their products for the benefit of their customers
and insure that the manufacturer has a bonified
product and that it has been thoroughly researched
with effective results. We are seeing a greater
trend to move more towards organic and natural
products and it the arborist responsibility and
integrity to ensure the customers are getting the
best and most effective product on the market
without a lot of false claims.
TreeLife,
in your five years of business, we ask which
university or universities have done the ten
years, of in-depth research on this product ( TREELIFE
™
) for the specific application and treatment of
Oak Wilt and where are the published results? We
are not asking for the product results or research
from the supplier regarding field crop
fertilization and crop response. Simply, just the
research data, true science,
(NOT TESTIMONIALS)
for the treatment of live oak trees, for the cure
and prevention of Oak Wilt. It is this research
that, clarifies the validity of your product, your
claims about the product and the integrity of your
business. ......TREELIFE
...... We are waiting!!
The
above opinions are written
in response to feature articles in “The
Texas Farm & Ranch”,
Volume 19 and “The
Texas Neighbors”, October
1999 Issue,
written by field editor,
Lana Robinson, published by Texas Farm Bureau.
My personal
opinions are shared by arborist and professional
tree care businesses and concerned consumers
throughout Texas.
No
endorsement is intended for products mentioned,
nor is criticism meant for products not mentioned.
The Writer assumes no liability resulting from the
use of these recommendations.
Links
TreeLife Website: www.joaquinranchent.us
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