Carrots, tomatoes and lettuce are in the plant kingdom but they are not in the same family as trees and not surprisingly do not have the same needs. I see this all the time in studies where quantifiable results are assumed relevant on a broader scale.
For example. The readily available nutrients in compost tea that will supply nourishment for annuals are by-passing a major function when used for trees. By making the tea in a vat outside the root zone you are depriving all the other soil components, both organic and mineral, of valuable building blocks. The changing of parent material through physical and chemical weathering into usable soil and the nutrient cycling of organic substances are all interconnected. Take any one out of the equation and something will suffer.
Trees are environment builders both above and below ground. They put a lot of valuable resources and energy into building a stable and sustainable root zone community. All too often our efforts for improving a tree's health will fall short or even, unknowingly, contribute to its decline.
