Caring for Fruit Trees: Effective Soil Treatment

Healthy fruit trees start with healthy soil. When your trees are struggling, dropping fruit, or battling pests constantly, the answer is not usually a quick spray — it's an effective soil treatment that reorganises, biologises, and restores moisture balance to the root zone.

Why soil treatment matters so much to fruit trees

The trees are working: they shed blossom, build leaves, and push energy into fruit. Growth stops when there are no ongoing nutrients, air, and water in the root zone. A thoughtful treatment of the soil relieves compaction, allows water to penetrate, and boosts microbial life so your trees can feed themselves effectively through healthy soil function.

Step 1: Diagnose the root zone (2 minutes with a spade)

Soil structure: Dip the spade of soil beneath the drip line. If it's hard and cloddy, you have compaction.

Moisture: It should percolate downwards through the profile, not pool on top. Care is needed with hydrophobic soil.

Biology: If you find few worms and the soil looks pale, dry, or lifeless rather than dark and crumbly, your soil biology is lacking.

This quick test will tell you how intense your soil treatment will need to be.

Step 2: Open and condition with a soil remedy

Start with a mild soil remedy to loosen up the profile and improve water movement.

• Aerate every 20–30 cm near drip line using a fork or pitchfork.
  
  

• Put chosen soil amendment (label rates) on and irrigate well.
  
  

• Wet 10–20 cm deep so that the amendment reaches active feeder roots.
  
  

This creates openings for nutrients and gets the remainder of the soil treatment in position to actually work.

Step 3: Formulate and incorporate biology with compost + compost accelerator

This is where the alchemy occurs.

• Distribute 2–4 cm of aged compost on or around the drip line (don’t have it directly touching the trunk).
  
  

• Stir it up with a compost accelerator (watering-can quantities) to jumpstart breakdown and microbial processes.
  
  

• Mulch lightly over the top (straw/leaf litter/wood chips) to preserve moisture and best conditions for biological activity.
  
  

The compost accelerator speeds up nutrient cycling, reduces odour, and helps the compost integrate into the soil profile faster.

Step 4: Feed life, not just leaves, with a biofertiliser

Finish the pass with a biofertiliser drench.

• Apply close to the drip line and just beyond (where new feeder roots will form).
  
  

• Repeat light biofertiliser applications every 4–6 weeks during growing season, weaning off in winter.
  
  

A biofertiliser introduces beneficial microbes and a nutrient range that keep the soil food web humming — it’s a key treatment for long-term soil health.

For best results, follow the drench with a foliar spray. Use Food2Soil All Purpose Biofertiliser to spray the entire plant — including leaves, trunk, and right down to the root zone. This not only feeds the tree directly through its foliage but also helps combat fungal disease and stress naturally by strengthening the plant’s microbiome from top to bottom. Consistent foliar feeding ensures nutrients reach the plant quickly and enhances resilience during peak growth or after periods of stress.

Pro tip: Spray fruit trees at ‘bud burst’ for the healthiest blooms and fruit!

Step 5: Sustain gains with a soil booster (seasonal)

Once the profile is open and biology in place, sustain it with a soil booster.

• Apply a soil booster at the change of season, or following heavy harvests.
  
  

• In addition to a light compost top-dressing and quick splash with compost accelerator, keep aggregation under control and check moisture levels.
  
  

Use the soil booster as your maintenance injection, extending the life of your initial soil treatment.

When to do what (Australia)

In spring, loosen the root zone with a light soil remedy, then lay compost, activate it with a compost accelerator, and finish with a biofertiliser drench and full-plant spray as growth kicks off. Through summer, focus on moisture: keep mulch topped up, water deeply but less often, and use small biofertiliser top-ups to support steady growth. In autumn, rebuild after harvest with compost plus compost accelerator, then add a soil booster to restore reserves. Over winter, disturb the soil minimally; correct any pooling with a targeted soil remedy and wait for spring to feed again.

Pro tip: Spray in the coolest parts of the day in the summer and never spray when a plant is directly under heat stress.

What you’ll need on hand

A fork or pitchfork for aeration, mature compost, a hose-on compost accelerator or watering can, a spray pack if covering large amounts of tree foliage, a quality biofertiliser such as Food2Soil All Purpose Biofertiliser for both drenching and foliar spraying, a seasonal soil booster, and mulch kept clear of the trunk base — everything you need for a simple, repeatable soil treatment.

How to tell it’s working

Within a few weeks in warm weather you’ll see deeper colour, steadier new growth, and better water infiltration. Over one season, a consistent soil treatment routine (soil remedy + compost accelerator + biofertiliser with a periodic soil booster) usually means stronger fruit set, fewer stress signals, disease and noticeably better flavour.

Your next move

Pick one tree, run the full pass this weekend, and note the change over four weeks. If the response is strong, repeat the soil treatment across the orchard in stages — it’s easier to maintain momentum than to restart from scratch each season.