I would love too see a plant that was only foliar fed out perform a plant fed naturally via its roots. Not on here to fight or argue just making a simple easy observation based on science and natural order. Plants take in nutrients from their roots and use the leaves to transpire. If you foliar spray your plants constantly you are just asking for issues unless it is a product or supp/add that is made specifically for foliar applications. I use kelp and bene/microbe product including fulvic acids. The only time other than this is the odd time Im observing a nutrient deficiency primarily mag in which I will root drench and also foliar spray for maybe 1-2 light applications. You never want to exceed 350 PPM thru a foliar application, otherwise you are asking for big problems. I have never heard of any grower just foliar feeding their plants and barely any root drench feedings that have good results, it just isnt how it works. I know plenty of growers who foliar app certain things like mag/sulphur and fuvic/humic and benes etc that serve specific purposes but never just foliar spraying for feeding their gardens that just doesnt make sense to me at all.. Your roots are what is important and will take care of everything and as long as you feed and have good ph and good rhizesphere parameters than foliar feeding should be minimal and specific in its intent.
Foliar Feeding Anyone??
- Thread starter steverthebeaver81
- Start date
testiclees
Well-Known Member
Ive never heard of anyone foliar feeding exclusively.
bird mcbride
Well-Known Member
About every five days...strait from the res. If your mix is too strong to do this it is to hot for flood and drain hydro.
Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
You can, but most folks don't have the experience to do it right. Via the roots system is still the best way to feed a plant, period. There's a God given reason why roots are there.
BUT, did it with my vineyard last year using a tractor mounted, PTO driven, Jaccto air blaster. Out of 195 vines I let bear, I got a record 3,050 lbs., premium quality The only time during the season I applied food via the soil, which probably had little or no impact was when I applied a very dilute soluble food while innoculating each vine with a pesticide to kill sharpshooters (imidacloprid).
I rarely foliar spray cannabis. The foliage is too sensitive to phytotoxicity. Found it's even sensitive to a very light dose of a surfactant that I incorporate in the spray.
Foliar spraying is NOT effective, at all, without the use of a surfactant. This is where most fail.
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Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
The stomata thing is a myth. The salts are taken into the leaf via the entire epidermal surface. Look up the concept of "translaminar" as an aside. For example, translaminar insecticides penetrate leaf tissues and form a reservoir of active ingredient within the leaf. If applied over head it means top to bottom of the leaf.
The amount of stomatas comprise very little area, certainly not enough to do much good.
since1991
Well-Known Member
If you like to veg a long time and top for a bushy plant.....go ahead and give them a tspn of nitrozime , a tspn of fulvic acid (humic works too but fulvic is better - i like bioag fulpower) and a few drops of yucca (i use humboldt sticky) per quart of clean tap water. Spray the whole crop real good once a week and top often. Stand back and look out. Your plants will more than likely explode into a compact bush. This increases my yields every time. You can spray in flower too especially the first few weeks but in my experience they stretch like mad. There are definitely cheaper methods of getting cytokinins (nitrozime is pricey) and fulvic acid to the plant but this is convenient and effective.
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Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
What? No eye of Newt?
BioAg FulPower is best humic/fulvic on market IMO. I only foliar spray this and a kelp organic PGR AND I use a surfractant with a portable atomizer spray em down about once or twice per week thru 3rd week of flowering and your good to go.
I get insane branching and shoots growing everywhere using these products. For the kelp i have been using Vegamatrix Hard-n-Quik and Absorable Light from Rock Nutrients and they are both awesome products. Keep it nice and simple.
Anyone trying to just foliar spray (feeding) your plants isnt gonna go very well. Plants are meant to be fed via the roots. Idk who hell is preaching about foliar feeding as a main source of nutrients for your plants but thats just simply ridiculous. Lol
since1991
Well-Known Member
I agree. You want kelp extract with a fulvic as the carrier (intermediate chelator) for the spray. With a yucca saponin to keep it on the leaves.All the hormones vitamins and goodies get shuttled in there and makes for a really charged up plant. I swear by a kelp/fulvic foliar spray. Every 5 to 7 days for me in veg and maybe early flower depending on strain. Its the one real additive that makes a noticeable difference all the time everytime. Just doing this with a complete base nutrient feed at the roots is pretty much all you really need for a quality end product. Feeding base nutes via foliar is just silly in my opinion. Unless you have a deficiency or something. Been spraying kelp/fulvic for years. I rely on it really.
3rdworldgrower
Well-Known Member
what about a foliar feed like this? sorry about the spanish the first to values are N and K ... on the front it says organic product for green plants
harris hawk
Well-Known Member
Yes in 4th week of veg to prevent "nutrient lock-out" spray under sides of the leaves and in the morning for best results
Father Ramirez
Well-Known Member
There are many more experienced growers than I here on riu, but there is also a lot of bs and horrible advice. I research university schools of agriculture for clinically tested info, and several agree that foliar feeding the underside of leaves a few hours before 'dawn' is ideal
One school, I want to say University of Australia, fed plants entirely by foliar with excellent results, though the plants were peas, if that makes any difference. I have purchased the misting nozzles, but haven't yet set up my grow to feed them this way everyday on a timer. I have misted plants manually when I happen to be up at that hour, but not in a controlled experiment, so I can't prove it increased growth or yield.
Plants would, in nature, only get the undersides of leaves wet in a downpour or windy rainstorm. This happens often in the tropics where plants grow huge, but they also get a lot of light. Still, the theory seems to hold water (pardon the pun)
One school, I want to say University of Australia, fed plants entirely by foliar with excellent results, though the plants were peas, if that makes any difference. I have purchased the misting nozzles, but haven't yet set up my grow to feed them this way everyday on a timer. I have misted plants manually when I happen to be up at that hour, but not in a controlled experiment, so I can't prove it increased growth or yield.
Plants would, in nature, only get the undersides of leaves wet in a downpour or windy rainstorm. This happens often in the tropics where plants grow huge, but they also get a lot of light. Still, the theory seems to hold water (pardon the pun)
harris hawk
Well-Known Member
foliage feeding also help prevent "nutrient-lock-out" as mention do in morning and spray all of leaf (undersides of) (Extreme Gardening.com as a good product)
3rdworldgrower
Well-Known Member
I've been spraying that foliar feed pictures once a week, just before the lights turn on, and sometimes a little later, i feel like it is definitely not giving the plants any problems at all, they are growing fine and i have not fed feed them any liquid nutrients yet, not by choice, but regardless I'm happy so far
since1991
Well-Known Member
For cannabis you want to keep the feeds consistent at the root zone. Whether heavily amended organic mediums or feeding them in a nutrient solution. What your trying to accomplish with foliar spraying is giving them the catalysts and cofactors. Hormones really. And vitamins, aminos, etc. Seaweed kelp extracts and humic/fulvic acids is the best thing to spray on the leaves.....early in the day (plant lights turn on) or at the end.
essdubb
Member
Sorry, I am a newby here... I ordered some Absorbalight for my grow, which is hand-watered, drain-to-waste. When the Absorbaloght arrived, I noticed it said "Hydroponic Only"; can I use this product safely in my set-up? Do I need to lower the dose and watering? Thank you!
nonamedman420
Well-Known Member
drain-to-waste IS Hydroponics
Joint Monster
Well-Known Member
Professor Linda Chalker- Scott
Washington State University
"Misapplied science. A misapplied science has use in one place but is being used someplace else incorrectly. An example is foliar fertilizers, with are great for testing nutrient deficiencies in leaves, but it's not a way to feed plants.
Linda goes into great detail, providing diagrams and charts and scientific based evidence. She basically says that nutrients do not travel anywhere from the leaves, the root zone is what needs to be fed.
Linda also says Epsom Salts are not necessarily a replacement for CalMag. She also questions the use of Sea Kelp, but that is for more environmental reasons than plant benefits.
@Cannabil has some very relevant points. I'd love to read more of what you have to say! I just went through Linda's Gardening Course and found it very insightful. But I do need to remember it was more for gardening and not necessarily vegetables or cannabis.. but science is science.
I'm not saying foliar is not of use. I've used it myself with great results, also to help in lower humidity environments, especially in veg.
Washington State University
"Misapplied science. A misapplied science has use in one place but is being used someplace else incorrectly. An example is foliar fertilizers, with are great for testing nutrient deficiencies in leaves, but it's not a way to feed plants.
Linda goes into great detail, providing diagrams and charts and scientific based evidence. She basically says that nutrients do not travel anywhere from the leaves, the root zone is what needs to be fed.
Linda also says Epsom Salts are not necessarily a replacement for CalMag. She also questions the use of Sea Kelp, but that is for more environmental reasons than plant benefits.
@Cannabil has some very relevant points. I'd love to read more of what you have to say! I just went through Linda's Gardening Course and found it very insightful. But I do need to remember it was more for gardening and not necessarily vegetables or cannabis.. but science is science.
I'm not saying foliar is not of use. I've used it myself with great results, also to help in lower humidity environments, especially in veg.
Piratemccall
Active Member
Foliar feeding is super important. No reason not to be feeding them some level of something every single day. (and rinsed every day) A couple points:
* always add a wetting agent. Use yucca, it's simple and natural. The water wont bead in droplets, it will form an even film across the whole surface.
* when feeding nitrogen in veg, only use ammonium nitrogen, nitrates are carcinogenic to leaves.
* contrary to popular belief, the best time to spray is at the hottest, driest point of the day. The same as it's the best time to jump in a pool, or spray my pet python. The whole anti-day spraying is an historical case of over thinking to the point of illogical old wives tales. Any thought that the sun rays somehow burn through the droplets of water is scientifically debunked. All citations of "burning" your leaves is either over fertilized or over watering or not being allowed to dry in a timely manner or anything other than the fact you sprayed a plant with water when it was hot and bright. It really is ridiculous. Hot and dry is the best time, but any time is ok as long as it can dry out, lights on or off.
* always add a wetting agent. Use yucca, it's simple and natural. The water wont bead in droplets, it will form an even film across the whole surface.
* when feeding nitrogen in veg, only use ammonium nitrogen, nitrates are carcinogenic to leaves.
* contrary to popular belief, the best time to spray is at the hottest, driest point of the day. The same as it's the best time to jump in a pool, or spray my pet python. The whole anti-day spraying is an historical case of over thinking to the point of illogical old wives tales. Any thought that the sun rays somehow burn through the droplets of water is scientifically debunked. All citations of "burning" your leaves is either over fertilized or over watering or not being allowed to dry in a timely manner or anything other than the fact you sprayed a plant with water when it was hot and bright. It really is ridiculous. Hot and dry is the best time, but any time is ok as long as it can dry out, lights on or off.