When I water my girls, is it ok to water the leaves, or should I just water the soil? I have been watering only the soil, but I am setting up an automatic watering system and was just wondering what would be the best way to set it up. I have sprayers, misters, and drips that I can use. For now I am just using the drips but can change to the sprayers if that would be better.
Watering question
- Thread starter EnvoyXL
- Start date
mrbackhand
Member
i have been spraying the leaves on my plants two times a day with water mixed with botanicare pro bloom and the plants really seem to be enjoying it. i also spray a pure water spray at the end of the day just to get any unused ferts off of the leaves. this is a inside grow with plenty of circulation to keep the plants dry and happy 
jawbrodt
Well-Known Member
i have been spraying the leaves on my plants two times a day with water mixed with botanicare pro bloom and the plants really seem to be enjoying it. i also spray a pure water spray at the end of the day just to get any unused ferts off of the leaves. this is a inside grow with plenty of circulation to keep the plants dry and happy
I'm a foliar fan, as well. I just started using it,(I used it a couple times during my first grow, then quit using it) after reading some studies on it, and will never quit using it again. The results are immediate(within 2 hours), the plants love it, and there isn't a deficiency to be seen. I just got done vegging for almost 7 weeks in FF OF soil, and never fed them any veg fert, by rootfeeding. Aside from some Calmag, everything else has been foliar fed. The plants are beautiful, and I'm sold, to say the least.
KuLong
Well-Known Member
You spray a 2-3-5 nutrient twice a day AND spray with water to wash it off at the end of the day?i have been spraying the leaves on my plants two times a day with water mixed with botanicare pro bloom and the plants really seem to be enjoying it. i also spray a pure water spray at the end of the day just to get any unused ferts off of the leaves. this is a inside grow with plenty of circulation to keep the plants dry and happy
Sorry friend, you're doing it wrong.
Nullis
Moderator
^If you're serious, please explain.
I also use either Pure Blend Pro (10ml/gal) or Liquid Karma (5ml/gal) for foliar (if not a tea admixture), in the morning and shortly prior to lights off. It is good to use plain water some times and spray until it runs off of the leaves, this is to clean any debris or minerals on the leaves and help them breath.
I also use either Pure Blend Pro (10ml/gal) or Liquid Karma (5ml/gal) for foliar (if not a tea admixture), in the morning and shortly prior to lights off. It is good to use plain water some times and spray until it runs off of the leaves, this is to clean any debris or minerals on the leaves and help them breath.
mrbackhand
Member
hi kulong it's a 1-4-5. it has worked great on the 4 strains of kush im growing indoors. the plants really look like they are happy..here is one to get you guy's riled up................... i actually have been adding half a spoon full of bat guano into the bottle of botanicare and water
jawbrodt
Well-Known Member
I think he was saying that "washing them off" at the end of each day, isn't the best way to do it. IMO, as long as the nutes have soaked for a few hours, it doesn't really matter whether you wash them that day, or 5 days later, just so long as you don't let nutes build up, excessively.
KuLong
Well-Known Member
I am dead serious.
I foliar feed my plants on my deck (along with my catnip and tomatoes). I feed them once every 5-7 days. I spray them with water the next two days. Rinse and repeat.
If you are feeding your plants twice a day and then washing them off so quickly, you are not getting the full benefit of the nutrients. Give your plant some time to eat.
Total Head
Well-Known Member
my plants are about a foot beneath a 400w hps and i have been spraying the shit out of them several times a day since they sprouted and they are now 5 weeks old. i have never burned my leaves from this. it rains all the damn time outside and the plants don't mind. leaves were meant to get wet. it helps cool my canopy and raise the humidity for a bit which helps with the soil drying out too quick. even when i feed i get the solution all over the plants and just rinse them off with the ol' spray bottle. the fan keeps standing water from collecting on the leaves. the whole idea of not spraying leaves with water because it turns into a magnifying glass is a lot of bullshit if you ask me. you need some pretty stagnant air to even come close to making the conditions such that they would cause leaf burn.
jawbrodt
Well-Known Member
I couldn't agree more, because it IS bullshit The beads of water HAVE to be raised above the surface of the leaves, in order to be able to magnify light. That's a fact. As you mentioned, plants would be burnt to hell, outdoors, because it rains all the time, and, the sun is way more intense that the light that most grower use. The plants would've gone extinct, long ago, IMO.
mrbackhand
Member
i hope i did not come across as a jerk i really love growing plants in general . thanks guys for your help and info.
i really love growing plants in general . thanks guys for your help and info.
jawbrodt
Well-Known Member
i hope i did not come across as a jerk
Nah, not at all. We're welcome to help ya out.
Nullis
Moderator
When it rains typically it is cloudy, no direct sunlight. Next time you have plants in direct sunlight, spray them down with a garden hose until water beads on the top of the leaves. If conditions are right, the leaves will very likely develop burned spots where beads of water were. The same holds true for plants indoors under intense HID light, thus it is recommended you foliar feed just before lights on and shortly prior to the dark period, ideally with a fine mist and minimize droplets on the upper sides of the leaves. Outdoors you would foliar feed at sunrise and/or sunset.
Alternatively you raise your lights or if possible turn the wattage down, which is what I do with my Lumatek ballast. I would agree that the risks involved with water droplets on the leaves may be exaggerated on here, but burns will happen due to it; especially if you have inadequate airflow in conjunction with intense lighting that is too close to the plants. The upper fan leaves are the most prone to that sort of thing occurring. Even leaves that have been affected are most likely going to remain functional.
jawbrodt
Well-Known Member
^Add a drop of soap to your mixture, and the risk(if any. I still stand by my word. ) is gone. It breaks surface tension, and prevents beading.
Having said that,...Yes, I also follow the same routine that you've mentioned. Even though I've seen the theory tested thoroughly, witnessed that there is no risk, I still can't force my self to throw away precaution. I still spray before my lights come on, and always will. Can never be too safe, I say.
) is gone. It breaks surface tension, and prevents beading. Having said that,...Yes, I also follow the same routine that you've mentioned. Even though I've seen the theory tested thoroughly, witnessed that there is no risk, I still can't force my self to throw away precaution. I still spray before my lights come on, and always will. Can never be too safe, I say.
Spanishfly
Well-Known Member
PERLEASE, not that Old Wives Tale again.
Doesn´t happen, loads of times it rains then the sun comes out, never seen a burnt spot yet. Total BS.
Spanishfly
Well-Known Member
No he isn´t. Depends totally on his climate.You spray a 2-3-5 nutrient twice a day AND spray with water to wash it off at the end of the day?
Sorry friend, you're doing it wrong.
Total Head
Well-Known Member
the part in bold says it all. "conditions being right" to cause burn include absolutely ZERO air movement, which is extremely rare outside and completely in the grower's control indoors. if one were to spray a plant and 15 minutes later it's still wet, they would need to seriously re-evaluate their grow area. comparing watering the grass at high noon with a hose to misting leaves under a lamp next to a fan is kind of silly.
Nullis
Moderator
Totally, there are more factors that play into it than simply spraying your leaves + light = burns. You'd have to spray your leaves and they would have to remain quite stationary, and close to your lights, for over five minutes (I did mention inadequate airflow in there). But, I know it is a possible occurrence outside as I have seen the leaves of my veggie plants affected by it, primarily cucumbers and of course they were in direct sunlight while they were hosed.
I just wouldn't go so far as to say it is 'total bullshit' or some kind of 'myth' or 'old wives tale'; it just isn't. Preventable? Sure. Old wives tale? Not so. Even during sun-showers, or when the sun comes out shortly thereafter it having rained, it would still be at least somewhat cloudy and the sunlight filtered; as the freshly fallen rain continues to collect on the leaves of plants, run-off and evaporate as the leaves shutter. To say that any plants would have gone extinct due to it is more than a stretch. It would be rare in the natural world (before humans with garden hoses/spray bottles existed) for the aforementioned reasons, but even if it did happen it wouldn't mean certain death for the affected leaves and so certainly the plant would survive.
I have never witnessed clear blue skies within ten minutes after there has been any notable amount of rainfall. I have absentmindedly sprayed down veggies in direct sunlight and after-wards witnessed necrotic spotting on leaves, and I've seen indications of it on pictures posted on this forum. However, I wouldn't claim the former scenario an impossibility and you shouldn't construe the latter an absolute absurdity.
I just wouldn't go so far as to say it is 'total bullshit' or some kind of 'myth' or 'old wives tale'; it just isn't. Preventable? Sure. Old wives tale? Not so. Even during sun-showers, or when the sun comes out shortly thereafter it having rained, it would still be at least somewhat cloudy and the sunlight filtered; as the freshly fallen rain continues to collect on the leaves of plants, run-off and evaporate as the leaves shutter. To say that any plants would have gone extinct due to it is more than a stretch. It would be rare in the natural world (before humans with garden hoses/spray bottles existed) for the aforementioned reasons, but even if it did happen it wouldn't mean certain death for the affected leaves and so certainly the plant would survive.
I have never witnessed clear blue skies within ten minutes after there has been any notable amount of rainfall. I have absentmindedly sprayed down veggies in direct sunlight and after-wards witnessed necrotic spotting on leaves, and I've seen indications of it on pictures posted on this forum. However, I wouldn't claim the former scenario an impossibility and you shouldn't construe the latter an absolute absurdity.