Foliar Feeding do's and dont's

[spidermite king]

I've read alot about foliar feeding and alot is mixed opinions. Some say it confuses the plant and stops the plant from taking nutes through the roots, and some say it is a lost art and has many benefits. I use Humbodt Nutrients "VERDE" and it tells how to mix the solution but does not offer any type of application reference. So......I'm looking for that happy medium to where I can use it but not interfere with/ or impede my growth, or worse. Any knowledge on this would be appreciated.

 

[Lowman]

get dutch master saturater to add to your mix. Foliar twice a week when the lights come on. Don't foliar spray after week 4 of flower....do not adjust ph.

 

[Buddy Hemphill]

I foliar twice a week or so...

Usually either ACT or kelp/humic/silica on the nute side.

Then there is the barrage of my IPM program.

I haven't noticed my plants beng lazy. Quite the opposite, actually.

Foliar was one of those little keys for me.

 

[jeffadies]

I keep my feeding the same but i Foliar feed with Kelp and a drop of dishsoap(not the antimicrobial stuff) and tap water.I do it twice a week too. I know your not supposed to water at night but the way i see it is it rains at night and day in nature. I have not noticed any negatives to what im doing. the plants seem healthy and praying to the light gods. Cool idea for a thread im interested to see what everyone else has to say.

 

[Buddy Hemphill]

I spray as soon as the lights go off.

Thats when the stomata are wide open, you can smell it.When the lights first go out..for an hour or two... transpiration increases as does the abilty to uptake foliar sprays.

I just keep the dehuey where it needs to be and rock on.

sidenote: I burn sulfer till I see flowers and kill the foliar program not long after.


I have a fear of rot in the latter stages that I cant seem to get around...the juice doesn't seem worth the squeeze at that point for me.

 

[phenotyper]

Fulpower + Nitrozyme is a regular part of my program. All the way up to ~week 5. Done correctly, the plants love it.

 

[drknockbootz]

Does anybody have any side by side pics of foliar plants and non foliar plants. I foliar once a week also. But I question whether or not Im seeing much of a difference.

In my opinion stunted/non healthy plants definitely benefit from a good foliar program. Healthy vigorous plants Im not so sure.

 

[El Cerebro]

I spray as soon as the lights go off.

Thats when the stomata are wide open, you can smell it.When the lights first go out..for an hour or two... transpiration increases as does the abilty to uptake foliar sprays.

Does foliar really go in through stomata? Ima go on a limb and say no. I think that's an old hydrostore myth along with spraying at lights out. I'm not a botanist, but pretty sure foliar enters through cuticle layer..

 

[spidermite king]

Well good everyone. I'm going to go with the twice a week since that seems to be the majority and you like what you see. But I'm going to stick with the Humboldt Nutrients VERDE. I am a fan of the nutrient line. Application was what I was looking for. I will try the lights off idea. And I am not a botanist either but every book I read (ed rosenthal, jorge cevantes, etc...) say plants do absorb through the stomata. Thats why the applications say spray underside of leaves.

 

[Dunge]

Thus the wetting agent (soap).
And as I remember, the stoma are on the bottom of the leaf.
And what about the solids in a tea.Will they not accumulate and block light?

 

[El Cerebro]

Ed has done some great activism, especially in recent years, but much of his growing advice is from left field or worse. Jorge is incredibly entertaining and a cultural icon, listening to his raps makes me yearn to grow outdoors. But run my garden on their ideas, sorry but no way.

Here's a little something I ran into recently, curious what you think:

 

[ogplatinum]

Ive found a bi weekly mix up of Heavy16 (Ca enhancing foliar), and Nitrozyme work great! I switch off, one time a week using Heavy16 the other time Nitrozyme.

 

[dankworth]

Ed has done some great activism, especially in recent years, but much of his growing advice is from left field or worse. Jorge is incredibly entertaining and a cultural icon, listening to his raps makes me yearn to grow outdoors. But run my garden on their ideas, sorry but no way.

Here's a little something I ran into recently, curious what you think:

Bookmarked

 

[Dirty White Boy]

I foliar with silica almost everday. Rhizotonic works great as a foliar so does cannaboost. Bioweed and Pura vida also seem to have an instant effect as well. You can foliar with basically anything. If there arnt any foliar directions you can always just start at 1/4 strength n go from there. Foliars are like skinning a cat there's a million ways to do it, ask 100 growers what they use and your likely to get 100 different awnsers.

 

[Danoid]

Dirty white boy do you use a sprayer or fogger/atomizer. The reason I ask is I have a garden that would be a PITA to do with a pump sprayer. Thanks

 

[Mogrow]

spray em

i water with a spray bottle on my seedlings, they seem fine. I will foilar feed them also when they get bigger. It's only natural, right???

 

[Devlove]

I mixed up some tea with caps foliar and I'm about to spray diluted by ten w/ atomizer in week 7 of 10, His bene's fight mold or so I'm told, thats why I'm doing it.

 

[click80]

Does foliar really go in through stomata? Ima go on a limb and say no. I think that's an old hydrostore myth along with spraying at lights out. I'm not a botanist, but pretty sure foliar enters through cuticle layer..

I don't have the time to search down this study right now but both sides off this are right, I read a study that evaluated this using many different types of plants. Plants can and do absorb through the leaf surface (some more than others, like a rubber plant has less absorption), but absorption through the stoma is much higher and more effective (faster).

 

[QCweedisbetter]

i do foliar spray twice a week with dm saturator i go till end of week 5 cuz i spray just before the light go on thats when the plant wake up and is hungry it absorbes better and since the lights are on less chances of moisture. what about the soap i didnt get that^

 

[FunkyBudha]

i do foliar spray twice a week with dm saturator i go till end of week 5 cuz i spray just before the light go on thats when the plant wake up and is hungry it absorbes better and since the lights are on less chances of moisture. what about the soap i didnt get that^

The soap acts as a wetting agent reducing the surface tension of the liquid. This way the spray forms smaller beads and gets absorbed faster by the leaves. I usual spray with kelp and a coco based wetting agent. I definitely sea a different during the first few weeks of veg.