Is there an Ideal Ph for Foliar feeding?

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budbrothers

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just wondering if there is a range for ph on floral feeding?

i would assume its the same as watering but im not sure. anyone know?

please no noobie input. i want seasoned growers experience please. im not trying to be rude but if noobies put in false info then the ones who are trying to learn wont.

thanks for your understanding.
 
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budbrothers

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so what if my nutrients drop it down to like 5.2 and my water comes out of the RO at 8.1?
 
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budbrothers

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cutting edge tends to drop and then go up. would you recommend i just aerate the water for 24 hr? or use ph up/down?
 
opt1c

opt1c

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depends what u are spraying; there is a product called indicate5 by a company called brandt used commercially that is based around the idea that a low ph around 5.5 is ideal for foliar applications of pesticides... dunno bout food... i always thought it was interesting that they'd base a product around this ph but i've yet to find any documented evidence of appropriate foliar ph in academic papers; cervantes says to keep it between 7 and 8.5 as potassium phosphate becomes phytotoxic below ph4 and above 8.5 but i dunno why under 7 and above 4 is not recommended
 
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budbrothers

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depends what u are spraying; there is a product called indicate5 by a company called brandt used commercially that is based around the idea that a low ph around 5.5 is ideal for foliar applications of pesticides... dunno bout food... i always thought it was interesting that they'd base a product around this ph but i've yet to find any documented evidence of appropriate foliar ph in academic papers; cervantes says to keep it between 7 and 8.5 as potassium phosphate becomes phytotoxic below ph4 and above 8.5 but i dunno why under 7 and above 4 is not recommended

That is very interesting. I am just gonna keep it at 5.8- 6.2 range. It seems to be logical. Thanks for your post. Very informative.
 
xX Kid Twist Xx

xX Kid Twist Xx

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yeah foliar pesticides are differnt some of them work by changing the ph. as for food 6.2-7.0 is the best range. but i don't think a slightly lower range will do much harm.
 
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budbrothers

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The only time i ever have problems with foliar sprays is when i ph adjust them. Odd.

lol i think its cause its not really good to ph adjust. i think if it is between 5.5 and 7.4 you are fine.
i read if you ph adjust more that .5 you should break it up over a day or 2. depending on how much adjusting is needed. this also applies to your rez.
 
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HerbinGrower

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I prefer 6.0-6.5 6.5 for when your at the end of flower when your jacking ur nutes up. flux accordingly :)
 
CocoCola

CocoCola

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6.2 - 7.0, closer to 7.0 in veg and closer to 6.2 during flower formation....of course you really don't want to do much foliar spraying past week 3 or 4 of flower.

The above is my standard, but if follows the logic outlined below.



From the book: Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants, by HOrst Marschner, he discusses transloaciton of minerals through leaves.

he mentions: "The small pores are lined with fixed negative charges....Accordingly, permeation of cations along this gradient is enhanced whereas anions are repulsed from this region. Uptake of cations by leaves is thus faster than that of anions and is particularly fast for small, uncharged molecules such as urea. However, when applied at higher concentrations as foliar sprays, differences in uptake rates of nitrogen from urea, ammonium and nitrates become negligible."

From this I would say, based on the latter part of this paragraph, your mineral's are probably high enough to out-compete hydrogen ion (those things that make the pH low). Still, lower pH (which is equal to high hydrogen cations) may compete for or inhibit uptake of positively charge cations (Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe2+ etc). This is enhanced by the fact that H+ are the smallest cations on the market and can access those pore more readily.

There's a flip side to this, those H+ could line these pores and allow negatively charged mineral nutrients to be taken up, like Sulfates, phosphates which help with flower and fruit produciton.

It seems logical to me, that pH may depend on what mineral you want absorbed. If you're going full spectrum treatment, maybe 6.2-7 would be good. While if you're after a particular anion mineral nutrient go lower pH 5.5 - 6.2 and higher 7.0 - 8.5 if want push cations through the pores.

Everything outside of quote is my opinion, though...keep that in mind.
 
caveman4.20

caveman4.20

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I don't think anyone has mentioned the ph of the medium yet... I like 5.5 up to 8.5 depending on ph of medium and stage of growth....in case your wondering why does the ph of medium matter it is because you can help adjust with foliar how long it adjust varies but I do know that foliars are present in roots hours after application so this may also help with CEC ;)
 
CocoCola

CocoCola

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Hey Caveman4.20, I like your quote...and picture.

There's a lot going on in mediums. And it's different for each medium: Coco, pete, soil, hydroton, rockwool, etc all have a lot of different way they interact with your nutrients, microbes, the roots and pH.

Still, there's a general rule of thumb that, at the root-zone, you use lower pH during veg and higher during flower. Still, you always want to stay within the recommended range for your medium and nutrient company---they've presumably fine-tuned things. Now, this is opposite to what I said above. My pH for foliar is higher during veg and lower at the start of flower or within early flowering. This flip-flop is for good reason. Your roots are actually involved in active uptake up nutrients. For example, your root will kick out acid (hydrogen ions) when taking up positively charge mineral. There's more to this, and I don't know the details off the top of my head...I just happened to be studying pH w/ foliar feed when I came across budbrother's post.

I grow in coco fiber and personally do this on a passive level by letting the pH rise in my rez during flower so they can better uptake phosphate and sulfates, while ambitiously keeping things below 6.0 during veg. So, I'll apply nutrient between 5.8 and 5.9 during veg and start letting things creep to 6.2 during flower.
 
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Rayfloyd

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just wondering if there is a range for ph on floral feeding?

i would assume its the same as watering but im not sure. anyone know?

please no noobie input. i want seasoned growers experience please. im not trying to be rude but if noobies put in false info then the ones who are trying to learn wont.

thanks for your understanding.
 
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Rayfloyd

10
3
I find the foliar uptake of nutrients is best with acidic ph would you believe in the 3.2 to 3.7? look it up in any horticulture literature
 
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