Foliar feeding in flowering

Quite simply is it worth it?

Does it work?

What do you use?

How do you use it?

Discuss

aggressive foliar feed w/ same ferts as root feed, watered down to ~>250ppm, ph 6.8-7.0.

fnb, floralicious, kool bloom, humic acid. up until 2 weeks.

h202 every week, in different sprayer.

h20 until ~5 days left.

purpledomgoddes
you sound like you know what youre talking about... any advice for me?
im vegging right now, should i foliar feed on same day as watering or should i alternate every couple days?

sorry uncle freedom....
i got nothin for you.

purpledomgoddes said:

aggressive foliar feed w/ same ferts as root feed, watered down to ~>250ppm, ph 6.8-7.0.

fnb, floralicious, kool bloom, humic acid. up until 2 weeks.

h202 every week, in different sprayer.

h20 until ~5 days left.

Click to expand...

Are you watering down that H202? Lights on? What benefit is the h202 when foliar feeding?

I am using Canna boost and some homemade Lacto Bacilli culture on my flowering ladies. I dont usually have a set foliar routine but i am worried about budrot... the boost is sposed to make em finish fast and the lacto b helps fend off the mould spores...

southernlight said:

purpledomgoddes
you sound like you know what youre talking about... any advice for me?
im vegging right now, should i foliar feed on same day as watering or should i alternate every couple days?

Click to expand...

either/or. to kiss, just water down the nute regime to get ph 6.8, >250 ppm. so that dont have to mix a foliar solution, just watered down to get ph/ppm desired. every 5-7 days seems viable. at dawn (when lights come on), or mid-day.

h202 is applied in separate sprayer, @~ cap-full per bottle. usually raises ph by itself to 6.7 or so. the purpose is to oxidize pests on the leaves, supply oxygen, and to wash off dust, particulates, etc. hydrogen peroxide, as the chem formula states, has extra oxygen atom in valence shell that is easily stripped away and binds to (oxidizes) everything it touches. like pouring on cut/scrape and bubbling.

actually do the same w/ root feeding. apply myco, ferts, etc., then hydro-perox to root zone to kill beneficials - and non-bene's - and cleanse roots w/ oxygenation.

generally, 1 time to 2 times a week foliar is good, @ ppm 100-250, ph 6.8. observe effects on cultivars and adjust accordingly for own particular garden/varieties.

actually foliar w/ molasses too, w/ excellent results. requires time to wash down plants again so sugars dont get caked up on leaves, so usually wash down w/ water after molasses spray.

neem oil a couple times during veg helps too - even if plants seem healthy, good preventative dosage helps for fungi/bacti/pesti/etc. they are always there (like 100 million per cubic inch), just dont see 'em.

hope this helps. enjoy your garden!

Does foliar feeding make a big difference in your opinion?

How much?

Any one ever do a side by side comparison?

I think its just a faster way for the plant to absorb nutrients. But they can only do it so much right it most likely makes your plants a bit more robust altho weather or not its worth the time or not??? Someone able to chime in here?

I'd like to hear an expert chime in on the dangers of creating a moisture rich environment (in the later flowering phase where buds start getting fat) that might encourage the growth of mold, that is what my fear would be.

Hal said:

I'd like to hear an expert chime in on the dangers of creating a moisture rich environment (in the later flowering phase where buds start getting fat) that might encourage the growth of mold, that is what my fear would be.

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not expert, but, particular imaginary garden has lots of turbulent+laminate air flow (vertically+horizontally+diagonally). when sprayed, drip-dry in less than 5 min.

if moisture (rh increase) lasts longer, throw in rv-type dry-z-air. higher humidity (low vapor pressure dificit) is ok. plants are @ 100% rh @ dawn (dewpoint), and desire a spray at mid-day (hottest point+internal clock @ half-day's work done).

no problem w/ mold, w/ better than expected tomato density. w/out proper hvac model though, hal is correct; may cause problems if water vapor accumulation after foliar feeding is not dissipated.

actually do foliar (w/ water at that point) until ~5 days left in fruiting. then they get nothing.
no mold issues. rh kept ~35-65/70, depending on app/maturation.

enjoy your garden!

I only foliar feed in the event of an immobile nutrient deficiency (very rare for me), and sometimes during transition with a really vigorous clone to maintain adequate levels of Fe/S/Mg.

If you are feeding an ideal nutrient ratio in your sol'n, that plant will already have all the elements in ideal quantities, so I don't see a need for all the extra labor. It's been my experience that most older, experienced growers have a very simple style of growing -- when I was starting out I used a complicated and constantly changing nutrient regimen w/ lots of different additives, different N/P/K/Ca/Mg/S ratios for each week, foliar feeding, hormones, paclobuterazol, GBA, etc. Over the years I've gradually cut out most of that bullshit (even IBA), and my medicine has never been better.

I don't mean to knock foliar feeding, if you realize success with it, than that's all that matters. But for my , if you give your plants what they want when they want it, and closly mimic the ideal conditions in which they have evolved to thrive over hundreds of millions of years, they'll turn out the best. So there is no need to push them with a high EC/regular foliar feeding/lots of additives/etc. -- I've smoked amazingly-good weed grown with nothing but Lucas-formula GH 3-part or FloraNova -- not my style exactly but a good example of a simple system working at least as well as my (and everyone else's) more complicated systems.

I heard that Humboldt County's Purple Maxx is pretty good anyone?

It's the only one that I've tried (of Gravity, Bushmaster, and PM) that didn't do anything I didn't like. Wasn't a controlled test though, so I don't know if it affected potency or resin production. I'm going to run a test with it when I get my newest grow up to speed, because the other products do what they say they do, I just don't like them (Gravity gave me mold and bud-rot issues, and Bushmaster stops vertical growth, which I don't want cuz I use 1ks [although it's helpful in emergencies]).

I only have 4 plants, and I started foliar feeding them most every morning a few weeks ago. It transfers nutes direct. I'm doing organic stuff, and mix my solution 50% of what they say for full ferts, though at first it was just straight water, then 25% mix. I concentrate under the leaves, but end up drenching everything on top to finish. I believe it helps, but do not have any side by side comparions for you.

It's either that or my home brewed CO2 generator that is causing spectaular growth. Here's one of my rapidly growing plants, and you can see my CO2 generator - a jug of water with 4 cups of sugar, some baking soda and yeast. It is amazing the CO2 it puts out!

JQ

JQP: How long does the jug last?

the algae based foliars are also pretty awesome.

I hate doing anything too close to the last 2 weeks because of budrot issues

i'd have to agree with philos. toward the end of veg and early flowering i'll spray the leaves weekly or so with a 1/4tsp joy dishwashing detergent w/ qt of water to clean leaves and kill any pests that i can't see. too many of those sprays have carbs which attracts bugs.

purpledomgoddes said:

h202 is applied in separate sprayer, @~ cap-full per bottle. usually raises ph by itself to 6.7 or so. the purpose is to oxidize pests on the leaves, supply oxygen, and to wash off dust, particulates, etc. hydrogen peroxide, as the chem formula states, has extra oxygen atom in valence shell that is easily stripped away and binds to (oxidizes) everything it touches. like pouring on cut/scrape and bubbling.

Click to expand...

uhm... you don't want to supply your plants with oxygen, at least not at the leaves. Plants need CO2 to breathe, and produce oxygen as a byproduct. They are the exact counterpart of a human lung (taking in oxygen and producing CO2).

That hydrogen peroxide might be good for pests, but you should not spray your leaves with it. Pour it down into the soil, that's where it is needed. Roots actually need oxygen, as they do not photosynthesize anything.

To wash of dust particles etc i recommend plain neutral water that has some wetting agent in it, like neutral phosphate free dish soap. But i really don't see the point in spraying your plants to remove dust. Of course, if you knock a plant over and get dirt all over them, sure, better wash it of...

rave420 said:

uhm... you don't want to supply your plants with oxygen, at least not at the leaves. Plants need CO2 to breathe, and produce oxygen as a byproduct. They are the exact counterpart of a human lung (taking in oxygen and producing CO2).

That hydrogen peroxide might be good for pests, but you should not spray your leaves with it. Pour it down into the soil, that's where it is needed. Roots actually need oxygen, as they do not photosynthesize anything.

To wash of dust particles etc i recommend plain neutral water that has some wetting agent in it, like neutral phosphate free dish soap. But i really don't see the point in spraying your plants to remove dust. Of course, if you knock a plant over and get dirt all over them, sure, better wash it of...

Click to expand...

below is re-post from another thread, dealing w/ oxygen in root zone. earth's atmosphere is ~20-21% oxygen. this is what plants want in environmental air. increasing levels may increase vigor/health. h202 is cheap way to apply additional oxygen to environment. if dont want to in own garden, dont apply. just option.

highlighted line below considers the 24/7 function of respiration/transpiration. this is gas+vapor exchange between plant/surrounding environment. they need both c02+oxygen to perform gas exchange. environment only has 3% c02. why gardeners enhance. decrease in oxygen will decrease growth/metabolism. each ~18*f increase in temp doubles respiration. respiration is temp/vapor pressure (rh)+root pressure dependent. mostly ambient air temps in plant's established comfort zone.

as for not removing dust; dust particles usually carry organic molecules that have no benefit for the plant or environment; i.e.g.: odors, pests, static electricity etc. h202 effectively neutralizes these things. neutral water will not. dust is always in the air. humans dont like to breathe dust either. generally blocks gas/vapor exchange channels=bad for garden.

45% of dried plant is oxygen. the leaves are permeable and diffuse gas (c02+oxygen), and water vapor (aka rh). gases/water vapors move from concentrations to less concentrated places, generally. there is actual 'exchange'.

plant use comparable amounts of environmental oxygen as humans, cell for cell. plants' leaves have greater access to oxygen than roots, generally+gardener has easier access to plants' leaves. can apply oxygen enhancement to both leaves+roots via airstones/+h202 foliar, if want to add more of what plant wants.

water, oxygen, root environ, cation exchange, etc
physical behavior of hydrogen, oxygen and water
the chemical composition of water is h20. this means that there are, generally, 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 atom of oxygen per molecule of water. water associates, or unites w/ one another to form a loosely bound lattice of molecules having a pseudo-crystalline nature.
the degree of molecular association increases as the temp of liquid water decreases.
therefore, it is not absolutely correct when water is represented as being made of molecules that contain 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 oxygen. h20.
a more precise way to write the formula (h20)x, where x is 1, 2, 3, 4,... because x is indefinite, chemists continue to write the formula as h20.
this is becuase that oxygen atom is constantly being recirculated, like in an ebb n grow system.
the bond that is necessary to unite two simple molecules of water results from the attraction of a positive(+) hydrogen atom of one water molecule for some of the electrons of an oxygen atom of a second water molecule. this bond, is referred to as the hydrogen bond or the hydrogen bridge.
h h
h+h--->h:---h:--->
h h
edit:actual chemcial formula wont post properly; top+bottom h bonds in wrong place.

oxygen freely breaks away from water, in other words. so, the roots are well adapted the intake of oxygen via water itself, even w/out addition of airstones, diffusers, etc. the electro-chem properties of the water itself breaks down into hydrogen and oxygen. both are necessary in the root environment for healthy plant growth.

root environment
rooting media provide plant support, serve as a source of water and plant nutrients, and permit diffusion of oxygen to the plant roots. during respiration, oxygen moves into the roots and carbon dioxide moves out. the media should have sufficient pore size and distribution to provide adequate aeration and moisture retention necessary for acceptable crop production.

the series of enzymic reactions that result in the utilization of oxygen, the release of carbon dioxide (c02), and the transfer of energy from glucose and other molecules to atp and other energies is cellular respiration.

oxygen is carried to the cells, and carbon dioxide is carried from them by simple diffusion.

the roots of plants may be asphixiated if surrounding media is packed too tightly, as in a swampy area.

photosynthesis
occurs: in cells of green plants.

raw materials: water (h20) and carbon dioxide (c02)

time of occurrence: only when light shines upon cell

energy: stored in process

matter: results in increase of weight of plant

products: oxygen and organic materials

respiration
occurs: all living things

raw materials: oxygen and organic substances such as glucose

time of occurrence: continuously, night and day

energy: released by the process

matter: results in decrease in the weight of the plant/animal

products: carbon dioxide (c02) and water (02)


hope this helps. enjoy your garden!