Is Foliar Feeding Beneficial With Great Soil?

[Hammerhead]

I dont use so much that my soil gets that wet. It hardly get wet at all just slightly from the dripping. With the air circulating in the room it drys out within 30min. I only spay the tops of all leaves. I dont saturate the plant. I also do mine at lights out. If done when the lights are on the water droplets can act as a magnifier and burn the leafs. This is just how I do it.

 

[Dudesome]

I dont use so much that my soil gets that wet. It hardly get wet at all just slightly from the dripping. With the air circulating in the room it drys out within 30min. I only spay the tops of all leaves. I dont saturate the plant. I also do mine at lights out. If done when the lights are on the water droplets can act as a magnifier and burn the leafs. This is just how I do it.

congratz with 9k posts! a true spammer haha!

 

[Hammerhead]

I guess DG would be one as well with 18k+ posts lol ...... and many others. Buy hay thanks for letting me know. Me and the other 12 Knights post a lot in the round table thread. That's the only place I dont have to worry about people flaming you for your opinion.

 

[BagC'd]

Whats everyone PH their foliar solutions too, & what you use to adjust? 5.0 i see two have mentioned now, seems a little acid to me, do plants like acid rain?

anyone considered carbonated water?

I PH at 6.2, and not under the lights as someone pointed out, it will burn'em. Usually about 45mins before lights on is when I do it. The plants absorb the most from your foliar feed in the morning than evening.

BAG

 

[mad librettist]

I dont use so much that my soil gets that wet. It hardly get wet at all just slightly from the dripping. With the air circulating in the room it drys out within 30min. I only spay the tops of all leaves. I dont saturate the plant. I also do mine at lights out. If done when the lights are on the water droplets can act as a magnifier and burn the leafs. This is just how I do it.

help me out with something - if you spray at lights out how do you know it dries in 30 minutes and nothing drips down?

 

[h.h.]

When you water your plants are you careful not to get any on the leaves? It's that minute amount of splash that fools one into thinking they are feeding the soil.

 

[DARC MIND]

as sam already pointed out, the dilution ratio alone,of foliar applications simply dont cut it, then thers the "minute amount of splash that fools one into thinking they are"

.........fertilizing the soil?

"I think it's a bit of a stretch to assume" any one is fertilizing anything with foliar sprays,maybe supplementing but it be alot more convenient to actually use a sprayer to get all the plant material moist; instead of just "applying solution to the soil very lightly with a sprayer."
why even fill & pump a sprayer when a drench could do the trick in half the time, mad?

 

[mad librettist]

as sam already pointed out, the dilution ratio alone,of foliar applications simply dont cut it, then thers the "minute amount of splash that fools one into thinking they are"


"I think it's a bit of a stretch to assume" any one is fertilizing anything with foliar sprays,maybe supplementing but it be alot more convenient to actually use a sprayer to get all the plant material moist; instead of just "applying solution to the soil very lightly with a sprayer."
why even fill & pump a sprayer when a drench could do the trick in half the time, mad?

using a sprayer to water is just the bee's knees. there is no better way to ensure the activity in your mulch layer.


now do you see how foolish it is to assume I do things one way or another?

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Right now just gave all my girls a spray of kelp, silica and calcium phosphate (roast eggshells in vinegar). Some are vegging and some in flower.

I never used to foliar much unless spraying mites but now i do it a lot more. Since i got a quality 5 litre with wand. Its made by Du Pont but nevermind it was only $35...

I also like to spray my baby seedlings with chamomile tea to prevent damping off. Works well and smells awesome!

I also now like to wet down the mulch layer with my sprayer. Makes watering lots of small pots easy and also good for getting into the really dry corners of bigger pots.

I was a bit worried about the calcium phospate being too acidic so its good to hear 5ph could be the ticket. Especially since the kelp and silica are alkaline...

In a coco based medium i think foliar is priceless especially going 100% organic.

 

[DARC MIND]

now do you see how foolish it is to assume I do things one way or another?

eh, i asked a question madman & by the way, im 100% with you that the benefit many are witnessing may not just be from "spraying the leaves" with specifics..

keeping the topsoil moist & active is key to my garden as well but i try my best to learn from nature & she usually moistens the leaves as well the mulch,topsoil & so on..
(morning dew,rain etc)
i think water & the life cycles with in; play a huge role with all things on this planet..
http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_6/b_fdi_45-46/010008338.pdf

Soils receive energy that flows through the ecosystem in the form of (1) biological energy as dead organic matter, (2) physical energy, i.e. the convective and diffusive energies linked to water infiltration and drainage and temperature changes, and (3) chemical energy released by oxidations and hydrolyses

i foliar cuz mother told me too!; for if the above is true,then my spraying methods should do alot for soil as well;since i tend to drench the same time i spray..

would kind of seem obvious plants would respond well to moister on leaves anyways
considering the % of water that makes them up

 

[mad librettist]

eh, i asked a question madman & by the way, im 100% with you that the benefit many are witnessing may not just be from "spraying the leaves" with specifics..

keeping the topsoil moist & active is key to my garden as well but i try my best to learn from nature & she usually moistens the leaves as well the mulch,topsoil & so on..
(morning dew,rain etc)
i think water & the life cycles with in; play a huge role with all things on this planet..
http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_6/b_fdi_45-46/010008338.pdf

i foliar cuz mother told me too!; for if the above is true,then my spraying methods should do alot for soil as well;since i tend to drench the same time i spray..

would kind of seem obvious plants would respond well to moister on leaves anyways
considering the % of water that makes them up

this all depends on many factors.

where I live, planting a PM susceptible cucurbit in a spot with no morning sun is asking for it. Without morning sun burning off the dew, you get mold.

Does that mean everyone should foliar before lights on? From what I hear, the time to do it lights off.


moisture on the leaves ca be good or bad. nowadays when you go to a nursery and buy expensive tropicals, they no longer advise you to spray the leaves with water. Wiping them off is just as good for cleaning, and the old way of misting apparently does more harm than good. Leaf polish is also a bad bet.





What I am saying is, we have a strong recommendation to perform a technique based on results, but we need to watch out with the post hoc, ergo propter hoc. Reason being, humans build knowledge on knowledge. You don't want a shaky foundation.



since we are including water only as "foliar", I would like to share my trick for reducing mite invasions in the fall that conincide with dropping RH: foliar spraying! Mites do not like moisture. They are after your warm, dry garden when they are coming in from the cold. I pay extra attention to the lower 1/3rd of the plant.


also should point out - my living mulch is getting a whole lot of foliar spraying.

 

[h.h.]

There is no minute splash one way or the other that makes much difference. What may fool people into thinking they are feeding the whole plant are the healthier leaves. Healthier leaves equate to a healthier plant. Using teas and extracts only becomes redundant when it falls on a healthy well maintained soil. The apparent difference would be non existent.
Using high nitrogen foliars could possibly fool somebody. Even if it didn't drip on the soil, it would be in the air surrounding the particles. When I have seen a boost from nitrogen, it's been after I rinsed the leaves off and it does go to the soil.
Foliar does make an apparent difference in my observations. I'm not fooled into thinking I'm feeding anything other than the leaf and that only as a minor benefit where the real benefit is protecting the leaf from environmental extremes, moisturizing, and most of all cleaning it off.

 

[mad librettist]

There is no minute splash one way or the other that makes much difference. What may fool people into thinking they are feeding the whole plant are the healthier leaves

where are you talking about? your place? everywhere?

When I used to spray leaves alot, I did the soil too, on purpose, but on top of that, plenty of whatever I sprayed would flow down the stems and into the ground.


lots of gardens, lots of methods, lots of results, lots of variables - all being called "foliar feeding", or "foliar spraying". it doesn't add up to us knowing a damn thing, which is why it's valid to question what is really going on in actual gardens.


Silver Surfer - yeah bro, you know what I am talking about. It is worth pumping up the sprayer just to water.

 

[DARC MIND]

http://www.agriculturesolutions.com/images/Articles/attra%20foliar%20feeding.pdf
for the general ph and when its best to spray Q's

 

[mad librettist]

the moldy cucurbit would be a perfect example of natures silent lessons & the fact that i personally dont live in the tropics,the thought to spend money & care for exotics doesnt exist..

ok, I won't belabor this too much but you are describing a typical sativa.

tropical plants do very well in many human dwelling in temperate zones, particularly understory plants. You can grow them on light from the window. they are very beneficial to have around.

I also have tropical spiders, just like you do. And spider plants- also tropical.

One of the living mulchers is experimenting with bolivian jew. If it doesn't mind the basic soil, it might be a big hit.

 

[grapeman]

as sam already pointed out, the dilution ratio alone,of foliar applications simply dont cut it, then thers the "minute amount of splash that fools one into thinking they are"


"I think it's a bit of a stretch to assume" any one is fertilizing anything with foliar sprays,maybe supplementing but it be alot more convenient to actually use a sprayer to get all the plant material moist; instead of just "applying solution to the soil very lightly with a sprayer."
why even fill & pump a sprayer when a drench could do the trick in half the time, mad?

It is a bit of a stretch to think foliar apps can impact the soil, but it can happen.
For decades we applied soil sulfur and gypsum. but after about 30 years of spraying wettable sulfur as a foliar to combat PM, we found that using soil sulfur was required (thru soil tests) less and less. At first we couldn't figure out why this was happening. Then we put a pencil to the accumulated amount of wettable sulfur applied over many years via foliar sprays and there was the answer. It included the dried vegetation that fell or was pruned to the ground and reincorporated' back into the soil also. But it took over 20 years.

 

[grapeman]

BTW - I foliar whenever I want during the daylight hours, just like we do in the fields. The exception being never after 94 degrees or so as many plants start shutting down after that temp and above.

But my feeling is that if what you are spraying is causing any burn or ill effects, the mix itself is too hot, you are not mixing it correctly or the mix itself (combination of products) don't play nice together. In fact, I think it a good practice to spray with lights on to insure full coverage and to use as a control of sorts, to make sure you are not applying too much of anything in the mix. Better to see a bit of burn in 6 (and know you fucked up your mix) hours then to see fucked up plants in 6 days and you can't figure out why.

foliar' motto is always "a little bit is good, more is NEVER better".

 

[h.h.]

So you were the one fooled and thus think everybody else who sees benefits has been fooled in the same manner.
Optimal soil would also have to include optimal conditions to rule foliar completely out. Optimal conditions would provide enough humidity to naturally feed foliarly. It's all part of the process.

 

[mad librettist]

who is fooled?

pardon me, but wtf are you talking about exactly? I am pointing out that we give a single name to a practice that varies too much for it.

it's not a contest, where the loser was fooled and the winners not. this is the process, right here. ideas get tossed around and sometimes tested and tempered. don't get all sentimental about it.


The same seaweed solution I spray on my clones and seedlings is what I spray on my soil, which is at any given time covered in living plants or a mulch that is decomposing quite actively. The benefits from spraying it on my soil are quite real, and it is an immense help with the living mulch projects especially around seeding time. So saying a foliar spray can't feed the soil or doesn't have an immediate effect on the soil or some part of it is not right, IMO. Again, which foliar spray, when, where, why etc...


when I stop spraying is totally arbitrary. If plants are too big to move, at some point foliar spraying is going to make a big splishy-splashy mess. Basically I spray the containers and if the plant is small it gets a foliar. If it's a lollipop, it's getting its stems wet and that's it. That's how I wound up noticing that I do well with foliar seaweed applications, but I also do well when I apply it to the soil.

 

[BagC'd]

So you were the one fooled and thus think everybody else who sees benefits has been fooled in the same manner.
Optimal soil would also have to include optimal conditions to rule foliar completely out. Optimal conditions would provide enough humidity to naturally feed foliarly. It's all part of the process.

If you think humidity alone will wash debris off your plants keep drinkin the koolaide... and unless you have a room thats cleanliness rivals a surgical room than your plants have dust n debris on them.