Nutrients In Gas Form

[TanzanianMagic]

I was wondering that if

- plants take up nutrients much more efficiently through their leaves than through their roots and

- it is clear that all kinds of nutrients can be absorbed through the leaves, not just CO2, but also N, P, K, etc. through foliar feeding liquid nutrients

- most people are familiar feeding their plants CO2 gas, so plants can kep the carbon and expel oxygen.

My question is - what if plants evolved to get most of their nutrients through their leaves? Nitrogen as NO2, silica as SiO2, etc. Maybe we should just have a steaming compost heap to fertilize plants by air. Do plants expel nutrients from their leaves?

It could be the basis for a whole new way of fertilizing plants.

 

[TanzanianMagic]

I experimented and came across this method of foliar feeding.

I occasionally spray only the lower leaves of the plant, 1/10 of foliage.
Nutrient concentration - 150% of recommended strength, if not more. You can get very high with the concentration without burning the plant, and having a massive effect within hours, let alone a day.

I first tried this method using very concentrated non-aerated worm tea/water that I have stored in an old wine bottle (about 1/4 to 1/3 filled with worm castings, topped up with boiled tapwater which still has all the calcium, iron, etc. in it).

The first time I tried it, it turned the plant a very deep green, which has stayed with the plant throughout it's growth. I thought I had poisoned it, but it never stopped growing.

There must be an evolutionary reason why plants can take up nutrients through their leaves much more efficiently than through their roots system.

Considering that in nature, plants don't get hosed down with nutrient solutions, I think that at some point we may discover that plants can take up much or most of their nutrients in gas form, possibly as exudates of other plants or maybe nitrogen and other gasses that are 'lost' to the air during the process of composting.

Most people already know that plant's favorite way to get carbon is by processing CO2 gas through their leaves, stripping off the carbon atom and expelling O2 through their roots, where the O2 feeds the aerobic bacteria.

Why not SO2, NH3, NO2 and other gasses as well?

The question is: where do these gasses come from? If we could supply them to the plant in a consistent manner, they could replace a lot of the soil feeding, and keep the roots and the plant happy throughout it's life.

 

[hyposomniac]

NO2 is toxic by inhalation and listed as a pollutant.
Regular nitrogen as 78% of the atmosphere doesn't seem to do much for cannabis re: nitrogen needs.
I believe SO2 is what sulfur burners create
SiO2 boils at 4,050 °F, I don't think gas is practical.

Just my $.02

 

[Only Ornamental]

SO2 and NO2 (and other oxidation states of sulfur and nitrogen) produce mineral acids in water (i.e. sulfurous acid and nitric acid). They are not healthy at all, neither for you nor your plants. NH3 or ammonia in its pure form is toxic too but this time it's a base. Be that as it may, all cause chemical burns and are more difficult to metabolise by plants than when they'd get them as sulfate, nitrate and ammonia in a water soluble salt form.
CO2 and O2 are the sole gaseous 'nutrients' plants can handle (cause they're the only ones existing in nature at sufficient amounts) and they use them nearly exclusively in their gaseous form (CO2 could be used as carbonate too but RuBisCO uses atmospheric CO2).

Not sure how you would want to get phosphor, potassium and other minerals and trace elements in gaseous form (phosphonates might work but again are toxic and useless to plants)...

And one other point: A gas contains roughly 1'000 times less molecules than a solution. Hence, foliar feeding with aqueous solutions is way more practical, healthy, efficient, and so on and on and on, than putting your plants in a hermetically sealed chamber with alternating gassing of acidic and basic substances with intermittent extensive rinsing to avoid burning and chemical reactions (e.g. ammonium nitrate crystals forming on your bulbs which will go BUMM)...

 

[Bulldog420]

Fogger foiliar machines. They work great and have been used for a long time.

http://www.amazon.com/Root-Lowell-C...fkmr0&keywords=Pressure+fogger+sprayer+hudson

 

[Only Ornamental]

Fogger foiliar machines. They work great and have been used for a long time.

http://www.amazon.com/Root-Lowell-C...fkmr0&keywords=Pressure+fogger+sprayer+hudson

Fog is not gas but small liquid droplets .

 

[TanzanianMagic]

And one other point: A gas contains roughly 1'000 times less molecules than a solution. Hence, foliar feeding with aqueous solutions is way more practical, healthy, efficient, and so on and on

That doesn't explain why it works. Why would plants be able to take up phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium etc. through their leaves - and they can.

Clearly, plants have not evolved to be regularly splashed or sprayed with nutrient solution.

 

[Only Ornamental]

That doesn't explain why it works. Why would plants be able to take up phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium etc. through their leaves - and they can.

Clearly, plants have not evolved to be regularly splashed or sprayed with nutrient solution.

It does: They have holes (i.e. stigma) in their leaves .
And they take it up as aqueous solution, not gas.

And BTW, maybe they haven't evolved on purpose but they get splashed and sprayed REGULARLY with nutrient solutions, like insect and bird poop or rain (some epiphytes in the South American rainforest get their share of minerals and trace elements due dust blown over from the Sahara! Chew on that ).