Foliar feeding
Is foliar feeding necessary?
Is foliar feeding necessary?
Is foliar feeding necessary?
Brinka
No. Plants can use their roots to deliver all the nutrients necessary for growth. However, they can absorb nutrients though their leaf stomata. These pore-like openings are used to exchange gasses such as oxygen and carbon dioxide and to regulate temperature and turgidity through transpiration and water absorption. If the water contains dissolved nutrients they are also absorbed.
There are several advantages to foliar feeding to supplement root feeding. First, the nutrients are used as much as 20 times more efficiently than when they are provided through the roots. They get directly to the plants. With root feeding only a small portion of the available nutrients are used.
Another advantage is that it gets to the plants much faster. This is especially helpful when there are indications of a nutrient deficiency.
Generally speaking you can dilute the nutrient solution to 25% and spray the leaves until they drip. Gardeners often spray the plants with compost tea, which provides available nutrients and also coats the leaves with beneficial micro-organisms that protect it from pathogens. If there is a dark period in the light regimen, spray in the early part of the lit period. Don't spray more than once a week. Don't spray after the first four weeks of flowering.
You can use less fertilizer in the water/nutrient solution since the plants are getting some directly to the leaves.
Before trying this on your whole garden try it on a plant, or a part of a plant, first. Make sure to be a careful observer. If the plants are doing well continue, but if the plants react poorly to it, try another approach. One common problem is the water/nutrient solution is too concentrated. Try a more dilute solution.
S
Soft Secrets
