Common Mistakes Growers Make While Foliar Feeding

June 13, 2008

Michael Straumietis

Foliar feeding is a fantastic, inexpensive and fairly easy way to give your plants an extra boost of nutrients. Horticulturalists have successfully used it to heal damaged plants and increase yields for decades. But like with any tool, it is entirely possible to misuse it or fail to use it to optimum benefit. To make sure that foliar feeding lives up to its reputation as a boon to your crops, you need to remain educated about proper application. In order to get the most out your foliar spray, make certain not to make the following mistakes.

Thinking Foliar Feeding Can Replace a Poor Nutrient Solution – No matter how good a foliar spray is, it cannot help your plant if you do not optimize your nutrient solution. You should think of your nutrient solution as the main course for the plant and foliar feeding as the dessert. You should work very hard to make sure that your nutrient solution has the proper balance of nutrients, is delivered to your root zone at the proper rate and has the right pH balance and temperature. Only then should you consider using foliar feeding. You should consider a foliar spray as a supplement to your nutrient solution, not a replacement for it.

Keeping Your Grow Room Too Warm – Plants are accustomed to growing in fairly warm environments, but if grow room becomes too warm it will render you foliar spray much less effective. You should remember that a foliar spray should be applied as a fine mist to your leaves, and therefore will evaporate very easily if the temperatures climb too high. You should also remember that increased temperatures increase transpiration in plants, the process by which leaves release moisture into the air. Too great of transpiration will also render the foliar spray not quite as effective.

Not Using a Sticking Agent – While it is certainly possible to simply use the spray by itself, most who choose to foliar feed their plants add a sticking agent. This decreases runoff and allows more of the nutrients to soak into your foliage.

Ignoring pH Balance of the Foliar Spray – Strange as it might sound, many growers don’t measure the pH balance of their nutrient spray before they use it on their plants. Even seasoned growers who are fastidious about making sure that their nutrient solution is balanced for optimum uptake, often ignore the conditions of their foliar spray. For optimal absorption, your foliar spray should have a pH of about 5.8. If it is too acidic or alkaline, your leaves will not be able to absorb the nutrients properly.

Not Experimenting First – Foliar feeding has the fantastic potential to help your plants but you should make certain that you try it one just one or two plants before you try it on the rest of the crop. While it is very rare, it is entirely possible for your plants to suffer excess nutrients and develop symptoms that might be as bad a nutrient deficiency.

Written by Keith · Filed Under How to Hydroponic