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Grittyville, WA

Seems like there has been a turnbout against foliar feeding, with some growers going a "no-foliar" route. Is anyone using foliar feeding and what nutrients are you supplying via foliar ? I guess I'm curious whether foliar feeding is still relevant to anyone, or if its all about the soil and roots.

7/7/2024 10:23:01 AM

Grittyville, WA

Im wondering if a good foliar feeding system could be as good as the secondary root system in terms of supplying additional nutrients. I know its a silly question. Apples and oranges.

7/7/2024 10:41:25 AM

Plymouth, MN

I've been foliar feeding out of necessity, given the wet year so far. However, at the recommended rates, the amount of nutrients you're supplying are trace. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Were it a normal year, I feel like the leaves can only put up with so much abuse over the season (some would argue otherwise) and I'd rather apply foliar pesticide and herbicide. At the end of the day, I feel roots are more important for pushing big gains.

7/7/2024 8:58:49 PM

Kutztown, PA

This is my first year of foliar feeding. I'm doing it twice a week. So far this year, I haven't had to apply much insecticide and I've only applied fungicide as a precaution one time. In theory, it seems like a good way to get some of the smaller molecules of trace elements that will move through the plant absorbed. I'm just using the recommended dose, then washing off after it sits on the leaves per pumpkinpal's recommendation. Leaves seem ok so far after 4 applications.

7/8/2024 10:45:35 AM

Grittyville, WA

I overhead irrigate so anything I apply will get washed off. After its washed off then the roots can have a go at getting it. I try to feed the mobile nutrients like potassium and magnesium and phosphorus mostly but it could be an effective way to add micronutrients. The doses are low.

The only leaf burn so far is, ironically, a nutrient that was overapplied to the rootzone last year. I know this because I only just started foliar feeding and that small amount of leaf burn was already occuring prior to any foliar spray. Weird that I could burn the leaves via the roots, but at least now I know it wasn't the fault of any foliar spray.

[Last edit: 07/08/24 11:16:37 AM]

7/8/2024 11:14:25 AM

Kutztown, PA

I've got drip going good this year which I installed last year, but as I've said my plants went south so I didn't get to use it effectively. I can spray foliar from the same tanks with a garden hose. I'm still doing overhead too, I think I can get more water down faster and, like your saying, I can wash the leaves off. I can also cool things off a little. Got a long way to go so I'll get a chance to see how the leaves hold up.

7/8/2024 11:31:22 AM

Syracuse, NY

Please Google:
time required for a plant to absorb foliar fertilizer
i was alarmed at all the 'rinsing off' going on and thought 'maybe i'd better see about my 'recommendation'', lol - THERE'S the indicator leaf, right there, lol!

See about this and maybe an extra day + is in order before any watering foliarly, whereas if from a drip system, that's always good, i guess. i'm sure i've seen residue on the leaves at times - maybe i shoulda left it there. eg

7/8/2024 3:47:54 PM

Grittyville, WA

Not saying its bad to try to have balanced soil but frankly its very easy to foliar feed using a hose end sprayer to fix problems as they arise. A timely video just popped up on my youtube feed, its worth a watch if you are interested in this topic.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?
v=a6VmK1VUUEY

When he says SeaStem I think thats a chelated zinc or manganese product. PhotoMag is a chelated iron or magnesium product...? I dont use his products but I have seen similar products work miraculously well. So generally I believe what he is saying and it is very exciting to me too because I have also seen that foliars can be both low cost and highly effective.

There's great advice at the end about not "frontloading" the soil which can lead to various problems and "yield drag" as he calls it. His videos are insightful on many levels, really only gets opaque when he starts talking about product names rather than the actual chemistry.

7/11/2024 8:20:04 AM