Foliar Feeding

[irishsmoker89]

Please check out the entire intro prior to posting, Thanks!

Hi all, Thanks for taking the time to check out this thread. My goal here is to get a good dialoge going about foliar feeding. Over the past several months I have experimented with a multitude of products at different times of the growth cycle, some were successful and some were not. I feel that foliar feeding is a vastly understated way to boost your plants growth at all stages. It would be great to hear other peoples opinions, ideas and experiences on here. I will be sharing my own, some times with pictures, some times not. So that we may all duplicate successful techniques and stay away from the harmful ones please be sure to include:

• Dosage and brand of nutrient(s) used
  
• PH of water at the time of spraying (some times PH will wonder if the solutions is allowed to sit)
  
• Time of the spray eg. Right as my lights came on or Late Afternoon.
  
• Did you use RO or some other type of water
  
• The EC or PPM and temperature at the time of spraying
  
• Method of spray eg. drench, light mist, under the leaves
  
• Spray interval; hours, days, weeks, one time only
  
• Strain, age of plant, veg or flower
  

Also, if you have a hypothesis about what a particular method or mixture will do, please post that as well as the actual results so that we can all see where you are coming from and where you went. If you have no interest or do not posses the ability to experiment but are trying some of the established methods found here here, please let us know so that we may benefit from peer evaluation. My sincere hope is that we, as a community of novice, expert, young and old growers may discover new and exciting ways to help grow our beloved plants faster, bigger, stronger and with a better quality than was attainable with only feeding the root system. Cheers!

[irishsmoker89]

I have used several different things for my veg plants. I will be sure to post the things I've tried that either A: didn't work, B: didn't work as well as what I use now or C: Nearly killed the plants. As for this post, it includes my current veg foliar feeding regiment. It is as follows.

I spray every day, generally as my lights come on I alternate between Optic Foliars Overgrow and the Kelp, and Humic Acid formula and Azamax (I got some clones that were dirty and am excited to have the opportunity to deal with mites!). I have cut back the Azamax spray to once a week rather than once every 3 days. On the days I dont spray the Azamax I do not spray anything.

Optic Foliars Overgrow comes as a concentrate or premixed formula. Pictured is the premix which is what I use as it does not require the addition of neem oil like the Overgrow C. I spray a liberal amount to the top of the leves and thats it, done with foliar for the day.

The Kelp and Humic acid formula is slightly more time consuming as you must mix it your self. I start by taking 1000ml of RO Water and adding 2.5ml of each the Kelp and Humic acid. I then PH Balance to a 6.8. Your ending EC should be no grater than 1.5. I believe that Europonics Fossil Fule is a solid humic acid product (plus I got a bunch free to test). There are others that I would like to see tried out including the GH floralicous plus. If you are interested in testing something safe, try testing out different himic acids and posting it here for everyones benefit. House and Gardens Algen Extract is one of the two top extracts on the market (the other being Europonics Nitrozyme). I would not test out other extracts as these are the only two that extract a particular type of kelp. I spray the mix as the lights come on in the morning. Note: if you use RO Water, you can let the mixture sit for about a week, if not, discard immediately after use.

Azamax is used to combate mites in the veg cycle as its half life is too long to use past the first week of flower. I dose it as needed (more mites, more Azamax). As my mite problem is all but dealt with, I have dropped dosage to 2.5ml per 1000ml of RO water. I do not PH Balance or check for EC on the Azamax. I basically drench the entire plant paying close attention to the under side of the leaves. The 360˚ sprayer is great for this as it allows you to turn the nosel up. I highly recommend any foliar feeding enthusiast pick one up (I used the cheap spray bottles for a long time before I splurged and trust me, it was worth it!).

As a result of this spray regiment, my plants leaves are greener and growth very vigorous. Pictured are Blue Widow at the late stage of veg (they have 5 days left before flower) and an assortment of seeds in their second week of Veg. As you can see, quite excellent growth!

Please ask questions and make comments about this method! I'd love to hear from you.

[Dust]

thanks for sharing your little experience with us man, personally i don't often spray the leaves, only during the first 2 weeks of growth s long as they are "young and fragile" after that usually i don't give anymore, but i know some people swear by it ^^

• half of the lowest dose on bottle
  
• not controled
  
• at beginning of night time
  
• Demineralized water
  
• EC not controled probably 0,2 something like this, and temp at ambiant temperature of the room, above 20° most of the time
  
• spray everywhere and apply uniformly with my hand after if drops are too big.
  
• Once a day or every 2 day on seedlings
  
• until Week 2 of growth.
  

Here is my contribution, not much as i don't often do it but still something ^^

Have a good day man keep on sharing

[irishsmoker89]

Thanks for your contribution! I wonder if a light dose of nutrients as you described while they are clones would help?

[Dust]

possible yes i know some pople like to spray while the clones are rooting to get the food to the girls. but i'm not a clone expert i very rarely use some ^^

good luck man

[irishsmoker89]

This post will cover a foliar solution I am trying in my flower side. First, before you think that I've lost my mind spraying water on flowers let me share my logic. I keep my room in a constant, controlled environment. Humidity does not exceed 50% during the day and at night falls to the low 40's. My temperature is never warmer than 74˚F/23˚C during the day and 68˚F/20˚C at night. Further, I do not spray the inside of the plants on bushy Indica or Indica dominate hybrid plants. I simply spray the the top and out side of the plant as a light rain would do. On the Sativa or Sativa dominate hybrid plants I spray a bit heavier. I spray early in the day so the solution has 8-12 hours to to be absorbed by the plant or evaporate. I am doing this once every four days to ensure that moisture does not become an issue. By using this strategy I have yet to have a problem with mold or bud rot.

Conversely, I am looking into spraying with a higher PH water as I have heard that it will keep the worry for mold and other issues to a minimum thus the above will not be relevant. If any one has any knowledge or experience with this strategy, please let the thread know. I have yet to test it as I do not want to throw my environment off of its settings.

Nutrient Solution: As always, I start with RO water. I do this not only for the obvious low EC/PPM but alos so that I can leave the spray mixed for several days as there is nothing in it to break down the other compounds. This is especially important when using organic compounds, eg. Kelp, Humic Acids. I started with 40 Fluid Ounces (1183ML) of water. I then, using an eyedropper, added as near as I could, 0.83ML of Humboldt County's Own Snow Storm Ultra and Magnum as well as two drops of Coco-Wet. This gave me an EC of 0.4. I adjusted the PH to 6.8 as this is my normal spraying range. Water temp was a bit warm for some reason and was at 81˚F/27˚C. I then sprayed as mentioned above.

The view of estimated nutrient from eyedropper

This is the Sativa dominate Feno of the Blue Widow seed project I'm working on.

This is the Indica Dominate.

Size of Buds I'm spraying

My theory behind spraying the solution is that the Mag will help with the flower growth as well as keep the plants from becoming deficient as it has started to show in some of the leafs. The Snow Storm Ultra, I have used with great success when I was growing in soil and would like to introduce it to my DWC plants. I feel it does exactly what it says, snows out your buds. The Coco Wet is a product that I use when mixing most pesticides and solutions. It is a wetting agent that allows for a better spray. A drop of this stuff goes a Long way. I use maybe 4 drops per gallon. Any more and you run the risk of smothering your plants.

I will keep you all apprised of the progress of this spray by posting more pictures in several days. Until then, Cheers and happy smoking!

[Dust]

thanks for sharing man, personally i don't like spraying in flowering, i'm not sure if the products really wash away totally from the buds till the harvest, so just in case i prefer not too smoke products and keep the spraying for veg ^^ but for sure if handled correctly th results can be nice, just the left over that leave me sceptic..

Have a good grow man

[irishsmoker89]

Thanks! I generally cut out all nutrient foliar spray about week 5 and then wash them down with PH Balanced RO Water. A valid concern though to be sure! No body like dirty buds!

[TheOne]

On the organic tip, using pure Aloe Vera fillet in foliar form @ a rate of 2oz/gal will make your plants worship you literally!

The more common term you might here though would be praying leaves!

It's great for a number of things in the garden, but in foliar form aloe acts as a moisturizer, and as wetting agent allowing the water sprayed to properly cover the leaves rather than beading up!

Also has fungicidal and insecticidal and insecticidal properties, so it serves as an organic pesticide.

Not to mention all the vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and amino acids abound!

Hello Strain Hunters! Strain Hunter in the works here!

[irishsmoker89]

Thanks for e input International. Do you use 2 fluid ounces or 2 ounces by weight? Also, is it important to PH balance?

[TheOne]

1/4 cup of the gel per gallon straight from the leaf buddy. You have to use it right away tho, as the vitamins and minerals in it begin to break down right away!

And pHing isn't necessary!

[irishsmoker89]

Hi all, Just wanted to pop in and tell you how things are going. I stooped foliar feeding my flower plants in week 4 rather than week 5 because the buds were developing quite rapidly. I continued spraying PH balanced RO water on them for the next two weeks to wash them. Since then I have stopped all foliar feeding on those plants. I am still aggressively feeding my veg side as prescribed above and its really something how excellent and bug free the plants look. I have backed down spraying the pesticide to once a week. However, please keep in mind that all of my feeding sprays contain either neem or Azamax (neem concentrate). I think this point is critical in foliar feeding as it catches problems before they begin. Since your foliar feeding why not just go ahead and hit any possible invaders with the pesticide in one fell swoop.

Thanks for all the contributions and please continue to post them. As for now I am happy with my mixes and schedule thus I will reserve my posts to dialoge with others on this thread. Should I find something new I will be sure to update it.

[TheOne]

Nice! You stopped, I started! Glad you had success though!

Also been told that Azamax is amazing!

[GElite]

Diamond nectare is a great humic acid product. I have used it for years. Makes nutrient uptake much easier for the plant. I got wickid results from it. I spray with Nitrozime and Diamond Necture weekly.

[og dude]

If you live near the ocean, gather a half 5 gal. Bucket of kelp...there are many types. All or most have every micro nutrient. As wellasP&K... Rinse well with fresh water... Then fill the bucket with fresh water. .. Let sit for at least 2 -3days.. The water will turn to alight shade of, brown, green, or red... Depending on what type of kelp is used.. This is a cell burst. Then you pour it through a 100 micron screen. To filter it. Womans panty hose is about just right... Put 2 tablespoons per quart of water in your mister and the correct amount of wetting agent, if you use it,..and mist away! Keep refridgerated...it will smell like the ocean, but, only for a little bit... Put the kelp its self in your compost...it is very good for misting young starts and clones...I use it throughout the complete growing cycle.... seed sprouting to a few weeks before harvest... Kelp is one of natures best micro/macro nutrients... Later.. Grow well.

[NL Seattle Greg]

Aloha, Professionals only foilar feed if a tissue analysis indicates there is a problem.

[irishsmoker89]

How do you conduct a tissue analysis? What sort of problems would warrant foilar feeding?

[NL Seattle Greg]

Aloha, I use Dr. Harry Mills Lab in Athens Georgia.

[irishsmoker89]

Can you elaborate more then that? I'd like to know what specifically you would foliar feed for and why it is unnecessary to feed other wise.. Also, I know plenty of professionals, my self included, that consistently foliar feed during all stages of growth. This is one of my 4kw rooms at about 2 weeks into flower. I been using OF Switch to help hasten bud production and have had good results thus far. Strain is HSO Pineapple Skunk. Growth method DWC using Canna Substra Flores base and other additives. (Picture taken through my method 7 glasses).