# Foliar feeding???



## Bukshot911 (Mar 31, 2011)

I work with ebb and flow systems and have become quite familiar with their operation. I have done work with supplements but have never foliar fed. any info on general practice would be greatly appreciated. I have been wanting to use humbolt's purplemaxx and I hear foliar feeding is the way to go. if anyone has experience with purplemaxx let me know. the plants I intend to use it on are already in mid bloom but i have another set in veg still that i could use it on as well. can anyone help me out?


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## smokingjoe (Mar 31, 2011)

Foliar feeding plants in mid to late bloom is just asking for mould to develop IMHO; I wouldn't recommend it.

Foliar feeding in veg is ok, but it's hard to quantify the gain unless you ran two clones in identical conditions and foliar fed one and not the other.

Magnesium is best applied as a foliar spray if deficient.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Mar 31, 2011)

I personally have never found foliar feeding to make any real difference.  Like smokingjoe mentioned, misting your plants in mid to late flowering is asking for trouble.


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## docfishwrinkle (Mar 31, 2011)

man i def believe in foliar in veg. if in soil you can quickly right a def. i use algae such as bio-weed or maxicrop 2-3x's weekly @ a rate of 1/4 tsp for 2c r.o. not pH'd. can also use humic acids w/ it to help absorption. the trace minerals & other bennies in there give much love to my plants. also can use calmag & many others including fish emulsion. plants take up 95% of whatever you put on their leaves. good & bad.





forgot to say google dr. h.b. tukey & sparty on


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## Hick (Apr 1, 2011)

If you are providing everything the plant needs, and can use, in the soil/medium, foliar feeding is not needed, ever..  "IMO/E


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## Hushpuppy (Apr 1, 2011)

I found that in my particular situation with new cuttings in my clone tank that foliar feedin helped them tremendously. I used ph'd water with a 1/4 manufacturer recommendation of Technaflora's thrive alive B1 in a regular spray bottle, lightly sprayed twice daily. AS a note, my clone tank doesn't have a humidome right now and the RH in my grow-lab is hanging down in the mid 40s. I tried this because they were looking a little dry, but I would recommend caution in using it for just any situation.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Apr 1, 2011)

IMO, there is a huge difference between misting clones and foliar feeding plants.  I live in an arid place and I always mist my clones,but never foliar feed my plants.


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## Hushpuppy (Apr 1, 2011)

Very interesting. Do yu not feed just bcause yu add yer nutes in the hydro or is there an issue with spray feeding?


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## Hick (Apr 1, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> IMO, there is a huge difference between misting clones and foliar feeding plants.  I live in an arid place and I always mist my clones,but never foliar feed my plants.



"huge".. yes, as in no roots for uptaking food/nutrients..


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## Hushpuppy (Apr 1, 2011)

Hick said:
			
		

> "huge".. yes, as in no roots for uptaking food/nutrients..


Yu thik it may have been a mistake for me to add the Thrive alive to my spray that I sprayed my babies with?


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## Hick (Apr 1, 2011)

ooooooh... "thrive alive".. "Superthrive" (supa_jive_)...
.."MY" opinion of those two "secret addatives" isn't very high hushpuppy. 
"I" prefer to 'know' what is in the stuff that goes into my plants.  but.. that's just me.
Others can swear by big secrets, I don't..


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## ozzydiodude (Apr 1, 2011)

Hushpuppy said:
			
		

> Yu thik it may have been a mistake for me to add the Thrive alive to my spray that I sprayed my babies with?


 
Hick love thrive alive so much he adds it to his coffee:rofl::rofl::rofl::cry::laugh:


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## Hushpuppy (Apr 1, 2011)

So far I haven't seen any ill effects...My partner started with the Technaflora chems b4 I found MP...Hick, yer all organic right? I have seriously considered moving to that. yu recommend a good regimen or source for organic?


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## Hick (Apr 1, 2011)

I wouldn't "expect" ill effects puppy.  "I" just don't buy into their hype, that's all. 
   I consider my grows organic, but some of the "die hard" fans, might not consider it so. 
 "I" like and use primarily Fox Farms products, from soil to nutrients. Mainly for their user friendly ease.


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## SKAGITMAGIC (Apr 3, 2011)

the reason i like doing this is it gives me a oportunity to really look the plants over, most of my problems have been discovered during foliar feeding, and a drop of super thrive per gallon won't kill or hurt your plants,probably won't help them either, the way it reads it reminds me of snake oil. most of the awards this dude won was for marketing the product. i did a side by side experiment this year with super thrive and foliared sprayed 11 of 25 plants I got 15 females, the funny thing was of the 10 male plants i got 8 of them were the ones i sprayed,I think i stressed them, but they didn't show it, bottom line it looks good on the shelf. on the plus side the two that were females have a lot less yellowing than there sisters, just my two cents.


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## Priceless (Apr 3, 2011)

In nature it rain's correct...Foliar feeding is great way to boost up your plants...They can uptake nutes easier thru the leaves than the roots, less effort.
Everyone advises against FF in flower due to mold issues..If your room has good airflow and humidity levels kept in check...Foliar feed away...Spary the laeves avoid spraying directly int buds...Just remember after every FF to come back and spray with clean water to rinse the leaves off.Also cease FF at week 6 just to be safe.

Clean Stomata = healthier plants 

Also before FF its always a good idea to turn off your ventilation equipment I killed a good carbon like that in the past filter was picking up the mist and caused the carbon to turn solid kinda.

Lately I been using Canna Bio Boost as Foliar spray...Seems to be boosting resin production slightly...test still ongoing tho


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## PencilHead (Apr 3, 2011)

I use PM/SSUltra--what I pay for it ($85/qt), I wouldn't dream of spraying it into the air.


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## woodydude (Apr 3, 2011)

I have a dilemma with foliar feeding.
I do the usual daily spray with new clones but stop after 7 days to try and encourage root development. I also spray for the last 2 weeks of veg and first 3 of flower with some stuff called Collosal Budblast. It was given to me free by the guy who owns my local hydro store.
Since using it, I would say my plants stay greener for longer and the buds are certainly denser and bigger however, I am very new to growing, with just 6 months behind me and I know I am getting better so the improvement could just be down to my improvement and some better equipment I have. 
My dilemma is, I dont want to stop doing anything that seems to be working. I accept few foliar feed and will have their reasons for doing so. At the same time, I have read a few articles recently that make bold claims about foliar feeding and that plants can asorb nutrients much more effectively that way.
So, although I foliar feed, I would NOT advise others to do so. Am I being hypocritical? No, If it turns out foliar has zero benefits, I wouldnt want to be responsible for giving someone bad advice however I am willing to give it a try and it seems to be part of a package of measures that appear to be improving my grows.
Peace all
W


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## docfishwrinkle (May 2, 2011)

i stumbled back across this thread & thought i posted this read but hadn't. hopefully this clears foliar up. hxxp://www.nutritor.se/documents/FoliarExperiment.pdf

bukshot i've never used PM as a foiar so beware. i have used USS & not impressed. gravity by them indeed works but not a foliar & go light w/ it if you do.


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## ftw (May 3, 2011)

video i got from th seeds says they foiler feed with liquid kelp,they say it helps a lot although ive never tried it


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## BBFan (May 3, 2011)

docfishwrinkle said:
			
		

> i stumbled back across this thread & thought i posted this read but hadn't. hopefully this clears foliar up. hxxp://www.nutritor.se/documents/FoliarExperiment.pdf
> 
> bukshot i've never used PM as a foiar so beware. i have used USS & not impressed. gravity by them indeed works but not a foliar & go light w/ it if you do.


 
Awesome read Doc!  Thanks for posting.

I've always been a big believer in foilar feeds, particularly for kelp and for CalMag.  The article certainly supports that position- but for all nutrients.  90% absorbtion as opposed to 10% through root feeding (in soil) is pretty impressive.


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## docfishwrinkle (May 3, 2011)

BB, funny thing is he (tukey) had found this out many years ago so i dont see why its a debate. guess it goes in the same folder as trimming fans. lol


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