Clicio
Masterpiece
Is foliar feeding of any use to bonsai?
If yes, how do you apply it, in which dilution and schedule?
If yes, how do you apply it, in which dilution and schedule?
To me, there's too much risk.
At risk of starting a war, I will say that I have never seen a scientific source on evidence of foliar feeding. If someone knows a paper they can share, that would be great. Anecdotal evidence or "it works for junipers so it should work for everything else" doesn't really add to the body of evidence, if I may say so. Just from a first-principles perpective, foliar feeding does not make sense to me because leaves are designed for gas exchange through the stomata on their underside, not for liquid or mineral absorption. In fact, the cuticle on leaves prevents movement of molecules across the surface.
No!One of the funniest and most epic wars on this site was about this very topic. Brings back memories of the "Attitude Era" on Bonsai Nut!
Thanks for the screenshot, very informative!Plant physiology (Taiz, Zeiger, Moller, Murphy) is the bible of plant scientists. If they were to put out
Please post your progressions in this forum?Next year I’m going to do a small experiment with a few m maples from the same mother. One with just foliar fert, One soil fert, one both ways and One with without any fertilizer.
Trace the history of the claim of foliar feeding and you'll find one study that suggested that maybe there is a slight possibility of minimal gain that comes through foliar feeding. That one study has fueled a claim of benefit through the foliage and a whole industry that lives on that one study. It isn't going to hurt your plant, just make sure you get as much, or more of it, in your pot.
I did the same with the same results.I just googled it (google scholar) and found multiple studies showing that plants and tree do absorb nutrients through their leaves.
This makes it super hard to come up with a universal foliar feed.