current thoughts on foliar feeding

Paradox

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
9,339
Reaction score
11,410
Location
Long Island, NY
USDA Zone
7a
I googled "foliar feeding" and found mostly older (5+ years) discussions.

I am a wondering what the current opinion on it is?


Does any one here use this method on their trees?
If so,
which species?
What mixture?
When and how often?
Results?


Thanks
 

yenling83

Omono
Messages
1,047
Reaction score
1,426
Location
Nipomo, CA
My though is it probably helps a bit, but does not compare with the standard feeding intake from the roots. Hard to really tell without have a large sample size with lots of testing. I foliar feed my newly collected material, but not the rest of my trees. Rest of my trees just get's organic cakes and fish emulsion.
 

0soyoung

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
7,496
Reaction score
12,832
Location
Anacortes, WA (AHS heat zone 1)
USDA Zone
8b
I googled "foliar feeding" and found mostly older (5+ years) discussions.

I am a wondering what the current opinion on it is?


Does any one here use this method on their trees?
If so,
which species?
What mixture?
When and how often?
Results?


Thanks

Prevalent current opinion that I heed is that it is not effective.

Regardless, I still am amazed that it has any beneficial effects at all. It is so much like a wine enema or a rectal IV.
 

Vin

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
5,257
Reaction score
7,645
Location
Panama City, FL Zone 9a/8b Centr
USDA Zone
8b
Prevalent current opinion that I heed is that it is not effective.

Regardless, I still am amazed that it has any beneficial effects at all. It is so much like a wine enema or a rectal IV.

Ouch! I'll never think of foliar feeding the same way again...
 

Dav4

Drop Branch Murphy
Messages
13,017
Reaction score
29,697
Location
SE MI- Bonsai'd for 12 years both MA and N GA
USDA Zone
6a
Some very experienced bonsai professionals swear by it, but I've always been skeptical of a plant's ability to take anything in through a leaf except a gas like CO2. Rodney Clemons recommends it for weak junipers...he suggests doing it very early in the morning, like 5 am when the stomates are open- at least that makes some physiologic sense. For the record I haven't deliberately applied fert to foliage in at least 5 years.
 

cmeg1

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
5,345
Reaction score
8,222
Location
Southeast Pennsylvania USA
USDA Zone
7a
I apply Earth Juice Microblast(micro nutrients) to foliage of my zelkova's weekly.Was recommended in a magazines fert schedule for bonsai to apply trace elements to the leaves weekly.Also trunk and branches in late Winter,don't know what that would do..That is essentially how I learn ,so yea, I do it.
Hard to say if my leaves look anymore luxurious as a result.Defoliation keeps the leaves looking good.
 
Last edited:

Dirty Nails

Shohin
Messages
307
Reaction score
14
Location
Nashville, TN
USDA Zone
6a
Some very experienced bonsai professionals swear by it

One of these recently told me when I asked about chelated iron that the best way to introduce it is foliar feeding every 3 months throughout the year.
 

bonsairxmd

Shohin
Messages
476
Reaction score
45
Location
Oklahoma City (Zone 7a)
USDA Zone
7a
It is so much like a wine enema or a rectal IV.

Nice. I prefer the coffee ground enema or anything Dr. Oz says. I love unscientific BS. Makes me smile everyday at work. :) Science is boring with all these rules that one has to prove. Now, BS..that is exciting and you can let your imagination run wild!!
 
Last edited:

edprocoat

Masterpiece
Messages
3,423
Reaction score
378
Location
Ohio/Florida
USDA Zone
6
Prevalent current opinion that I heed is that it is not effective.

Regardless, I still am amazed that it has any beneficial effects at all. It is so much like a wine enema or a rectal IV.

So, from your personal experience these are all useless treatments ? I wonder if I fed my plants wine mixed with fertilizer out of an enema ...

ed
 

Stan Kengai

Omono
Messages
1,172
Reaction score
1,330
Location
North Georgia
USDA Zone
7a
I'm detecting an air of snarkiness from a certain crowd in here, so why don't y'all answer this question for us uninitiated types:

If a plant can absorb a complex compound like IBA (the auxin most commonly used as "rooting hormone") through its bark and/or callus tissue, why couldn't it absorb simpler nutrients and micronutrients through its leaf tissue?

If you can't, that's fine. The rest of us can ponder it, though we'll likely not come up with the right answer.
 

bonsairxmd

Shohin
Messages
476
Reaction score
45
Location
Oklahoma City (Zone 7a)
USDA Zone
7a
So, from your personal experience these are all useless treatments ? I wonder if I fed my plants wine mixed with fertilizer out of an enema ...

ed

Drink the wine from the enema bottle (preferably not a used one) then you won't care about tree leaves anymore. :)
 

chansen

Shohin
Messages
361
Reaction score
358
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
USDA Zone
6a
I'm detecting an air of snarkiness from a certain crowd in here, so why don't y'all answer this question for us uninitiated types:

If a plant can absorb a complex compound like IBA (the auxin most commonly used as "rooting hormone") through its bark and/or callus tissue, why couldn't it absorb simpler nutrients and micronutrients through its leaf tissue?

If you can't, that's fine. The rest of us can ponder it, though we'll likely not come up with the right answer.
I have beek wondering the same recently. If herbicides applied to foliage will kill a plant, why would fertilizers not feed them? There may be an explanation, and I would be interested in any current information.
 

augustine

Chumono
Messages
755
Reaction score
553
Location
Pasadena, MD
USDA Zone
7A
I have been told by a bonsai pro that it is a good thing to mist junipers with a dilute solution. I do it occasionally. I have not conducted an experiment but can say that it has't hurt anything.

Augustine
 

KennedyMarx

Omono
Messages
1,708
Reaction score
427
Location
Indiana (Zone 6a)
USDA Zone
6a
I've been misting my plants with the one gallon pressure sprayer I bought for fertilizing. I don't mess with the ratio of fertilizer to water, just keep it the same as when I spray the soil. Can't say for certain if it's just placebo effect or caused by other care fluctuations, but I think it helps. It couldn't hurt could it?
 

barrosinc

Masterpiece
Messages
4,127
Reaction score
4,691
Location
Santiago, Chile
USDA Zone
9b
Prevalent current opinion that I heed is that it is not effective.

Regardless, I still am amazed that it has any beneficial effects at all. It is so much like a wine enema or a rectal IV.

Convincing enough for me...
 

0soyoung

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
7,496
Reaction score
12,832
Location
Anacortes, WA (AHS heat zone 1)
USDA Zone
8b
One can spray a chelated iron solution on a tree exhibiting chlorosis and have the characteristic discoloration disappear fairly rapidly. The iron is incorporated into the foliar machinery that makes chlorophyl. However, chlorosis is indicative of the soil pH being too high, which means that additional energy is needed to pump the protons for the roots to extract other essential nutrients from the soil. This very real use of energy means the tree will not be as vigorous as it otherwise could be.

I serously doubt that those who espouse spraying liquid feeds, calling them foliar feeds, advise taking measures to assure the 'feed' doesn't also get into the soil/medium (one could use atomized sprays as another way to assure that the application is purely foliar). In other words, I am skeptical that the feeding is purely foliar. Instead it is a sprayed liquid feed that also goes on the leaves and maybe has some immediate benefits.

I think I have seen Chalker-Scott's 'Foliar Feeding' article referenced in a post somewhere on BNut before. In my opinion it is a good, easily understood overview, well worth the time to read. If that is not enough, there is an abundance of scientific papers that can be found with the help of Google Scholar.
 
Last edited:

bonsaiBlake

Chumono
Messages
646
Reaction score
323
Location
Bering sea, AK Orginally from Vancover, wa
I dont really have enough experience to comment on this but there is something rather interesting thats been discovered as a contributing factor to the deforestation of Isla De Pascua (Easter Island) Besides being over populated and and over logged there was a shift in the atomosphereic winds causing less dust from asia to be blown down over the island, a main source of trace nutrients gone.

Moss though a completely different entity absorbes all if its nutrients through its "foliage"

Leaves and needles are just like every other biotic membrane and are capable of absorbing some nutrients. Whether the amount is nominal enough for us as bonsai growers to use to some gain I don't know. But i dont see how foliage feeding could hurt either
 

JasonG

Chumono
Messages
786
Reaction score
18
Location
NW Oregon
I am a firm believer that it is very effective on broad leaf trees. Pines, not sure but I always feed the needles, etc... when I fert the roots. Can't hurt.
 
Top Bottom