Is Foliar Feeding beneficial to Junipers?

tmjudd1

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The season is definitely switching to the 'on' position, for growth, here. I've been foliar feeding all of my subjects, on a schedule, and they seem to be responding quite well, however. It's hard for me to tell if my Junipers are responding at all. My Pines, Boxwood's, and Chinese elm are taking on noticeable changes, but the Junipers are just holding on and looking good/healthy without any noticeable changes. Will foliar feeding Junipers help them, or is it just a waste of time?
 
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In the Bonsai Empire courses, Bjorn Bjornholm recommends foliar feeding junipers with fish emulsion fertilizer. Supposedly junipers like to intake fertilizer through their foliage. There's also a lot out there saying foliar feeding doesn't do much.
 

tmjudd1

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In the Bonsai Empire courses, Bjorn Bjornholm recommends foliar feeding junipers with fish emulsion fertilizer. Supposedly junipers like to intake fertilizer through their foliage. There's also a lot out there saying foliar feeding doesn't do much.
I'm getting the same mixed results. Just trying to sort things out and see what's what...???
 

Brian Van Fleet

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I'm getting the same mixed results. Just trying to sort things out and see what's what...???
Over what period of time? Feeding results are observable over mutiple seasons, not weeks during the winter. The short-term results are attributed to daily care. It can take years to sort out good feeding from bad.
 

M. Frary

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I dribble the foam that's left in the watering can onto my juniper foliage.
I use miracle grow.
The way I look at it,it doesnt hurt so I do it.
 

jimib

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A couple of years ago I was at a class on hydrology when we got off topic and started talking about Fukushima. We got further off-topic and discussed removing heavy metals from soil using plants. A little further off topic we were discussing fertilizing plants. One of the adjuncts there said there’s absolutely no plant on the face of earth that will feed foliarly....it’s a waste of time to even try. When I questioned him, he got downright irate about it.
 

amatbrewer

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When I questioned him, he got downright irate about it.

That sort of reaction is a red flag to me. I have found the less someone is willing to question their belief, the more likely they are to be wrong. Its not 100% (some people are just Jerks), but I have found it a good rule of thumb.
 

Paulpash

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Aren't roots always the most effective way of getting nutrients into the tree? If so, why not increase the frequency / strength of fertilizer, taking into account the porosity of your mix?

It's the human equivalent of having a great steak meal then finishing it off by blending the dessert and inhaling it....
 

sorce

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I do it Cuz BVF does it. Not here. Lol! In another thread!

The Fish.

Me, Maybe not to feed, but as an antifungal (whatever) and to attract more beneficial insects like wasps.

If wasps are always buzzing about, butterflies won't lay eggs there etc....

Fish attracts flies, flies attract spiders, spiders kill bad bugs. The leaf eaters. Even mites afloat will get stuck in a good web.

Plus you gotta think some dries up amidst crotches and such, to be washed down in a rain, therefore auto feeding a bit.

Sorce
 

Vance Wood

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A couple of years ago I was at a class on hydrology when we got off topic and started talking about Fukushima. We got further off-topic and discussed removing heavy metals from soil using plants. A little further off topic we were discussing fertilizing plants. One of the adjuncts there said there’s absolutely no plant on the face of earth that will feed foliarly....it’s a waste of time to even try. When I questioned him, he got downright irate about it.
Most people that don't know what they are talking about feel threatened by the confrontation and tend to get "Irate". Remember the poweres that be used to execute those who thought the earth rotated around the sun and all that goes with our modern sense of cosmology. Being irate or in power does not automatically justify an unprovable position. There are many things that we believe in concerning our beloved trees that are in my opinion; wrong.
 

Shibui

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I'm still open on foliar feeding.
We know that some things are absorbed by leaves - Most herbicides are absorbed through the foliage but what sort of molecules can be absorbed??? maybe nutrient, maybe not.
Even if it works mainly by the nutrients dribbling down onto the soil and being absorbed by the roots it still counts as fertilising doesn't it?
so:
The way I look at it,it doesnt hurt so I do it.
Me too!
 

bonsaichile

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Most people that don't know what they are talking about feel threatened by the confrontation and tend to get "Irate". Remember the poweres that be used to execute those who thought the earth rotated around the sun and all that goes with our modern sense of cosmology. Being irate or in power does not automatically justify an unprovable position. There are many things that we believe in concerning our beloved trees that are in my opinion; wrong.
Whom did they execute? Last time I checked, Copernicus died peacefully in his own bed. And for what is worth, Galileo got into trouble not for showing that the earth rotated around the sun, but for embracing the copernican system, which was patently wrong: planets do not run along perfectly circular orbits around the sun. Anyone can see that by tracing their mevement through the nighr sky.
 

tmjudd1

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If wasps are always buzzing about, butterflies won't lay eggs there etc....

Fish attracts flies, flies attract spiders, spiders kill bad bugs. The leaf eaters. Even mites afloat will get stuck in a good web.
... and it 'also' attracts wasps and 'other' flying pests to the dinner table for my carnivorous pitchers and fly-traps!
 

Vance Wood

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Whom did they execute? Last time I checked, Copernicus died peacefully in his own bed. And for what is worth, Galileo got into trouble not for showing that the earth rotated around the sun, but for embracing the copernican system, which was patently wrong: planets do not run along perfectly circular orbits around the sun. Anyone can see that by tracing their mevement through the nighr sky.
These guys died peaceably because they submitted to house arrest, and did not rock the boat. Did I do something to you in another life, or just this one seem to be enough to jump on every thing I say?
 

bonsaichile

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These guys died peaceably because they submitted to house arrest, and did not rock the boat. Did I do something to you in another life, or just this one seem to be enough to jump on every thing I say?
Copernicus was never on house arrest. Galileo was, but because he had the wrong political friends.
 

tmjudd1

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Hmm... Einstein once stated that "Great spirits have 'forever' been violently challenged by mediocre minds!" I doubt that I got the quote exactly correct, verbatim... but I had to toss this in via the current direction that this thread seems to be heading in...
 

Vance Wood

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Copernicus was never on house arrest. Galileo was, but because he had the wrong political friends.
If you go back and reread my post you will find that I mentioned no names, no Galileo, no Copernicus or no Toney the Poney. For some reason you are just looking to embarrass me. You are starting to act like Sawgrass-StaceyAlenMuse, or what ever he calls himself these days.
 

TN_Jim

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This is an interesting topic.
There seem to be many published studies on the benifits of foliar feeding. From skimming abstracts I saw none that found it pointless, most were agriculture-based (no surprise) and I would guess aside from basic scientific discovery, that many of the research topics I skimmed are funded by folks looking to get more bang for their investment.

That said, I saw nothing on Junipers specifically. However, it is common to have fertilizer applied daily via mist/watering in greenhouses. Without having done a deep dive yet into exact foliar nutrient intake, I would think that if it were a waste of resources, it (foliar associated fertilizer) would not be literally be going down the drain as common practice, and with scientific study support.

Trees I saw in studies were apple and peach. Really neat stuff. That said, I think it is worth knowing what doesn’t work. I saw a lot of potassium talk for example.
Thanks
 

leatherback

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In many agricultural studies it has been shown that foliage can indeed take up nutrients, through a fairly complex pathway. Considering how it works for a range of cropping plants, it would seem logical that the results achieved by people growing bonsai are not just mere placebo effects, but are indeed real. In fact, I have a yew that is struggling. Asking a local Yew expert his response was: Start foliar feed every two weeks and mist. Stop watering the soil unless near desiccated. All indicating that also coniferous plants have an uptake mechanism.

For me personally it is hard to accept because as a biology student a few decades ago, my plant fysiology classes teachings were clear: Leaves have an impermeable barrier to the outside world.
 
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