Is Foliar Feeding beneficial to Junipers?

Bonsai Nut

Nuttier than your average Nut
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I don't have any scientific information to share about foliar feeding, other than to ask the question - if trees take up nutrients from the soil on an "as-needed" basis, and a tree is already getting all the nutrients it needs via a robust and regular soil fertilizing program, what possible benefit could foliar feeding provide?

Feeding aside, there does appear to be a benefit from spraying certain oils/films on leaves and foliage to protect from wind and sun. There are numerous products out there that provide this benefit (WiltPruf, Wilt Stop, et al.) I notice a short-term benefit to my junipers when I spray with neem oil - even when they aren't suffering from fungus or pests.
 

BonjourBonsai

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I have a juniper that I transplanted last fall. Not many roots came with it. New growth is showing from the tips but nothing from anywhere on the trunk. I've read in other posts that junipers can throw new growth even though the tree is slowly in decline. Maybe foliar feeding in this instance would be a good idea?

Thanks and sorry for reviving this post but it is a really interesting topic.
 

Vance Wood

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Today's generally accepted knowledge seems to tend toward foliar feeding for Junipers. I know the pendulum has swung back and forth over the years with some important names in bonsai being in favor of it and some important names in bonsai being opposed to it, even to the extent of not getting water on the foliage at all. But as of today it seems a good way to give your Junipers a swift kick in the pants is to give them a dose of foliar feed.
 

BonjourBonsai

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I'm going to spray the foliage with diluted miracle grow. Here's the thread I started on the juniper:


I'll post updates there.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and experience.
 

sorce

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I think time spent trying to foliar feed is wasted, it doesn't need any additional step.

Sorce
 

TN_Jim

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have too over and again heard and read the benefit/applause of doing and not doing, science and elsewhere.

Just because you can, why?..perhaps to save a branch last ditch?? I’ve never foliar fed and don’t plan to, it does seem like a waste. Seems like if I had to start providing fertilizer in this way it indeed would be an expense of time and materials.

The control in such a study would be to not feed at all...🥰🤔...the mirai podcast with Peter Warren was a good listen.

What’s the goal of foliage feeding anyway? Beef? When is best time of year & at what stage of tree development seems a bigger or tandem question.
 

BonjourBonsai

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The juniper I collected last fall had very few roots. I think the new growth has come from the tips without much help from the roots. I think this because there is no budding from the trunk at all even though it is now exposed to sunlight. That would indicate that the trunk is not yet working at to capacity. Just today, I noticed some of the new growth starting to turn yellow. I'm not an expert but I've always associated yellow leaves with nutrient deficiency as opposed to brown which is from lack of water. Since I've been watering it through spraying the leaves, I think it's been getting enough H2O but lacking in nutrients. That made me think that foliar feeding might help. I recognize that this topic is divisive, but if it can help get this interesting specimen back on is very, it will have been with it.
 

sorce

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According to our Cannibus Bonsai thread starting friend....

Foliar feeding is useful the same as a tic-tac is sugar free.

Says that though foliar feeding is in fact 99% efficient, it only accounts for about .002% of actual nutrient intake.

Like you'll never drain Lake Michigan through a straw no matter how hard you try.

Sorce
 

BonjourBonsai

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So here's the tree I'm hoping to save with foliar feeding. The first photo shows the yellowing leaves. The last two show a poor choice of wine, but that didn't stop me!
 

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I drench them heavily overhead from a Haws watering can, with a stiff dose of fish emulsion, every few days except in winter. You bet it gets into the soil.

Wait you give your trees - or just junipers? - a foliar feeding every few days? I just gave mine some of that GS seaweed stuff, other than that I'm only really using biogold and giving trees a boost at the beginning of the year if I'm not worried about internode length with Grow Power 12-8-8.

I feel like my biggest concern is over-feeding and ruining something by making the plant too vigorous and making long internodes, but given your success with your trees now I'm wondering if maybe I should reconsider.
 
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I don't have any scientific information to share about foliar feeding, other than to ask the question - if trees take up nutrients from the soil on an "as-needed" basis, and a tree is already getting all the nutrients it needs via a robust and regular soil fertilizing program, what possible benefit could foliar feeding provide?

I sort of look at it as filling a gap. I doubt you'll hurt yourself too much by not doing it, but there's good and then there's great. "Great" may also require being able to know when NOT to apply it, but I sort of have viewed it as a full course vs. just one plate. It might have, uh, stuff. That, uh, the other stuff doesn't. Yeah, that.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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Wait you give your trees - or just junipers? - a foliar feeding every few days? I just gave mine some of that GS seaweed stuff, other than that I'm only really using biogold and giving trees a boost at the beginning of the year if I'm not worried about internode length with Grow Power 12-8-8.

I feel like my biggest concern is over-feeding and ruining something by making the plant too vigorous and making long internodes, but given your success with your trees now I'm wondering if maybe I should reconsider.
I feed heavily. I have maybe 40 trees in pots, and use around 20lb of solid and 3qt of liquid feed per year. Strong trees can handle work.
 
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