Foliar spray recipe?

lowfi

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have a foliar spray recipe that covers a majority of the plants needs? It is becoming a hassle and expensive to keep dosing iron into my system so i would like to try spraying it on my plants. Am i able to add P, K, and other essentials to the spray as well to cover my bases? I have a hard time identifying deficiencies. Also, if you use a foliar spray please share your experiences as well as before and after photos, that woukd be awesome and inspirational. Im getting frustrated!!

Thanks so much,

Low

scotty435

Are you adding the iron to the water? If that's the case spray it instead - the container probably gives you the level for doing it this way. As long as you combine the nutrients in the final dilution and not in a stock solution you probably won't have to deal with precipitates forming.

You can also spray a soluble plant fertilizer that has iron, potassium and whatever if you want but don't go overboard with this - only spray if growth is starting to show signs of deficiencies or has slowed or come to a halt and then stop spraying when those aren't present anymore. Deficiencies usually show up as slow growth, yellowing between the leaf veins or along the edges of the leaves. Sometimes you'll see spots where the leaf tissue has died or where the leaf turns red. Those last two can be deficiencies but are more often caused by other things like disease or plant stress.

lowfi

The edges of some tomato leaves are turning black, should i just cut those off? Thanks for the feedback. Do you use a foliar spray?

GurkanYeniceri

Yes I do,
Homemade fish fertilizer is cost affective and much more nutrient dense. Collect fish waste, bones and heads too from fish shops in a bucket with lid or catch carp from the river / lake. Buy a second hand mixer/blender if you want to keep your marriage intact. Blend the fish waste to a slurry. Pour this in a bucket and add sugar and water. Add lactic syrup, yeast, and/or kefir etc., whatever you have. Even old sourdough starter will work. Stir well and ferment in a air locked bucket for 2 weeks under sun. Don’t get close to the bucket during this time and if neighbour asks ‘what is this smell’, act like you know nothing. Dilute 30ml with 9 litres of water in watering sprayer with iron, rock dust and/or trace minerals and water plants.

GurkanYeniceri

Oh, do the spraying in the morning ours when the temps are below 14 degrees Celsius. Otherwise stomata on the leaf will be closed and the plant wouldn't get the foliar spray in.

scotty435

Yes, I do spray but rarely anything other than Maxicrop plus Iron which adds iron and potassium along with plant growth promoters. I do this only when I see signs of either an iron or a potassium deficiency.

For more of a shotgun approach when something seems wrong or I don't have enough fish to run the system, I'll use blood and bone meal sprinkled in the grow beds as a slow release fertilizer.

I also use a nylon paint strainer bag filled with shell grit to buffer the pH a bit and add calcium. It just sits under the inlet to one of the grow beds. This is removed if the pH goes above 7.2 but usually this doesn't happen and you may have to adjust the pH up with something stronger (like potassium bicarbonate, CaOH or KOH - I use the potassium bicarb usually but don't need it very often).

I did have a magnesium deficiency on one occasion in about the last 8 years and this was cured with a magnesium sulfate (epsom salts) spray. You have to be a bit careful with how you do this since it can burn the plants.

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