Foliar Feeding

Maintaining Energy Flow

The availabilit of energy from the soil to the plant can fluctuate depending on soil conditions. Excessive or deficient moisture levels along with the amount of energy being released from fertilizer interactions, which in turn is effected by soil temperatures, determines day to day supply. Foliar sprays can help maintain a more even  energy level and therefore growth rate in a plant.

Supplementing available energy is of particular use when trying to maximize the productivity of a plant, for example a rose or tomato, in an area , such as the Pacific North West, where a long growing season is not all ways guaranteed.  Also with the Pacific North West's wet cool springs, supplementing the limited amount of energy and nutrient availability in the cool saturated soil with foliar feeding can help kick start the season.

Plant Tonic 

Seaweed extract, especially when applied with small amounts of available nitrogen  phosphate , potassium and calcium, is proven to aid plant health and vigor

Good quality seaweed extract contains a very diverse selection of trace minerals in a chelated form that are readily available for plant use. It is the long chain plant sugars in the extract that act as chelating agents delivering the coupled mineral directly into the plant. These long chain sugars also stimulate root growth and act as a sticker spreader allowing the foliar spray to stick to the leaf surface.

The trace minerals and vitamins in seaweed increase plant metabolism rates which in unison with the amino acids present lead to increased protein production, enzyme production and plant growth. 

Seaweed contains a number of different plant growth regulator that promote the development and differentiation of cells. Leading to increased shoot initiation, bud formation, leaf growth and chlorophyll synthesis, culminating in healthy plants.  

Microbe Sprays 

Application of microbes onto leaves through compost tea, or selecting a specific strain of microorganism, can feed and protect the plant.    

Plants can absorb microbial metabolites including vitamins and antibiotics, these can both feed the plant and suppress the activity of pathogenic microbes trying to feed and reproduce on the plant. The presence of these beneficial microbes also inhibit the presence of infectious microbes by out competing them for the available nutrients they need to feed and become established on the leaf surface.  

Specially bread microbes are now available to prevent and treat different plant pathogens both in the root zone and on leaves.  

Directing Plant Growth 

Certain plants like flowers and fruit trees require both vegetative growth (anionic) and reproductive growth (cationic) whilst others like grass and lettuce require to be kept solely in vegetative growth for maximum performance. A correctly constituted foliar spray can keep the correct growth state predominant or change a plant from vegetative growth to reproductive when required. One of the main nutrients in directing a plants vegetative or fruiting energy is nitrogen. Nitrogen in the nitrate form is vegetative, whilst in its ammonium form is fruiting.

Extra manganese in a fruiting based spray is beneficial to nut trees, and all foliar sprays are usually found to benefit the soil, the run off from leaves adding resistance in the root zone and therefore energy release for the plants to use.