Spray-fertilizing
- JohnnieWbl
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And would spray-fertilizing help to develop roots on cuttings or would a 0-0-10 NPK to the ground be better? Just curious if anyone has any experience with this. Thanks.
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- m5eaygeoff
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I seldom use foliar feed as a method of adding any fertiliser, usually I just spray water if needed over the leaves.
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- JohnnieWbl
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- m5eaygeoff
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- Auk
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JohnnieWbl wrote: I read that spraying a fertilizer mixed with water is also used to help grow a tree faster/healthier.. What are your thoughts on this? I'd like to do an experiment with 5 young oak trees I've planted into full ground, spraying 2 or 3 trees once every week/every 2 weeks, and see the difference with the onces that don't get sprayed. Has anyone done this before? I would be spraying in the evenings with a liquid fertilizer (NPK 7-5-6) and water,
While my intestines are capable of absorbing food, and certain pills are supposed to be inserted there, I prefer to eat my food through my mouth - I do not stick sandwiches up my... well, you get the idea. Likewise, I think it's better for a tree if fertilizer travels through the whole system, not just through the leaves.
Here's an article about the myths of foliar feeding :
Foliar feeding can be benificial in certain cases, but the NPK amounts I think are irrelevant. See this article about deficiency of micronutrients in soil with a higher pH, making soil application of nutrients less efficient then foliar feeding:
and another one concerning foliar feeding of 名媛直播:
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- JohnnieWbl
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Tree and shrub species differ dramatically in their ability to absorb foliar fertilizers.
I really hope this doesn't surprise any bonsaists.. Again, I am new to this but my guess would be that that's indeed the case.
Micronutrients are the only minerals that can be effectively applied by foliar feeding and too much of these can damage or kill a plant.
I'd like to see a a definition of "effective" here. Sure, it might be more effective, that doesn't mean NPK solutions can also help.
Foliar spraying is only a temporary solution to the larger problem of soil nutrient availability.
Like any fertilizer is a temporary solution. Not meant to be a permanent adjustment to the tree, I think.
Any benefit from foliar spraying of landscape trees or shrubs is minor considering the cost and labor required.
Her initial claim is about bonsai trees, and she supports that by claiming it's not cost/labor effective for regular landscape trees? If I have 5 small trees I'd like to spray, it would take me 10 sprays, less than 1 minute.
I think the comparison between leaves and your anus is not really relevant here..


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- Auk
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I think the comparison between leaves and your anus is not really relevant here..
I believe it would be better to compare them to your pores, which are also capable of taking in some nutrients (vitamins through light, moisture through water, etc) while they also excrete stuff (sweat). Anyway, I'd like to experiment just for the sake of it.
Indeed that's a better comparison

I think the various articles do give information when folar feeding can be useful, and personally I think it is of limited use for bonsai that are fertilized properly. As mentioned on one of the pages I referred to, I think the effects that are noted actually are caused by the fertilizer dripping off the leaves on to the soil...
I have no proof, so I am very interested in the results of your experiments.
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- Madartej21
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