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Plant Foliar feeding is possible due to the specific pores, found on the underside or on both sides of the plant’s leaf. These pores are called stomata, and their main duty is to enable gas exchange between plant and environment during the process of photosynthesis. Besides, respiration as well as water vaporization also occurs in stomata. Thanks to these tiny pores on the surface of the leaves, the plant can absorb water and nutrients dissolved in it.

However, because of certain barrier, only part of nutrient solution can be absorbed through leaves. So, foliar feeding can never be used as the only way to deliver nutrients to the plants. The primary task of foliar feeding or fertilization is to rapidly supply micro nutrients to the plants. Sometimes, using biuret-free urea one can deliver nitrogen via the plant’s leaves.

 Foliar Nutrient Application

In order to provide proper effectiveness of hydroponic nutrient sprays, it is necessary to keep in mind the rate at which plants absorb nutrients and translocate them within the plant. Besides, there are many other factors, which affect the uptake of nutrients within the plant. Some of them are indicated in the table at the bottom of this section.

Of course, it is not easy to consider all of those factors, but some of them are more important than others, so it is important to keep them in mind. First of all, when choosing a foliar fertilizer, choose the one with high quality wetting and sticking agent. It is necessary for ensuring proper adherence of droplets to the leaves, which in its turn will ensure effective absorption of fertilizing solution into the plant tissues.

 Though foliar feeding can be performed on a regular basis, there are certain periods, when plant fertilizing becomes especially important. For example, when the plants are in their active growing phase, or when fruits develop and plants need more nutrients than usual. Usually, during such periods plants gain additional ability to absorb nutrients through their leaves. Foliar feeding is especially beneficial for the plants with damaged root system, as it can partially compensate the decrease in nutrients absorption via roots.

The Role of Foliar Feeding in Hydroponic Gardening

In spite of the fact that hydroponic plants are meant to receive all the necessary hydroponic nutrients through the specially formulated nutrient solution, foliar feeding still provides additional benefits to them. It was proven by studies that those plants, receiving foliar feeding, provide more fruits in comparison to the plants without additional foliar fertilization. It has been shown that potato plants, treated with foliar fertilizers, provide better harvest with larger tubers. Weekly foliar feeding of tomatoes resulted in yield and fruit quality improvements. All the recorded improvements, provided by foliar feeding, allow treating this method not only as a quick fix of nutrient deficit, but also a reliable method to increase harvest.

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Nitrogen (N)

The most essential of all nutrients for leaf and stem development. Nitrogen consumption depends on a plants growth cycle and in a vegetative growth phase of plant nitrogen consumption is greatest. Hydroponic nutrients solutions labeled as “grow” or “flower” contains more concentrations of nitrogen. Nitrogen deficiency is the leading cause of plant growth in indoor hydroponic garden systems. Yellowish, soft and weak plants and leaves are tell-tale signs of nitrogen deficiency.

Half-strength nitrogen solutions are ideal for plants between growing phases. This will prevent plant stretch while it’s switching its energy over to flower development. Normal feeding is resumed once the plant reaches the flowering stage.

Phosphorous (P)

Phosphorous plays a major part in root and flower development. Phosphorous deficiency signs are slow and stunted plant growth. Phosphorous is crucial to a plants flowering stage. “Bloom” type formulas contain a 0-50-30 concentration, containing no nitrogen and high levels of phosphorous and potassium.

Potassium (K)

Different in action from the previous two nutrients, it doesn’t feed the plant directly in any specific stage of growth. It merely facilitates plant intake of other primary and secondary plant nutrients. Potassium deficiency cause irregular plant growth and susceptibility to pests and disease. Potassium inhibits fruit production and should be lessened during this stage.

Secondary Hydroponic Nutrients

Calcium (Ca)

Facilitating and filtering the absorption of other nutrients Calcium is one essential nutrient. It is also a natural base that increases the pH level is needed. Commonly used in the vegetative phase of plant growth, calcium consumption is decreased during the flowering stage.

Magnesium (Mg)

Mainly for chlorophyll production in photosynthesis, deficiency causes yellow leaves.

Sulfur (S)

Yellow leaves are a sign of sulfur deficiency and are only used in small amounts.

Iron (Fe)

Used in small amounts, iron deficiency is similar to sulfur deficiency. Yellow leaves are the general signs of deficiency. High pH causes iron absorption problems so constant monitoring is advised.

Molybdenum (Mb)

Mainly for nitrogen absorption and converts nitrates to ammonium

Boron (B)

Facilitates carbohydrate transport in the phloem, it is not essential and maybe disregarded. Boron overdose causes plant kill, it is not found in regular soils and only supplemented.

Roy Gomez, owner of Humboldt Nutrients, comes into Pro Gardening Systems and gives a 40 minute seminar on his product line. Very informative and cool! This is the first in an ongoing series of educational podcasts on indoor and outdoor horticulture from Pro Gardening Systems – 1-866-PGS-GROW

www.advancednutrients.com nutrients for beginners, presents Erik Biksa recommending which nutrients will give beginners the best results in hydroponics, organics and soilless crops

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At the 22nd Cannabis Cup, Erik from Advanced Nutrients gave a lecture on ten ways to improve your grow room. Here are the first four points he discussed.

Short video hydroponic nutrients taking in consideration of Green Electric Minds Community.

Ultimate control of the growing environment for you plants is one of the greatest advantages of hydroponic systems. Plant health is maintained by the proper introduction of nutrients in terms of the amount and what type is assured.  Soil b y nature contains numerous salt and minerals, it does not permit this much flexibility as can be seen with grow mediums. Indoor hydroponic gardens utilize grow mediums which do not contain salts or minerals. This allows the gardener the freedom to control the amount and type of nutrient specifically for their plants.

Nutrient adsorption by soil based plants is done through adsorption of nutrients from decomposed organic materials. Here is a simple description of how these nutrients are formed: organic matter is digested by fungi or eaten by insects and is turned as waste material in the form of compost. This waste material is then digested by microbes which breaks it down to nutrients. The action of water forces this down the ground where they remain until absorbed by plants.

Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) are the three hydroponic nutrients essential for optimal plant growth.  Concentration of each nutrient is found on the solutions labels. 20-20-20 on the labels means the solution contains 20% N, 20% P and 20% K concentration.

Several secondary hydroponic are essential as the plant grows through its different growth phases. Primary hydroponic nutrients combined with this secondary nutrients work to provide optimum plant growth. Examples of these secondary nutrients are Magnesium, Calcium, Iron, Sulfur, Molybdenum and Boron.

 Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2)

 Hydrogen Peroxide is mainly used as a supplement for increasing Oxygen levels in the hydroponic nutrient solution. It also serves to stimulate plant growth and protects the plant against plant pests such as Pythium, Rhizoctonia and Phytophthora organisms. Hydrogen peroxide is also produced by the human body as a antibody to fight against viruses and bacteria in the body.

Hydrogen Peroxide occurs naturally in nature, when water in the atmosphere is exposed to the ozone (O3) it becomes H2O2. It is present in the rain and snow. It is used in indoor hydroponic systems because it oxidizes organic impurities upon contact. Hydrogen peroxide releases one of its oxygen atoms into the nutrient solution leaving water (H2O) as a by product.

 Benefits of Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2)

 Oxygen content is increased in the nutrient solution

Protects and sterilizes growing mediums against harmful bacteria

Kills pythium and other harmful garden organisms

Increases protein development, improves metabolism and increases overall growth and health

Encourages root development in cloned plants and germination of seeds, enabling propagation of difficult plant species

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PH AND PLANT GROWTH

The level of pH in hydroponic nutrients is a very important factor of gardening to consider, whether it is a hydroponic or ordinary gardening. There is a special scale from 1 to 14 to measure pH level. The neutral pH level is 7, below that is acid, and above is alkali.   

The requirements of pH level and its influence on the nutrients differ between ordinary or “dirt” gardening and hydroponic or organic gardening. Since the scope of this article is soilless hydroponic gardening, all the below information refers to hydroponic gardening. 

From technical point of view, pH level defines the potential of hydrogen-hydroxyl ion content of a particular solution. Different solutions can ionize into positive and negative ions. Those ions, which prevail in the solution, define whether the solution is acid or alkali. Acids are those solutions, where there are more positive hydrogen ions than negative hydroxyl ions. The pH level of acids ranges from 1 to 6.9 on the pH scale. Alkaline plant nutrient solutions, on the contrary, have more negative ions and their pH level is 7.1-14 on the scale. The example of neutral solution with pH level at 7 is pure water, in which the amounts of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions are equal. However, in reality water may have both higher and lower levels of pH.

The peculiarity of pH scale is that each unit of scale change equals a ten fold change in the positive/negative ions concentration. This is called logarithmic scale. For example, if a solution carries pH level of 6, it means that this solution is 10 times more acidic than pure water with pH level of 7.0. Consequently, the solution with pH level of 5 is 10 times more acidic than the solution with pH of 6 and 100 times more acidic than pure water with pH level of 7. In practice this logarithmic principle is used, when it is required to adjust the pH level of the solution. For example, if it is necessary to change the pH level from 7 to 5, use 10 times more adjuster than if you were changing the hydroponic nutrient pH level from 7 to 6.

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To succeed in plants growing a gardener must not underestimate plants fertilizing. Too little nourishing may result in the weak and slow-growing plants, while too much fertilizer can burn their roots and even destroy them completely. Therefore, it is important to know the basics of the plants fertilizing, the key facts of which are described below.

 Hydroponic nutrient solutions are available in the shops in the concentrated forms. To make a solution suitable for the plants, it is necessary to add a certain amount of a fertilizer to the water. The ideal ratio of hydroponic nutrient solution contains 150-600 parts per million. The nutrients are usually sold in two or three parts. It is necessary to mix nutrients in water prior to combining several of them together.

 How Much Hydroponic Nutrient Solution to Use?

 Different plants require different concentrations of the nutrients. Moreover, the strength of the solution even depends on the growth stage of the plants. No wonder that hydroponic nutrient solutions can be found in “grow” or “growth” formulas, which are suitable either for the vegetative or blooming stage of the plants. Do not forget to timely switch to the flower stage solution in order to promote richer blooming and fruiting, trying to make the most of every plant.

 Healthy plants growing in the good environment should be watered with regular strength solutions. However, it is possible to use stronger formulations to improve plants efficiency. In this case, grow area should meet all the requirements of the perfect garden, including lighting, ventilation, and aeration. In the presence of such conditions it is recommended to increase nutrient solution strength gradually to avoid roots burning.

 The improvement in the plants growth can be reached with the use of different additives, available in the gardening stores. However, a gardener should always keep the diaries with the description of the additive used and its influence on the plants. This will help to track and timely eliminate any negative plants reactions by cleansing the hydroponic system.

 How to Measure Hydroponic Nutrient Solutions

 To define the strength of the nutrient solution the method of defining electronic conductivity of the minerals dissolved in the water is used. A unit of measure here is called ppm (parts per million). However, this option allows to only approximately define the conductivity, but it does not provide the actual strength figures of the solution. To ease the process of mixing the nutrients, they are sold as the mix of tree parts, which offers a gardener a possibility to change the strength of the solution if necessary.

 Overuse of Hydroponic Fertilizers

 If a gardener suspects over fertilization, he should flush the access nutrients out of the growing medium. Clean water should be used to water the plants until the first signs of the nutrient deficiency are seen. Then it is necessary to return to the usual feeding of the plants. A top down flushing is used to wash the hydroponic solutions taste out of the plants two weeks before harvesting.

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