During the growing season, certain situations may come between your vegetable crops and the nutrients they want. Growth phases, weather conditions, soil pH and reduced soil nutrients can leave your vegetables lacking. When the plants’ root activity is restricted or soil nutrients are in short supply, foliar feedings go straight to needy stems and leaves. Whether boosting general cutting or growth shortages, foliar fertilizer shouldn’t be used to replace feeding crops through healthy soil, but it might help supplement whatever assist the plants need.
Seasonal Timing
Whatever inhibits vegetable crops’ root activity slows their nutrient absorption and opens the doorway for foliar help. Cold soil and overly wet land often cause temporary nutrient deficiencies, especially when they coincide with transplanting vegetables outside. Young vegetable crops need time to settle in, and inhospitable conditions lengthen root alteration. Foliar feeding provides nutrition until roots may draw it from the soil. Long-term deficiencies happen anytime soil pH or other conditions restrict nutrient availability. Foliar fertilizer offsets shortages and overcomes soil pH by bypassing or avoiding the problems.
Optimal Conditions
Time of day and weather conditions affect a foliar fertilizer’s safety and effectiveness. Plan applications around a rain-free forecast, cloudy skies and calm winds to protect wet, freshly sprayed vegetable foliage from rain, sunlight and wind exposure. Avoid spraying at midday, which is when temperatures reach their peak. Morning or late-afternoon spraying reduces the risk of foliage burn. Openings on vegetable leaves stay open at cooler temperatures and absorb nutrients more openly. Even when mixing or applying a organic foliar fertilizer, wear protective clothing, including safety goggles, and avoid the fertilizer contacting exposed skin. Wash thoroughly with soap and water after blending and with the fertilizer.
General Nutrition
Water-soluble fish emulsion is a safe and effective vegetable foliar fertilizer for transplant support or general nutrient boosts. Used as directed, the delicate, diluted solution provides vital plant nutrients and won’t burn stressed leaves. Deodorized products cut to the odor — and feline visitors. 1 fish emulsion foliar fertilizer involves combining 1 tablespoon of 2-4-0.5 fish emulsion fertilizer with 1 gallon of water at a garden sprayer to treat 250 square feet of vegetable garden each month. Spray vegetable stems and leaves with a fine mist of the mixture to the stage it runs off these plant parts. Apply any extra to the ground for vegetable plants’ roots.
Particular Nutrients
Nutrient-specific foliar fertilizers help prevent or treat deficiencies. Tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum, formerly Lycopersicon esculentum), which are tender perennials at U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 11, succumb to blossom end rot due to calcium deficiency. A shortage of calcium in soil and an excessive amount of nitrogen are among variables that limit calcium uptake by plants, and heavy rains leach it from soil. Foliar fertilizer bypasses those difficulties and can keep tomato plants healthy. Mix 4 tablespoons of iron, 9.20-percent calcium concentrate fertilizer with 1 gallon of water, and spray tomato crops with the mixture until they drip. Use the mixture as a temporary supplement for those plants through their rapid growth phases and after heavy rains. An application can be repeated every five to seven days prior to the underlying terms ease.