Foliar Sprays and PH

[Waira]

GTG, I want a cuppa too- ....very nice juice and dig the the penalty box cage!

Truth is, pH chemistry is a lot more complex that just the numbers, and starts getting into more geeky chemistry concerning "strong acids/bases" vs "weak a/b",... Take a Si supp' solution in RO/Di/low ppm water (meaning no CaCO3 hardness and therefore, pH buffering); Si supp's are very alkaline and if you tested it may read as high as a weak lye solution in tap water. But guess wich one will chemically burn you even at the same pH! .... Or consider your typical soda, rather acidic (3.0 or lower!), that shit can dissolve chicken bones down to cartilage and sinews if in there long enough (ditto for a vinegar solution).... Yet (most) peeps don't have holes in their guts right?... Drink a HNO3, or an HSO4 solution at the same pH and start writing your will! ....This is a broad kinda sweeping example, but you get the gist,...
pH'ing the solution is about making sure the foliar components don't cross react or lockup chemically in a solution that's too far off pH... It changes the form potentially of those nutes, making them unusable or more difficult for the plant to process into forma that can,... Of course, more extreme pH will physically damage as well. In the complex blend you're making, there's all kinds of potential buffering effects, and some are just not that strongly influencing on pH... Non-ionic stuff doesn't affect pH much... think of a sugar solution: sugar can crystallize of course, but unlike a true salt that doesn't just dissolve, but breaks apart into component ions, sugar just separates into intact sugar molecules which don't affect [H+] much if at all,....

GTG, do you use fulvic acid in your foliars? Growshi turned me onto CustomHydronutrients.com, a great resource store, which has powdered fulvic for cheap, $14 /lb... Costs as much to ship it, but still, compared to Ful-Power liquid (awesome stuff) at $20/qt, and pretty dilute, it's the bargain of the decade! Fulvic is amazing stuff, smaller in size vs humic, so the plant can take it right in and use it as a Carbon source, plus it chelates beautifully, protecting the charged nute ions from reacting and becoming unavailable,... Git sum!

 

[Growtogrow]

GTG, I want a cuppa too- ....very nice juice and dig the the penalty box cage!

Truth is, pH chemistry is a lot more complex that just the numbers, and starts getting into more geeky chemistry concerning "strong acids/bases" vs "weak a/b",... Take a Si supp' solution in RO/Di/low ppm water (meaning no CaCO3 hardness and therefore, pH buffering); Si supp's are very alkaline and if you tested it may read as high as a weak lye solution in tap water. But guess wich one will chemically burn you even at the same pH! .... Or consider your typical soda, rather acidic (3.0 or lower!), that shit can dissolve chicken bones down to cartilage and sinews if in there long enough (ditto for a vinegar solution).... Yet (most) peeps don't have holes in their guts right?... Drink a HNO3, or an HSO4 solution at the same pH and start writing your will! ....This is a broad kinda sweeping example, but you get the gist,...
pH'ing the solution is about making sure the foliar components don't cross react or lockup chemically in a solution that's too far off pH... It changes the form potentially of those nutes, making them unusable or more difficult for the plant to process into forma that can,... Of course, more extreme pH will physically damage as well. In the complex blend you're making, there's all kinds of potential buffering effects, and some are just not that strongly influencing on pH... Non-ionic stuff doesn't affect pH much... think of a sugar solution: sugar can crystallize of course, but unlike a true salt that doesn't just dissolve, but breaks apart into component ions, sugar just separates into intact sugar molecules which don't affect [H+] much if at all,....

GTG, do you use fulvic acid in your foliars? Growshi turned me onto CustomHydronutrients.com, a great resource store, which has powdered fulvic for cheap, $14 /lb... Costs as much to ship it, but still, compared to Ful-Power liquid (awesome stuff) at $20/qt, and pretty dilute, it's the bargain of the decade! Fulvic is amazing stuff, smaller in size vs humic, so the plant can take it right in and use it as a Carbon source, plus it chelates beautifully, protecting the charged nute ions from reacting and becoming unavailable,... Git sum!

Yes... The fulvic acid is in the Boogie Brew tea.
I also use orange peels banana peels bananas pretty much anything it's off the fruit table when it goes bad.
Then I'll grind that up in the blender add a wee bit of sugar to it and water and add it to the tea mix and then filter and sprayed on.
About the only bad thing about using the sugar is. it attracts ants.
And they will Farm aphids.. no good. But that's about the only bad thing. And because I spray the tea so often... it blows them right off all the time. I don't worry about them too much anymore. But when I used to worry about them I used to buy the green lacewing larvae. One of them little babies can eat up to 600 aphids before it turns to a fly. And also they stick around better than ladybugs. If they have a little home almost all of them will stay and relay eggs for a new army of Defenders. Are the Warriors of your plant natural Warriors battle-hardened.

One of the big things that I've changed was...I use vermiculite more now. It has silica in it a lot of natural silica...the cannabis plant loves silica.

 

[Waira]

Lacewing larvae are badass! Agreed, the fliers are hard to keep around long enough to be effective, Ladybug and Lacewing, it's the baby-monsters that are the real workers...
...this reminds me to get a couple things I need yet, one of which is SNS209, a natural systemic that's served me well in the past.. rosemeric acid, gets into the sap I think and make it taste bad... thrips hate it, aphids too but it doesn't stop them from shitting babies all over- ...'pillars dislike it, feed poorly but it's no panacea! One hitch, you have to stop it a couple-few weeks before harvest to let it metabolize out, and that's when the fucking budworms start their shit up!
I'm toying with the idea of putting up some 'squiter netting during bloom, but it'll be a real PITA and I have to convince the client/friends it's worth the eye sore!

 

[Growtogrow]

Lacewing larvae are badass! Agreed, the fliers are hard to keep around long enough to be effective, Ladybug and Lacewing, it's the baby-monsters that are the real workers...
...this reminds me to get a couple things I need yet, one of which is SNS209, a natural systemic that's served me well in the past.. rosemeric acid, gets into the sap I think and make it taste bad... thrips hate it, aphids too but it doesn't stop them from shitting babies all over- ...'pillars dislike it, feed poorly but it's no panacea! One hitch, you have to stop it a couple-few weeks before harvest to let it metabolize out, and that's when the fucking budworms start their shit up!
I'm toying with the idea of putting up some 'squiter netting during bloom, but it'll be a real PITA and I have to convince the client/friends it's worth the eye sore!

When you make up a foliar tea mix add insect frass to it... make an insect frass tea.. insect frass is very nasty and they don't like to bite through it and it burns them as well and it washes right off your plant at harvest time. With h202 bath. Then your smoking clean fresh herb.