Foilar Spray

I read on some website that foliar feeding with compost tea (from a worm bin) helps the plant in more than one way.

What really caught my attention is that apparently it also helps the plant build a certain immunity against pests and disease.


Anyone want to elaborate on this? What's your experience?

Is there an existing forum?

Some of the theory of using a beneficial organism (bacteria/fungi) compost tea solution as a foliar spray, is that it fills the niche open to pathogens. As with many aspects of horticulture, competition is a great method for preventing growth of unwanted things (weeds, bacteria, fungi etc). Another point is that by using a foliar spray, you are providing symbiotic organisms on the leaf tissue which can help the plant (depends on organism and relationship). This is a bit like why you would apply compost tea to the roots, to form symbiotic relationships in the rhizosphere, the same occurs in leaf tissue. Another point is that compost teas have some levels of nutrient, which can be directly absorbed by the leaf tissue, providing additional resources to the photosynthetic area of the plant. This not only helps plant growth, but increases vitality and reduces potential for pest attack.

Hope this gives you some of the reasoning behind the practice. More details are available around depending on what specifically you are trying to achieve.

cannaculturalist said:

More details are available around depending on what specifically you are trying to achieve.

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I am more interested in the theory of "Compost tea" serving as a preventive agent against powdery mildew, even in damp cool climates.

Have you read "Teaming with Microbes" yet? This book has a lot of good information on compost teas and there respective applications as well as a moderately in depth look at the soil food web. Thought I'd add something that may or may be relevant depending on how you look at it - How about a similar method of brewing beneficial bacteria to apply topically to wounds. This would be applied to livestock pets etc with possible future integration with human medicine. Stoned. Just finished smoking my first harvest. Can you believe I got some cheese from bag seed?

Compost tea aint gana do jack shit against PM if your humidity is too high.

AllenHaze said:

Have you read "Teaming with Microbes" yet? This book has a lot of good information on compost teas and there respective applications as well as a moderately in depth look at the soil food web. Thought I'd add something that may or may be relevant depending on how you look at it - How about a similar method of brewing beneficial bacteria to apply topically to wounds. This would be applied to livestock pets etc with possible future integration with human medicine. Stoned. Just finished smoking my first harvest. Can you believe I got some cheese from bag seed?

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Cheese? Thats Awesome. Send me some beans, I am willing to do a trade. I have some killer purple strains I have been breeding for 3 years now...

Is there an ideal ppm for foliage sprays?

AllenHaze said:

Have you read "Teaming with Microbes" yet? This book has a lot of good information on compost teas and there respective applications as well as a moderately in depth look at the soil food web.

Click to expand...

Who is the author? There are a few books with the same tittle.