SteveT
March 5th, 2005, 08:47 AM
Alright, you wanted to know so here it is.
Foliar feeding is feeding the plant through the leaves rather than through the roots. To understand this you will need a small primer on water uptake.
Plants consist of just as much water as we do, infact more I think. A plant will repond with growths depending on its source of water. Paphs produce water roots and air roots, even though the hairs (pelotons) may look the same, they are not! The water roots are adjusted to not rot under those conditions (these are the roots made in flask) and air roots which will absorb water very quickly when given the opportunity. Roots will also form and elongate in response to the water needs on the plant. If your mix has plenty of water available to the plant, the roots won't be as long, because it doesn't have to search for water very hard. If your mix is drier, the roots will grow long, and be out and about scavenging for moisture.
Plants also have another mechanism for absorbing water into their system. They can do it through their leaves. But like all things, a plant must be trained to do it if it is not used to it. I can tell if a plant is new to my greenhouse just by looking at the leaves. After watering, all my old plants have leaves that quickly become dry because they have been trained to get their water through their leaves! The new ones to the collection just sit there and go "huh?" and still have water droplets on them until they realize that is going to be their source of water. It only takes a month or so for the plant to realize what is going on and to adjust itself.
What is the upshot of this? Well, what it means is I don't have to really worry about my plants roots. They feed through their leaves, which can probably absorb more water than the roots, and there is no need for translocation of the water from root to leaf. It also means I can take a plant into my collection that has no roots at all, and in a short while it will make a few tiny roots, and then be as happy as the rest.
There are many disadvantages to foliar feeding however. Because you must use a misting system, the water gets into the crown of the plants. This won't rot the plant, because the plant is now used to it, however it CAN rot a flower bud! So when I see a flower bud forming, I have to move it to where it isn't getting much moisture, and start watering the media while keeping most of the leaves dry. I have developed a new method to solve this problem however, and it looks very cool. I have an orchid wall. The pots are attached to hooks, and the orchids are suspended from the wall, This allows the growths to hang slightly sideways so no moisture remains in the crown, while a moisturizing hose drips water down the walls and into the medium to keep the plant quite happy.
When using a foliar feeding system, your media is most important. Well, like what? My medium consists of rocks and a little bit of organic matter. But mostly rocks. Yes, it sure is cheap, and it is very close to what they get in nature. And I never have to worry about over watering them because the rocks drain water like sand, and the frequency of watering holds the the humidity and moisture high no matter what.
Foliar feeding is feeding the plant through the leaves rather than through the roots. To understand this you will need a small primer on water uptake.
Plants consist of just as much water as we do, infact more I think. A plant will repond with growths depending on its source of water. Paphs produce water roots and air roots, even though the hairs (pelotons) may look the same, they are not! The water roots are adjusted to not rot under those conditions (these are the roots made in flask) and air roots which will absorb water very quickly when given the opportunity. Roots will also form and elongate in response to the water needs on the plant. If your mix has plenty of water available to the plant, the roots won't be as long, because it doesn't have to search for water very hard. If your mix is drier, the roots will grow long, and be out and about scavenging for moisture.
Plants also have another mechanism for absorbing water into their system. They can do it through their leaves. But like all things, a plant must be trained to do it if it is not used to it. I can tell if a plant is new to my greenhouse just by looking at the leaves. After watering, all my old plants have leaves that quickly become dry because they have been trained to get their water through their leaves! The new ones to the collection just sit there and go "huh?" and still have water droplets on them until they realize that is going to be their source of water. It only takes a month or so for the plant to realize what is going on and to adjust itself.
What is the upshot of this? Well, what it means is I don't have to really worry about my plants roots. They feed through their leaves, which can probably absorb more water than the roots, and there is no need for translocation of the water from root to leaf. It also means I can take a plant into my collection that has no roots at all, and in a short while it will make a few tiny roots, and then be as happy as the rest.
There are many disadvantages to foliar feeding however. Because you must use a misting system, the water gets into the crown of the plants. This won't rot the plant, because the plant is now used to it, however it CAN rot a flower bud! So when I see a flower bud forming, I have to move it to where it isn't getting much moisture, and start watering the media while keeping most of the leaves dry. I have developed a new method to solve this problem however, and it looks very cool. I have an orchid wall. The pots are attached to hooks, and the orchids are suspended from the wall, This allows the growths to hang slightly sideways so no moisture remains in the crown, while a moisturizing hose drips water down the walls and into the medium to keep the plant quite happy.
When using a foliar feeding system, your media is most important. Well, like what? My medium consists of rocks and a little bit of organic matter. But mostly rocks. Yes, it sure is cheap, and it is very close to what they get in nature. And I never have to worry about over watering them because the rocks drain water like sand, and the frequency of watering holds the the humidity and moisture high no matter what.