Foliar Spraying....

myamberdog · Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 8:37 pm Post subject: Foliar Spraying....

Has anyone in the desert done foliar spraying? I'm curious if the excessive heat we have, from now thru September (at least!), makes spraying dangerous for mangoes. You know, burning the leaves and such. I bought all this stuff over the winter, and just haven't had the courage to try it yet. Still sticking to regular watering can fertilizing for the time being.....

Any experience out there?

MDog

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 7:39 pm Post subject:

I have poured foliar chelated iron mixture over the leaves on mango trees in the evening after the sun went down, in the summer, and had no troubles. Just make sure that the mix is the recommended concentration for foliar as per. the bottle, and that foliar use is indicated on the bottle.

myamberdog · Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 11:16 am Post subject:

Great....thanks PT - I think I'm going to spray a few leaves on a few diff. plants and wait a week and check out the reaction....of course now that it's cooled off a bit, I should really do it today or tomorrow as a full on spraying maybe....then when it gets hotter try testing first....

Yes, dilute the concentrate of these foliar fertilizers - I fully intend on doing that properly....

thanks again.....M.A.Dog

Datropicalman · Joined: 22 Sep 2010 Posts: 132 Location: phx

Have used both Hep 35 and a compost tea. Like both

myamberdog · Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 9:17 pm Post subject:

and....DTM.....the leaves don't burn if you do this when you spray them in the summer?

myamberdawg

darkcoolboo · Joined: 17 Nov 2014 Posts: 129

I JUST GOT THE BEST IDEA! I think foliar spray and fish emulsion should be the only things we should use. Foliar spray has no salt and doesn't get 'locked' away in the high pH soil. Fish is simply awesome.

myamberdog · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:20 pm Post subject:

I agree, fish emulsion is great stuff....but....again.....I've
never had luck with foliar spraying in the summer - some
leaves seem to burn.......

darkcoolboo · Joined: 17 Nov 2014 Posts: 129

Do you know what Hep 35 is? I can't find it at my local HD.

raimeiken · Joined: 27 Feb 2012 Posts: 51

you won't find it at your local stores. Hep 35 is mainly sold to or at agricultural store.

I use Dyna gro's Foliage pro. You can find it at Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Dyna-Gro-DYFOL008-Foliage-Pro-11/dp/B003SUT6VS/
I get good results with it on my salt sensitive tropicals. It's the only fertilizer I use on them. I've tried the slow release ferts that I use on citruses here but that has cause a lot of salt burn and almost lost a few trees with it. I use it for foliar spray and soil drench.

For Iron, I recently just got this: Grow More Iron EDDHA Chelate 6%
http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/gm-eddha-iron-5lb.html

The iron chelate version works specifically for our high PH soil and water. Expensive stuff but it'll last me a long time.

Another popular option for that type of Iron chelate is Sequestrene 138, but the cheapest place I found online for that is around $80 for 5lbs.

myamberdog · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 12:21 pm Post subject:

good info...thanks Raime!

M.A.D.

darkcoolboo · Joined: 17 Nov 2014 Posts: 129

Aren't all plants salt sensitive if you think about it? do you recommend HEP35 over Dyna - Gro? which agri store might i find hep35? Thanks for the info for iron, but I'll stick with granular Ironite until I use up my stash.

raimeiken · Joined: 27 Feb 2012 Posts: 51

True about the salt sensitivity, but some are more likely to get affected easily, like my Longans, jaboticaba, and mangoes. My citruses, guavas, and bananas on the other hand show no signs of salt burn for me so I use the granular slow release ferts on them.

I've had great results with foliage pro, and its got a lot of great reviews online both from regular gardeners like us and also large nurseries. I have no experience with Hep35, but I hear its good stuff too but it's not readily available for purchase to us small time gardeners. Shamus has it and uses it on all his plants. He buys it in large quantities when he goes to Florida. He has mentioned to me the idea of portioning it in smaller quantities and selling it. You might wanna ask him about it when you visit him next time.

Irionite is ok, but that EDDHA type of iron chelate works better for our conditions here, so you'll see better and faster results with it.

darkcoolboo · Joined: 17 Nov 2014 Posts: 129

Speaking of longans, have your longans produced yet? I'm starting to deem lychee/longan too much of a hassle for such a meager output. Sure, their only problem is the salt, wind, pretty much everything else, but still produce. I might look into container culture.

raimeiken · Joined: 27 Feb 2012 Posts: 51

mine flowered and had fruit last year but I pulled them off since I want the trees to grow taller before I let them hold fruit. Longans are easy except for the salt thing. They had no cold/frost damage at all from this winter when I had 2 nights at 28f, and another 3 nights at 30f. Full sun isn't a problem either for them. Lychee would be neat to grow but I think they're a bit more work. They are more cold hardy, but they'll need sun protection and higher humidity I think.

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:03 pm Post subject:

I have a Kohala Longan that is really productive for its size. Only problem is that the plant itself is a slow grower, maybe because it was propagated vegetatively. Also, there is a lot of root competition were it is planted.

My Brewsters Lychee was a small tree for years but recently really took off. I started putting my grass clippings around it every time after I mowed the lawn and this seems to be the source of its recent growth spurt. However, it only produced fruit twice, and not very many. This year should be interesting fruit wise because it probably sized up by a multiple of 5 this year. It went from calf height to over my head.