Grow Guide

Both Foliar and Fertigated fertilisers have unique benefits, it is not so much about choosing one application method over the other, but rather employing them both properly. Primarily plants should be fed through their roots, in which the highest density of specialised ion carriers are located. Optimal root nutrition cannot be substituted and is the basis for high yields and low disease levels. However, there are circumstances in which Foliar applications can be superior to Fertigation. Fertigation should be applied as a complete ionic solution during every irrigation event in substrate production, and at regular intervals in soil plantings. Fertigation allows nutrients to follow the field irrigation pattern and because plant roots will grow where the water is, nutrients are applied effortlessly to the root zone with high efficiency. Fertigation limits leaching and volatilisation by applying manageable amounts of nutrients, direct to the root zone, resulting in higher yields and lower input costs than broadcast applications. On the other hand, Foliar applications are sometimes best for certain nutrients such as Calcium, as well as for overcoming unfavourable growing media conditions, such as pH discrepancies or root zone ion imbalances. Foliar applications result in the direct uptake of nutrients to the leaves and require a far lesser concentration of solution than Fertigation, increasing fertiliser efficiency. Often during times of intense generative demand, the physiological capabilities of the root mass is overwhelmed, resulting in sub-optimal yields and vigour. This is a unique scenario in which Foliar applications are superior to Fertigation, providing a distinctive benefit that root assimilation cannot. Foliar applications can also be used in the rapid correction of elemental deficiencies, or to help overcome root damage and disease. It should be noted that there are difficult leaf charge gradients to be overcome when applying Foliar fertilisers, that is why every single purpose made Foliar product offered by Renovum contains superior natural chelation (eXo). eXo improves uptake markedly by wrapping the element in a protective coating that neutralises ionic charge, overcoming the leaf charge gradient, while keeping the molecule small enough to be absorbed through leaf pores.