I know the general rule is not to spray anything while in flower but every time I think of this is usually applies to IPM. I have recently started making some foliage KNF (LAB, FFJ, water soluble calcium) inputs as well as purchased some other foliage spray products such humic acids and magnesium.
Now I know all these inputs can be used as soil drench but what’s everyone’s feelings on spraying these types of things while in flower?
I’ve heard of people keeping lower fans while sort of “lolypopping” to do this, but that’s all I got
My feelings vary based on the breakdown rate of what’s being sprayed. If it breaks down in a few weeks under light/heat, it’s fine. If it’s safe to smoke, it’s fine. If it’s gonna turn into arsenic when I light my bowl, pass. 
KNF products are probably on the safer side, I’d think, but haven’t done the research to know for sure. One note on the calcium spray, I seem to recall hearing that calcium is too large to enter through the stomata so it might not work. One more thing to research if you want to be 100% certain all this is safe and effective, heh.
Yeah Im sure the FFJ and calcium would be fine but I can’t find much about smoking humic acid residue left on buds but I’m sure it’s probably not ideal. There is also risks of botrytis with wetting down buds. I guess when in doubt it’s better just to take the safer route and leave the spraysoff for veg and early flower.
For the calcium as a spray I got the recipe here, super easy to make and apply - https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/sa-10.pdf
My instincts say only if necessary but maybe do a test & only treat part of it… see what happens… SCIENCE! 
I guess the more logical question id have to ask,
What would be the benefits of a foliar vs a root drench be? Anything? Guess I’m just trying to figure out what u would gain going that route? Roots are established and developed and should easily be able to uptake all the nutrients that plant needs and is available to it, not seeing any added benefits of a foliar 🤷
Trichomes are produced by plants as a reaction to dry environments, so maybe consider that when you decide whether or not you want to mist buds 
I use foliar sprays all through veg and into flowering until I see flowers forming and from then on the plants are fed via the roots.
There are a few reasons foliage sprays are good but I’m mostly interested in the speed at which a plant can intake nutrients is supposedly increased. This would mean when I’m seeing deficiencies (as I sometimes do with new strains) I could act faster with a spray than a root drench or dry amendments. I wanted to see what other people were doing with KNF inputs as sprays and if they felt differently about it in flower.
Right which is absolutely wonderful for veg since the plant is trying to uptake and store as much mobile nutrients as it can , but once a plant hits flower it’s got a hell of a nutrient storage and root system to sustain itself plenty. Gotta remember it’s a weed, it will persist on and doesn’t always need to be an immediate fix cuz with growing nothing is immediate. With a healthy root system by flower any tea u throw at it and it’s gonna start to uptake it overnight, u may cut off a couple hours foliar spraying but it’s not enough of a benefit to suggest putting all kinds of shits and extras all over ur flowers. If ur concerned about getting deficiencies then u may need to take a closer look at ur inputs and recipes. If ur using a balanced compost tea recipes then deficiencies rarely come up and the solution is just a heavier hand dumping tea
Personally I’d just work on having a better soil mix to start with, so you don’t encounter those deficiencies later on. I know that’s easier said than done when you’re already in flower.
But for the next round and future grows, focus on mixing a soil that will see the plants right through to flower without the need to foliar. You could still foliar during veg to keep them in peak condition, and do some topdressing in the week before/first week of flower to help see them through.
These are all good points. There really isn’t a great need for flower foliage sprays and the risks are high, no matter what I am spraying. I guess the sage advice stands. Both @AzSeaindooin420 and @SonsOfAvery nailed it with putting the focus back on the soil. This will solve all problems easily.
100% true that plants absorb nutrients faster through a foliar feeding. You can verify that through general gardening info. It’s a bandaid to a nutrient deficiency while you make the larger adjustment, ie changing nutrient solution, adjusting soil etc. That’s also the reason most bloom stimulants and b vitamins(which are most grow foliar sprays) are applied this way.
Yup! Usually foliar feedings are to push the plant along when a root zone is compromised or soil is getting major changes or in veg to promote faster and more vigorous growth but leaves cant uptake all the nutrients, stomatas aren’t big enough to uptake calcium and a couple others so is still important the roots get some love
When flower hits u ain’t gonna make it grow faster or cut off flower time and plant should be stocked up on nutrients already and a healthy root zone to keep pushing forward for its life cycle. It’s pretty rare anyone let’s a plant flower if the roots are compromised or the plant is dealing with issues so usually safe to say a flowering plant is typically healthy before it’s flip
I’ll probably catch some Flak for this but I have been doing periodic Ozone water sprays in flower with room temperature water from time to time for my IPM management on flowering plants and I haven’t seen mold at all Tricome production is not harmed in any way and my flower is clean of all tent dust I use it to sterilize the sides and floor of the tent clean as a whistle
i can confirm, i have grown around 600yd from the ocean in where the marine layer traps between the pacific and the sc mountain range, 100% humidity all night long all year for the most part, wind coming in a tunnel straight from the ocean.
what im saying is the fog or mist is such fine particle that it does not hurt the plant, the salt in it etc, but if you sprayed the same concentration of salt water on the plant maybe it would hurt it because youre going to inevitably create larger droplets.
perhaps if you had a sterile room to provide the perfect mist to emulate sea or mountain fog it could provide a benefit.
use that as a general rule - but don’t like to spray when in flower - not even in preflower - nutrient up-take in spraying is faster as for hand feeding nutrients which takes about 1 week for it to up-take
I don’t know if I agree with a week, when I feed my teas it’s always the following two days I see the plants explode with growth and slows a lil as it gets closer to being due for the next feeding
What’s your tea recipe?
