Foliar spraying, either for IPM, fixing minor deficiencies or general beneficials, has to be the least favourite part of growing for me. Especially in later stages of veg, when plants get big and hard to move around. When they are still young it’s easy to pick up a pot and give the plant a thorough spraying on undersides of leaves, stems, the whole surface. But once they get big… whew!
My problem is potentiated by (or even completely stems from) the lack of suitable space for foliar spraying. I’d love to have a bathroom or bespoke tiled space where I could make a mess and then easily clean up after. Instead, I have to do it in a confined space which is really not suitable and hard to tidy up - either my utility space or my garden shed.
What I end up doing:
- move all plants out of my 4x4 tent,
- set up a large tarp over the tent and on the ground,
- spray plants on tarp, try to get all leaves undersides and stems,
- move plant 1 by 1 to another tarp to drip off,
- wipe off and clean the tarp,
- fold the tarp, move it ouf of the way,
- move plants 1 by 1 back to tent,
- wip off and clean the drip-off tarp,
- clean up random droplets from moving plants back inside tent,
- disassemble and clean spraying equipment.
As you can see it’s a lot of work, the plants are heavy and hard to move around, I end up soaking wet… So I’m think there has to be a better way for this to be done. So I am asking you guys how do you manage foliar spraying in indoor tent setups? How do you make sure that every inch of a plant is sprayed (important for IPM)? Do you spray inside tent? How do you protect all your non-waterproof equipment then? Any other ideas?
Thanks for your thoughts!
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