Permies Poll: Do you Foliar Feed?

Foliar Feeding involves applying a diluted liquid fertilizer onto plant leaves utilizing a mister/sprayer. The idea is that the plant can uptake the nutrients directly through pores and benefit the plants growth.

My question(s) is, do you do it? How often do you do it? If you do it, what kind of sprays do you make?

Mostly no. I'm pretty skeptical of the claim that plants take in nutrients through leaf pores. On the other hand, spraying compost tea on the leaves, to inoculate with good-guy microbes who can fight off the bad guys, seems like a sound practice. (I mostly don't do that either, but I have the kit to make it in five-gallon batches because my wife got interested and did it for a couple years about a decade ago.) I'm kind of a lazy gardener.

Last vote in apple poll was on July 27, 2026

I do foliar feeds as an alternative for more fragile plants, since my fertilizing style tends to be broadcasting rabbit pellets and clumps of yuck from the rabbit cages. Smaller plants may get squashed.

I also like to do foliar feeds with plants that are experiencing pest or mold issues. My tomatoes right now have some powdery mildew (not surprising, for winter tomatoes and very misty weather). This week I'll give them some sort of foliar feed and add something to adjust the pH, hopefully slowing the mold. it's sort of a 2-in-1. In the summer we reach a point where the aphids start attacking the long beans, and so the foliar feed will be something that they don't like (teas made from fermented onion peels or coffee grounds).