Why Fogponics is best for Cloning

Lots of growers have never heard of FogPonics, and others who have heard of it or seen the method done still might have questions about the value of the process. Why is FogPonics so great for cloning and other uses?

The answer has to do with the ways that cloned plants develop and their particular needs.

What is FogPonics?

FogPonics is essentially a type of foliar feeding -- it's a supplemental feeding strategy for plants.

Think of it this way -- the classical way that hydroponic plants are irrigated is through their root systems. But sometimes that's not the only way to go.

FogPonics and other kinds of alternative feeding involves spraying a mist of nutrient-rich water onto plants stems and leaves. The plants actually take in this mixture through glands called stomata. It gets into the plant system and provides extra nourishment.

Value of FogPonics in Cloning

There’s a very straightforward reason that FogPonics is one of the best methods for those who are cloning plants.

Clones are cuttings off of mother plants. As such, they do not have developed root systems. So it's going to be extremely difficult for plants to take in water and nutrient solution through their roots. They may be able to absorb a mixture through the bottom of their stem, like cut flowers, but in a lot of cases that's really not optimal. So growers adopt a FogPonics practice and spray the plants.

You can think of this in any number of ways - you can think about it as a kind of “sauna” for plants, or an “environmental feeding strategy” where there's nutrient rich water floating around in a grow space.

In any case, FogPonics helps growers make sure that clones can thrive and develop and eventually put out their own root systems. Sometimes they then transition into traditional hydroponics that doesn’t involve foliar feeding. Or they keep using FogPonics all the way through the vegetative and flowering phases.

The question of how much to use FogPonics really just involves your infrastructure. If you're spraying by hand, you probably won't want to keep this up over the entire lifecycle of the plant. On the other hand, if you have a kind of mist or spray sprinkler system, the kind they use in supermarkets to keep produce fresh, you may want to continue FogPonics for the entire life cycle.

For more about all of the choices that you have to make in hydroponics, check out what Dealzer offers, and how we can outfit your hydroponic solutions for success.