Whenever I get the chance to speak I always like to use illustrations to point out key principles. One of my favorites is to ask a mixed audience if anybody likes to make cake from scratch. Without fail, several people will raise their hands.

Then I ask the cake makers what would happen if the liquid ingredients in a cake batter were doubled while the dry ingredients were cut in half. What would you take out of the oven? It is fun to watch the look of horror and disgust on their faces.

Then comes the punch line: There is an ideal ratio between liquid and dry ingredients in a cake batter. Would you agree that ratios are important when making a cake? The answer, of course, is full agreement. Ratios matter.

There is a miracle all around us, hidden in plain sight. So common, its value is taken for granted. I am referring to the miracle of the green leaf. Without it there would be no food supply, oxygen to breathe, or even life.

It always amazes me that the food industry must rely on the green leaf to make sugars--primarily sugar cane and sugar beets. There is no sugar on the market that didn't first originate in a green leaf. With all of mankind's collective knowledge about chemistry and physics, there is zero synthesized sugar. What is so hard about forming a simple molecule of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen? Every plant around us can make sugars, but no chemist can. Hmmm.

One of the important reasons to foliar spray is to guide or direct plant physiology. Before doing this with foliar sprays you must understand the plant you are growing.

Plants have two basic modes or states they can be in. Either they are growing vegetatively or they are growing reproductively. In the vegetative mode plants vigorously produce stalks, stems, and leaves. Growth or vegetative energy also helps plants bulk up or increase in size. Reproductive energy results in the formation of blossoms, flowers, and pod set.

Let's look at the life cycle of a few crops to see these two modes in action.

There is no question that foliar feeding plants is an investment in time and resources. Is it worth it? Does it pay? The bottom line question we all need to answer is:

Why Foliar Spray?

There are many benefits to foliar feeding. In this article I will touch upon the main reasons why foliar feeding should be a part of your Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

1) Foliar feeding is a toolbox full of tools.

Have you ever met a professional mechanic? A mechanic uses his or her understanding of engines and machines and combines that with physical effort to fix all sorts of problems.