Hy-pro - Spraymix

Concentrated foliar feed with more than 25 minerals and trace elements. 5 ml per litre of lukewarm water, every other day, to run-off on both sides of the leaf. Growth phase only: do not spray it on flowers.

Not on the flowers, and that is the most important line on the bottle

Hy-pro attach one restriction that weighs more than the rest of the instructions put together: do not spray the product on flowers, and use it only during growth.

That is not a product limitation but a growing rule, and it holds for nearly every foliar spray. A flower is densely packed tissue that holds moisture. Water that dries off a leaf in half an hour sits in a flower head for hours, sometimes the whole dark period. Precisely that, moisture that will not dry out of dense tissue, is the condition botrytis waits for.

So the sum is lopsided. What you gain is a feed you could have given through the root anyway. What you risk is a head rotting from the inside, which you only see when you open it.

Hence this belongs in the growth phase and not after it. Once there are flowers, the foliar spray has done its job.

More than 25 elements, and no list

Hy-pro describe the composition as a formula of more than twenty-five different minerals and trace elements. What is in it exactly and in what amounts they do not publish, so we print no list.

What they do state is the purpose: helping the plant build resistance to negative outside influences, and supporting the production of new leaves. They name fungi such as mildew and botrytis, sucking insects such as thrips, and damage from very bright sunlight.

That is a resilience claim and not a control claim, and the distinction is worth holding on to: this is nutrition that makes a plant tougher, not a product that clears an infestation already under way.

Every other day, and with lukewarm water

The dose is 5 ml of concentrate per litre of lukewarm water. That lukewarm is not a detail you can skip: it is in the instructions and helps the concentrate dissolve.

Hy-pro hold to every other day through the growth period, spraying until the crop is dripping wet, on the upper and the under side of the leaf. The underside is where most of the stomata are, so spraying only from above leaves most of the uptake capacity unused.

Spray at the start of the morning as the light comes on, or at the end of the day as it goes off. Store and use the product at room temperature.

Concentrate or ready to use

This is the concentrated version. Hy-pro also sell the same spray mix ready to use in a one-litre bottle, which you do not dilute.

The difference is larger than the name suggests: one litre of this concentrate makes roughly two hundred litres of spray at 5 ml per litre. One litre of the ready-to-use version makes one litre. So check carefully which of the two you are holding before you measure anything.

Available sizes

Technical Specifications:

• Type: concentrated foliar feed
• Manufacturer: Hy-pro
• Composition: more than 25 minerals and trace elements, not further specified
• Dose: 5 ml per litre of lukewarm water
• Frequency: every other day through the growth period
• Application: to run-off, upper and under side of the leaf
• Timing: start of the morning or end of the day
• Do not: spray it on flowers, or use it after the growth phase
• Storage: at room temperature

Frequently asked questions

Why not spray it on flowers?
A flower is dense tissue that holds moisture for hours, and that is exactly the condition botrytis starts in. Hy-pro state it explicitly.

Why the underside of the leaf too?
That is where most of the stomata are. Spraying only from above leaves most of the uptake unused.

Does it control mildew or thrips?
No. Hy-pro speak of building resistance to such influences, which is not the same as clearing an infestation already present.

What is in it?
Hy-pro give more than 25 minerals and trace elements without specifying them, so we print no list.

How does it differ from the ready-to-use version?
This one you dilute at 5 ml per litre, so a litre makes about two hundred litres of spray. The ready-to-use bottle you do not dilute.