Water use per sq ft
Hey I had heard to use 100 gallons/acre for soil drench and 25 gal/acre for foliar. At our current bed setup of 1440 sq ft thats only 3 gal for soil drench and 0.75 gal for foliar which seems like way too low a number to effectively reach everything. Has anyone had any experience on this or has a recommendation on water usage to mix inputs with per acre/sq ft?
The answer
For soil applications, use 4 to 5 gallons of solution per 100 square feet and water it in with about 15 gallons.
For foliar applications, it depends on your sprayer. The smaller the droplets, the less you need to use. If the droplets are 50 microns or smaller, 20 gallons will cover an acre. At 100 microns, it takes 8 times as much to cover the same area. These numbers assume that you are using JWA, if not, double them.
How do you determine your micron size? The quick and easy way is to spray it in the air, if it is a fine just and floats away, it is roughly 50 microns. If it does not float away, it is 100+.
If half of the spray floats and half falls immediately, two things are true.
1. You need a better nozzle
2. At 50/50, you need 6x the volume
At 75/25, you need 4x the volume
From the KNF library
From the KNF library
Drafted by Claude from Office Hours and the books
·
Sep 2026
·
6 sources
The library confirms the rates you heard. Master Cho recommends 25 gallons per acre when spraying and 100 gallons per acre when drenching through the roots. (Office Hours Ep. 125, 20:43)
Drake keeps the dilution the same and changes only the volume. A drench takes 100 gallons per acre against 25 for foliar. (Office Hours Ep. 9, 47:33)
The library scales those rates down by area. A quarter acre takes roughly 6 to 6.5 gallons foliar, or about 25 gallons for a soil drench. (Office Hours Ep. 37, 17:21) One source has structure sprays misted at 25 gallons per acre every 7 to 11 days. (Office Hours Ep. 142, 37:50)
Drench volumes vary by input:
- JMS goes on at about 100 gallons per acre to soak the top quarter inch of soil. (Office Hours Ep. 138, 1:03:30)
- After IMO, the soil foundation formula drench is 2,000 gallons per acre. (Office Hours Ep. 142, 16:34)
The library does not say whether 3 gallons wets a 1,440 sq ft bed evenly.
Sources
- 1:03:30 Office Hours Ep. 138 (Aug 2024) — JADAM Microbial Solution, IMO Grading, No-Smell Pig Pens · “apply about 100 gallons per acre to soak the top quarter inch of soil”
- 20:43 Office Hours Ep. 125 (May 2024) — Drip Irrigation Rates, Wetting Agents, and pH in KNF · “Master Cho recommends 25 gallons per acre when spraying and 100 gallons per acre when drenching through the roots.”
- 16:34 Office Hours Ep. 142 (Sep 2024) — IMO Application Rates, Root Knot Nematodes, JADAM Fertilizer Ratios · “then drench with soil foundation formula at 2,000 gallons per acre”
- 47:33 Office Hours Ep. 9 (Nov 2021) — OHN Extraction, Salted Land Remediation, Foliar vs Drench Rates · “Keep the same dilution, like 1:500 for can food, and just apply more volume: 100 gallons per acre drenched vs 25 foliar.”
- 17:21 Office Hours Ep. 37 (Jul 2022) — New KNF Vocabulary, Seawater Ratios, Sandy Soil Fixes · “That's about a quarter acre, roughly 6 to 6.5 gallons for a foliar spray or about 25 gallons for a soil drench.”
- 37:50 Office Hours Ep. 142 (Sep 2024) — IMO Application Rates, Root Knot Nematodes, JADAM Fertilizer Ratios · “recommended frequency is every 7 to 11 days, misted at 25 gallons per acre.”
