How to fertilise indoor plants

The importance of fertilising indoor plants is often overlooked, but regular feeding is essential for healthy, beautiful plants.

Many people overlook the importance of fertilising indoor plants, but feeding is essential to keeping beautiful plants healthy. Unlike an outdoor garden, where nature provides rain and plants can send new roots searching for food, the nutrients available to a houseplant are strictly limited to the amount of dirt in the pot.

Think of fertiliser as the second half of your potting soil. When your potting soil is fresh, your plants won’t need much, if any, fertiliser. This is especially true of modern, fortified potting soils, which often have fertiliser and other enhancements mixed in. But after about two months, the plant will have consumed the nutrients in the soil, so you’ll have to fertilise it if you want healthy growth to continue.

As a word of warning, always follow the label instructions on your fertiliser. Too much fertiliser can kill a plant or scorch its leaves, and there are environmental concerns when it comes to fertiliser overuse as these nutrient-rich solutions find their way into groundwater supplies.

Different types of fertiliser

Fertilisers come in several different varieties: liquid, sticks, tablets, granular and slow-release forms. Of these, the two best suited for indoor use are liquid and slow-release fertilisers:

• Liquid fertiliser. Liquid fertilisers are added to your watering can. Depending on label instructions, you might fertilise every time you water, or every other time. There are dozens of liquid fertilisers on the market. The advantage to liquid fertiliser is a steady supply of nutrients that you control; it’s easy to suspend feeding when the plant is dormant. The disadvantage is remembering to do it every time.
• Slow-release fertilisers. These products have quickly become favourites for many gardeners and professional growers, both indoor and out. A slow-release fertiliser, like Multibooster, are coated in time-release shells that slowly unleash nutrients into the soil. A single application of Multibooster can feed your plants for 1 month. Other fertilisers include granular fertilisers, which are really designed for outdoor use; and sticks and pills seem convenient, but they don’t distribute nutrients very well through soil. Once you’ve stuck a fertiliser stick into your pot, you have no control over its release.

Knowing which fertiliser to buy

All general-purpose fertilisers contain the basic macronutrients that plants need to grow, including nitrogen, phosphorous and potash. Each macronutrient has a special function:

• Nitrogen encourages healthy foliage growth
• Phosphorous encourages root growth
• Potassium encourages bigger, healthier blooms
• Speciality fertilisers, such as African violet fertilisers, contain optimised proportions of these nutrients for particular kinds of plants. In addition to these macronutrients, higher quality fertilisers also contain micronutrients such as boron, magnesium and manganese that will encourage healthier growth. Whichever you choose, be sure to follow the directions for use on the packaging and keep an eye on your plants for signs of undernourishment, or overuse of fertilising products.