Indoor Plants 101: How to Fertilize Your Plants

So, you decided to buy indoor plants to bring nature closer to you. The next step of taking care of your plant properly can be overwhelming for many. The good news is that most house plants are easy to grow, provided you take care of some important factors. The right balance of water, nutrients, sunlight, and temperature can help your plant live a long, healthy life. With time the soil in an indoor plant can be depleted of its essential nutrients. Hence, plant fertilizers are life sustaining nutritional supplements that help plants grow well.

Types of Plant Fertilizers

• Granular fertilizer- Dry pellets of pure fertilizer, most often used for outdoor plants
• Liquid fertilizer- Best source of nutrients for indoor plants, diluted with water, provides a steady, controllable supply of nutrients
• Slow-release fertilizer- Coated in shells of various thickness that release nutrients steadily into the soil over time, extremely popular both indoor and outdoor plants

Point to remember when fertilizing your plant

Once you buy indoor plant, its important to monitor its health and environment.

• The best time to feed your indoor plant is during the active growth season, the frequency is dependent on the type of plant, soil, and fertilizer you are using. The key is to not overdo it and follow the instructions on the fertilizer box.
• You should check whether your houseplant is suffering from conditions such as insects, diseases, or improper watering before fertilizing the plant.
• You need to identify the signs of an unhealthy indoor plant. Brown leaf tips are a sign of over fertilizing the plant, charred looking leaves indicate too much direct exposure to sunlight, weak looking plants indicate malnutrition due to inadequate sunlight, water, or fertilizer.

Steps to follow to fertilize your indoor plant

• Spruce up the plant: Take a closer look at your plant and remove any dead leaves or decaying parts with a pair of sharp scissors. This is to ensure that the nutrients reach directly to the healthy part of the plant.
• Water the plant: You must ensure that you do not provide fertilizer to the plant when its soil is dry. A moist soil will ensure that the fertilizer spreads evenly across the plant. Choosing the right pot size, draining the excess water, watering the soil and not the leaves, and ensuring that the water is spread uniformly are important points to remember.
• Dilute the fertilizer- It is seen that most indoor plants suffer from over fertilization as compared to under fertilization. Dilute your liquid fertilizer to half its strength to ensure that the plant does not suffer from burn or shock.
• Follow the correct process- Carefully fertilize the top of your plant’s soil and discard any excess water.

With just a few measures kept in mind, it is as easy to find indoor plants online India as it is to grow and care for them. So, keep increasing your plant knowledge and make your living space greener.