Care of House Plants: Feeding

Feeding interior plants

Pale leaves, slow weak growth and lower leaves dropping off?

Your plant needs a feed. It is an essential for a healthy plant. Years can go by without feeding but the plant will slowly shrink away and be prone to disease.
Many a plant is not looked after because it looks rubbish causing an even worse looking plant which is one step closer to the bin. Within a month you can turn around the demise and bring your plants back to life.

What is in plant food?

There are three major constituents of plant food-

Nitrogen (N) - For leaf growth and 'greening' up yellowing plants

Phosphates (P2O5) - For root growth

Potash (K2O) - For flowers

Other elements of plant food will be the Trace elements, these are generally present in most compound fertilisers but not all, remember to look at the ingredients they must be stated by law.

When should I feed?

If your plant is in a very poor condition then now. If not then feeding is only generally carried out over the growing season when watering frequency is high. If you have just reppoted your plant then you have a couple of months before the food within the compost runs out.

Most plants will benefit from a feed one every two to four weeks. The tip is not to miss a few and then give it loads as this will cause more problems such as wilting leaves and contorted new leaves. Only feed as much as is stated on the feed. Less is better less often than lots infrequently. Some plants such as ferns will need the feed diluted even further and some will not tolerate lime which is present in some granular fertilisers (e.g. azaleas, begonias and saintpaulias).

How should I feed?

Slow release fertiliser
Generally used for outside plants these will slowly release nutrients over a long period of time. It can be mixed with the compost when potting up. This is a very easy way to fertiliser but there is no control over the feeding regime so winter can be a problem when the plant should be dormant.

Pellets and sticks
A very convenient way of feeding if you find it difficult to remember. The sticks (or pellets) are pushed into the top of the soil and are released over a month or so. The down side of these is that the feed is not distributed evenly across the root system and sometimes its easy to forget about a plant after application leaving it long after the food supply has run out.

Liquid feed
Probably the best method of feeding as it supplies the right amount of food over the whole of the root system, and it can be regulated over the growing/dormant season.
A good tip is to water the plant as normal before watering in the feed a better distribution of feed is then given. Soluble powders can also be used in the same way.
If your plant is looking very sad soluble feed is the best way to give it that instant pick me up