Feeding your plants

Spring is Here! We've finally made it through the dark days, dark clothes and dark weather. We're now well on the way to picnics in the park, Pimms o clock and hayfever! Yippee! Not only is this an exciting time for us, our plants are also excited at the prospect of warmer weather. Time for growth!

One of my personal favourite plants is the Monstera Adansonii. Mine grows like a weed and is very easy to train to grow around something such as a moss pole, or even up a wall using hooks. But... she is sooo dramatic during the spring. She is the hungriest plant I know, and if she doesn't have a good meal once a week, she threatens me with a yellow leaf to prove she means business. I'm pretty sure that if I stayed still long enough, I'd end up as dinner.

It's very easy to get to spring and get a little complacent due to the belief that water and sun will be enough. This may be true for a range of plants, but they can all benefit from a decent feed.

What Should I be feeding?

First off get a large mixing bowl, 3 eggs... Imagine. Luckily there are a range of great fertilisers that are very easy to use. Most of them you can dilute in water and then water your plants as you would normally. A personal favourite of mine is Baby Bio. It's very easy to use for a beginner, it lasts a long time, and my plants seem to love it. It's also a pretty good all rounder. You can use it on succulents to palms. You can pick up a bottle in most garden centres or Amazon and Ebay. Its very inexpensive, and like I said, lasts a very long time.

My orchids tend to be given a drip feeder rather than something being diluted in their water. This is purely a personal preference and might be a little something to do with me forgetting to feed them? The drip feeders slowly release nutrients and need to be changed every four weeks. Pretty easy right? Babybio also do a drip feed for orchids.

My succulents and cacti get something a little different. It's called Cactus and Succulent focus. It is specially formulated to help them grow at their best. Again, it's really easy to use and easy to get hold of.

Alongside using fertilisers, I have a secret weapon... Which I absolutely swear by. Fish. Tank. Water. It is absolutely packed full of nutrients which plants love. And get this... It's renewable. I'm not going to run out (as long as I keep my fish). I use fish tank water every time I water my plants, and honestly, I think this is why they look so good. I always have people come round and ask how my plants look so good. Its the tank water, I'm sure of it.

Alongside tank water, there are so many things you probably have in your house right now that you can use to feed your plants. Bananas are full of goodness. You can either lay the skins straight on top of the soil, or leave them over night in some hot water and use this mixture to water your plants.

Egg shells are another item which you can use to feed your plants. Pulverise them and mix into the soil, or again, leave them in hot water overnight.

When Should I feed?

The first thing to remember is don't feed over the winter. I'm sure there will be exceptions to this rule (which you can leave in the comments), but I would say most plants do not need feeding during the winter. I start feeding as soon as the weather starts to get warmer for an extended period of time. Don't get too carried away though... Only feed your plants at the most, every other feed. Some plants like cacti and succulents, will only need some feed once a month.

The Science

The fertilisers that you buy need to contain the following ingredients.

Phosphorous to help strengthen the roots and to encourage flowering.

Potassium to help strengthen stems and to fight off diseases.

Nitrogen to keep your leaves nice and green.

There are so many fertilisers out there which will do wonders for your plants. I could list them, but we'd be here all night. There is nothing stopping you from mixing and matching, or trying ones until you get the results you desire.

If you need help with looking for one for a specific plant, get in touch with us at PaisleyFlamingo and we will help you out.

If you have your own recommendations, drop them in the comments to help out other readers!

Thanks for reading!