Plant feeding

What to do if nutrient deficiencies are found?

Houseplants can suffer from a lack of nutrients in the soil for several reasons:

1. In the case of long-term growth without changing the soil, the soil is simply depleted. At the same time, there are usually signs of a lack of many micro- and macronutrients on the plant: chlorosis, small leaves, lack of growth, thin pale shoots, curled leaves. But with such symptoms, it is important to exclude pest damage. Usually this situation does not cause difficulty, it is enough to remember when the flowers were transplanted and in what soil. Feeding plants in this case is inappropriate. It is more correct to first carry out a transplant, and after 1.5-2 months start feeding.

2. If plants are planted in unsuitable soil, sooner or later a deficiency of any nutrient will appear. This happens when planting in too acidic or alkaline soil, but the problem is that it is very difficult to determine which specific element is missing, and sometimes impossible. Exceptions are some plants with characteristic symptoms.

3. In the case of overfeeding with fertilizers, an imbalance of substances occurs, an excess of one element causes a deficit of another (or a number of elements). For example, the reason for the lack of calcium may be the excessive application of nitrogen fertilizers (when fed with urea or cow). It would be more correct to rinse the soil in salt pots or transplant flowers into a fresh substrate.

So that indoor flowers do not suffer from lack of nutrition

• correctly select the soil, in particular, according to its pH correspondence for each specific plant ;
• transfer to fresh soil on time, even if the plant does not need a larger pot, transfer it to new soil in the same pot;
• water plants whenever possible with soft water;
• do not abuse fertilizers, add them strictly according to the instructions or in smaller quantities;
• apply fertilizers according to the species and physiological state of the plant.

When to feed indoor flowers

Indoor plants, with a limited feeding area, severely deplete the earth. When the roots are braided by a soil lump, they form a felt-like layer in which the individual roots do not even have contact with the ground. Therefore, if the roots are completely burned and permeated with an earthen lump, then the plant must be transplanted into nutritious soil, and not fed with fertilizers.

Fertilizing watering is better to spend in the evening. Only healthy plants can be fertilized during growth and flowering. During dormancy and when some plants stop growing in late summer and autumn, the plant is not fertilized. It is also impossible to fertilize plants that are not rooted and sick. Fast-growing indoor flowers fertilize more often, slow-growing - less often, tuberous plants also rarely fertilize.

You cannot apply fertilizer when the earthen lump is dry, so you can burn the roots. It is necessary to water with diluted fertilizers when the soil has not yet dried out, two days after watering with ordinary water (depending on the drying rate of the substrate).

For most indoor flowering plants, it is recommended to apply full mineral fertilizer at least twice: during the period of budding or the formation of flower buds and during flowering.

When it is not recommended to feed fertilizers

• Plants during the dormant period or at the end of vegetation before the dormant period.
• Freshly transplanted plant and freshly purchased plant (top dressing not earlier than 1 month)
• Diseased plants when the cause of the diseased condition has not been established.
• Plants with damaged root systems (root rot if the plant was heavily flooded).
• Cacti are not recommended to feed organic fertilizers.

What fertilizers are

Nitrogen fertilizers contribute to enhanced stem growth and lush leafing. With an excess of nitrogen, the plants fatten, the growing season lengthens, and the beginning of flowering is delayed, the plants become more easily ill with fungal diseases.

Phosphoric acid fertilizers accelerate abundant and long-term flowering of plants and have a positive effect on the laying of flower buds.

Potash fertilizers promote plant growth. Together with phosphate fertilizer, potassium has a good effect on abundant flowering of plants and flower color. For flowering plants, potassium fertilizer is most often used during the laying and development of flower buds and when buds appear.

Some other plants in which leaf and flower buds appear from the same sinus do not tolerate this fertilizer during the appearance of camellia buds.

Re-approved plants fatten, later bloom, undeveloped buds die off. Cut flowers of overfed plants do not hold well in water.

Usually fertilizers of a narrow orientation: nitrogen, potash or phosphorus, are used in gardening when growing vegetables and flowers. In indoor floriculture, such fertilizers are rarely used, but the composition indicated on the package with fertilizer always indicates the ratio of the main elements. It is designated as NPK, that is, N - nitrogen nitrogen, P - phosphorus phosphorus, K - kalium potassium. The NPK ratio can be very different in fertilizers intended for different groups of plants.

For growing ornamental and deciduous plants, the proportion of nitrogen will be two to three times greater than for ornamental and flowering plants. Therefore, when it comes to nitrogen fertilizers for indoor flowers, we mean a complex fertilizer with a high dose of nitrogen and a low content of potassium and phosphorus .

Form of fertilizer

Now fertilizers are produced in the form of insoluble powders and granules, tablets and sticks, as well as in liquid form. The label must contain an indication of the percentage of this fertilizer and instructions for use.

Powders and granules are widely used in gardening, for open ground. In indoor floriculture, it is better to use tablets or sticks that are immersed in the soil. But there are significant drawbacks. Firstly, nutrients are concentrated in one place, and secondly, if necessary, for example, with the onset of a dormant period, this feeding is difficult to extract from the soil. Therefore, the most effective liquid fertilizers.

The concentration of fertilizer watering should be weak, especially at the beginning of plant growth. More frequent watering with a weak solution has a better effect.

Even now, when you can buy almost any fertilizer in the store, many owners of indoor flowers fertilize plants with organic fertilizers brought from the cottage or from the garden.

Organic fertilizers improve the physical properties of the soil, increase its ability to absorb moisture, reduce the acidity of the soil, and improve its aeration.

Humus (rotted manure) is an extremely valuable nitrogen fertilizer. As fertilizer watering, cow infusion is used (1 part of manure for 10 parts of water). Dung dressing contains insufficient phosphorus, so superphosphate can be added to it at the rate of 12-15 g per bucket of dressing. There are plants, for example, asparagus, which are very fond of feeding with a cow. When transplanting them, it is best to smear the walls of the pot with a cow cake, and then cover the ground.

Feeding with bird droppings gives an even greater effect than feeding with a cow. In terms of nutrition, bird droppings are superior to cowpea and, moreover, do not have such a strong smell. Before use, bird droppings are diluted with water to a slightly cloudy greenish tint. However, a high concentration solution can destroy the plant.

Microbiological fertilizers, in addition to the main elements of nutrition, contain a complex of useful soil microorganisms and their waste products. These microorganisms produce various physiologically active substances that have a positive effect on plant growth and development, and actively restore the natural soil layer. One of these drugs is "Baikal EM1" - designed for watering and spraying indoor plants. It includes lactic acid, nitrogen-fixing, photosynthetic bacteria, yeast and their waste products. For these preparations, storage conditions are especially important, as a rule, at temperatures above 0 ° C, but not above 20 ° C. The drug "Baikal EM1" is diluted in warm non-chlorinated water in a ratio of 1:2000, i.e. 1 teaspoon per 5-8 liters of water). Indoor plants are watered and sprayed once every 1-2 weeks.

Fertilization (beginning)