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Houseplant Care: When to Fertilize Houseplants

1/3/2015

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Picture
Red Spathiphyllum Image courtesy of Visoflora.com
I'm frequently asked when you should start fertilizing your houseplants in the spring. It's not always an easy question to answer. Nearly all plants require a rest period in the fall or winter. During this time, you should withhold fertilizer and give your plants time to rest before they begin the hard work of producing new foliage and blooms for the following year.  How long you let them rest depends on the plants.

I'll be honest with you. I let my plants tell me when it's time to begin growing. As soon as I notice a flush of new growth, I feed them a weak solution of plant food. I'm going to begin today. My red Spathiphyllum is showing a lot of active growth and I think it could use a little boost of nutrients to keep it going.
Interestingly, I have had this plant for over 10 years. It has has never flourished like it has this year. I attribute that to accidentally putting it in the right lighting. I had tried it near several windows in the home and it did okay. I finally hung it in a south window that is partially shaded by a pine tree outside the window. It did better there, but it still wasn't anything to brag about.

A few months ago, the hanger broke and the plant came tumbling down and landed upright on the windowsill. While I intended to fix the hanger, I left the plant on the windowsill until I got around to hanging it again. Within a few weeks, (yeah, I was a little slow to fix the hanger) I noticed the plant looking better than it had in the 10 years I'd been growing it. It has probably doubled in size, has lots of new foliage and is looking pretty impressive. Although I don't intend to move it again, I do intend to give it a little TLC today along with a boost of plant food.

If your houseplants have began to show signs of new growth already, go ahead and give them a dose of plant food mixed to 1/4- to 1/2-strength - but don't forget to water them first. Applying plant food to dry soil can damage the roots of your plants.
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Copyright © 2014 Nannette Richford



Photo used under Creative Commons from MyArtfulLife
  • Home
  • Garden Thyme Blog
  • Themes
    • Butterfly Gardens
    • Moon Gardens
    • Sensory Gardens
    • All About Fairies
  • Flowers
    • Annual Flowers >
      • Alyssum
      • Cosmos
      • Geraniums
      • Marigolds
      • Morning Glories
      • Nasturtiums
      • Petunias >
        • Reviving Petunias
      • Snapdragons
      • Sunflowers
      • Sweet Peas
      • Zinnias
    • Perennial Flowers >
      • Golden Glow (Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Hortensia’)
      • Lupines
      • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea)
    • Maine Wildflowers
  • Veggies
    • Warm Season Vegetables >
      • About Beans >
        • Growing Beans
        • Growing Pole Beans
        • How to Make a Teepee Trellis
      • About Corn >
        • Growing Corn
        • What is Baby Corn, anyway?
        • Can you grow corn in containers?
      • Cucumbers >
        • Grow a cucumber in a bottle
        • Growing Pickling Cucumbers
        • Growing cucamelons (Mexican Gherkin)
        • Why do cucumbers blossom but fail to set fruit?
        • Trellising Cucumbers
        • Making Cucumber Relish
        • Powdery Mildew on Cucumbers
      • Melons
      • Peppers >
        • Growing Peppers
      • Squash >
        • Growing Zucchini
        • Spaghetti Squash
      • Tomatoes >
        • How to Harden Off Tomato Plants
        • How (and when) to Prune Tomatoes
        • Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) for Tomatoes
        • Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes
        • Growing Cherry Tomatoes in Hanging Baskets
        • 4 Best Tomatoes for Short Seasons - Early Tomatoes
        • 5 Early Maturing Tomatoes for Short Season Gardening
        • How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
        • How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
        • How to Grow a Pomato Plant
    • Cool Season Vegetables >
      • Cole Crops
      • Greens >
        • How to Grow Spinach
        • How to Grow Malabar Spinach
        • How to Grow Swiss Chard
        • Harvesting and Cooking Beet Greens
        • How to Grow Microgreens
      • Onions & Garlic >
        • How to Grow Garlic
        • How to Grow Onions
      • Peas >
        • Growing Garden (shelling) Peas
        • Growing Sugar Snap Peas
      • Potatoes >
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Containers
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Hay Bales
      • Root Crops >
        • Growing Beets
        • How to Grow Carrots
        • Turnips vs Rutabagas
  • Herbs
    • Growing Basil
    • Growing Chives
    • Growing Lavender
    • Herbal Tea Garden
    • How to Grow a Culinary Herb Garden
    • How to Grow Herbs in Sponges
    • Colonial Herb Garden - Classroom Project
    • Herbed Butter
    • Making Herbed Oils
  • Gardening Basics
    • Seed Starting Basics
    • Grafting Basics
    • Soil >
      • Starting a New Garden
      • How to Prepare Soil
      • How to Test Soil Drainage
      • What Type of Soil Do You Have
      • Soil Mix Recipe for Containers
      • How to Make Compost Tea
      • How to Use Mulch
  • Garden Pests
    • How to Control Japanese Beetles
    • How to Control Blister Beetles
    • How to Get Rid of Colorado Potato Beetles
  • Birds
    • Hummingbirds >
      • DIY Hummingbird Feeders from Recycled Bottles
      • Annuals for Hummingbird Gardens
      • Perennials for Hummingbird Gardens
    • About Birdseed
    • Choosing a Birdfeeder
  • Fiddleheads and Fairies
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • How to Marinate Roasted Vegetables