hi guys
Do I fertilise my house plants through Fall(Autumn) or stop in September? Some places say March - sept whilst others say reduced strength until even December
Any advice or thoughts is appreciated
I know it sort of depends which plants so I have listed mine below if that helps
Areca Palm (butterfly palm)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Pachira aquatica (money tree)
Ficus ginseng (ficus bonsai)
Adiantum fragrans (maidenhair fern)
I'm using miracle gro all purpose except for Palm which has a dedicated fertiliser
Many thanks
Stop fertilizing in September or continue through Fall/Autumn?
I probably have a rather similar climate, but you are even further north. I find it reasonable to stop when growth slows, which it will due to less light and cooler temperatures. I doubt it matters much though. For me growth slows in Sept-Oct sometime.
I have been experimenting with a different way, using super dilute fertilizer in all the water, all year round. This is based on the premise that you water a lot less in winter, and plants basically take what they need when they need it. I started this last year, I think it is working well.
Thank you for the advice Pistil
I think I'll stop in October as I haven't introduced the diluted feeding regime
With the year round fertilisation; are you still waiting for plants to dry out around 1-2 inch of topsoil and then watering or do you let them dry out even more in winter
Thanks
I do have some houseplants that I let get much dryer in the winter, like Jade Plant and some other succulents. My more ordinary plants I water "when they need it" just like summer, but in winter they need it less often. I don't think any of yours should be treated like a Jade Plant. Money Tree is a swamp plant so it might hate getting really dry. I have had ficus and maidenhair fern, neither of them seems to like getting dried out, in fact I don't keep either one as houseplants anymore because I have killed them by forgetting to water!
There are even some houseplants that want to be dry in summer, and watered in winter! These are plants form areas of the world (like some parts of South Africa) where it is a severe drought in summer, the rains come in winter so the plants are dormant in summer. I have a few of these and it can be hard to remember to NOT water much in summer.
Awesome advice thanks so much Pistil. I'm really grateful to have access to the wealth of knowledge from experienced growers such as yourself
I keep my maidenhair fern really most and it's doing well. But I've been letting the ficus and the money tree really dry out which I'll stop doing from now. I think it explains why the ficus bonsai has had very little growth since I got it
Thanks again much appreciated
Let us know later how it is going. I really like hearing about both successes and failures too.
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