How often should I feed my houseplant?

Plant food is a way of supporting every houseplant so that it grows and develops well. Plant food really only applies during the growing seasons, which for most plants means spring and summer. There are of course houseplants that grow all year round and so have no growing seasons; those you can feed the whole year through. Feeding is not a must, though, only a bit of support, and too much plant food can actually harm the plant.

How do you know whether your houseplant needs extra plant food?

As we said, plant food is a support, so it is not a given that your houseplant needs it. You can often tell from the plant itself. The first sign is growth: have you noticed that your houseplant has not got any bigger in a whole year? Then it could probably do with some extra plant food. It can also happen that your houseplant does grow, but changes colour or produces misshapen leaves. In extreme cases the plant even drops its leaves, because it simply does not have enough energy to keep developing. If you spot any of these signs, first check whether the plant is standing in the right place and whether you are giving it the right amount of water. If all of that is in order, a bit of extra plant food will soon have your houseplant stealing the show again!

Which plant food should I use?

There are many different types of plant food and they all differ in how often you use them. There are liquid versions, sticks and universal plant food. Love your plants but not so keen on looking after them? Then we would recommend sticks: you push them into the soil and they dissolve on their own, so there is nothing more to think about. Liquid plant food is another popular choice. You can tailor a liquid to each plant, which also stops you from overfeeding.

Too much plant food

Plant food is good for a plant, but too much of it can leave the plant worse off. Plant food is fairly acidic, and if too much of it sits in the soil without being taken up, the roots get damaged.

When you have just repotted your houseplant there are plenty of nutrients in the soil already, so there is no need to give extra plant food.

How often should I give my houseplant extra plant food?

There is no exact frequency to give for every kind of plant, because there are so many different plant species and so many different kinds of plant food. In general, feeding once a week is more than enough. Always read the packaging carefully and never give more than it prescribes. And only feed your houseplant from March to October.