What is the best feed for indoor plants? You know what happens if you don’t eat or get nutrition for a while.
That’s exactly what happens to plants too.
They need nurturing to grow and thrive, just as you do.
Fortunately, it’s easy to make homemade plant foods.
Most of what you need is already in your kitchen.
Keep reading to learn what you can use as plant food.
Contents
Best 16 Homemade Indoor Plant Food (Houseplant Organic Fertilizer)
1. Coffee Grounds
If you love coffee, you’d be glad to know you can share your favorite drink with your indoor plants.
However, note that this might not be the right plant food for all indoor plants.
Coffee grounds make the soil acidic and not all plants love that.
Jade plants, Christmas cactus and ferns, and African violets are some plants that’ll love to share your coffee with you.
To use coffee as homemade plant food is easy.
Simply mix coffee grounds with the potting soil before placing the seeds.
Alternatively, you can mix coffee with water and use it to wet your plant.
That’s drinking coffee with your plants.
2. Molasses
Sugar can be indoor plant food too.
Molasses is a thick liquid derived from refined sugar cane.
It’s rich in nutrients that are beneficial to plants, which makes it a portion of ideal homemade plant food.
Mix one tablespoon of molasses with 2 liters of water and use it to water your plants regularly.
This gives them the required dose of the delicious nutrients they need.
3. Hair for Indoor Plant
Yes. The one on your head.
We know it seems weird, but the hair is full of valuable nutrients when broken down.
If you cut your hair or kids’ hair at home, why not keep it as homemade indoor plant food.
You can use pet hair too or the ones on your brush.
Mix the hair with the soil before potting the plant.
Over time, the hair breaks down to release magnesium and nitrogen, which are beneficial for plant growth.
4. Vinegar Indoor Plant Food
You probably have this in your pantry.
If not, get it. Aside from making homemade indoor plant food with vinegar, it’s useful in many other ways, including cleaning.
Mix one tablespoon of white vinegar with water and use it to wet your plants.
You can repeat this every three months with plants that love the acidity of their soil.
Kindly note never to use undiluted vinegar on your plant.
It’ll kill the plant, as it is an herbicide.
Always dilute the vinegar with water before applying it.
5. Fireplace Ash for Plant Growth
Now you can put the ash from your fireplace to good use.
After it cools, sprinkle it over the soil and work it in.
Ash is rich in potassium and calcium carbonate.
It’s a great option if the soil is too acidic for your plant.
Ash will balance the pH levels, allowing the plants to better absorb nutrients.
You can also use ash in place of basic garden fertilizer and garden lime.
6. Homemade Compost for Plant Food
This is a portion of ideal homemade plant food for vegetables.
Compost is full of nutrients and microorganisms, making it the perfect organic fertilizer.
So, start saving your leftover fruits and vegetables, grass clippings, food scraps, and even newspapers.
Use them to start a compost bin and add water periodically to speed up the composting process.
You’ll know it has broken down when a dark, rich soil.
Mix this with your potting soil for added nutrients for your plants.
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7. Green Tea for Plant
Just like coffee, you can use tea as homemade plant food.
When you make green tea, don’t dispose of the bags.
Empty the tea leaves into the soil and mix lightly.
Alternatively, you can pour the green tea into the plant pot along with the tea bag for a nutritious drink.
This is an ideal homemade plant food without ammonia.
8. Epsom Salt
Epsom salt contains magnesium and sulfate, which are vital plant nutrients for growth.
Dissolve one tablespoon of Epsom salt in a gallon of water.
Use the solution to water your plants once a month.
Some plants that thrive on this solution include houseplants, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes, which you can also plant indoors.
Alternatively, you can sprinkle a small amount of Epsom salt on the soil to get similar benefits.
9. Fish Tank Water
If you have an aquarium or rare fish, you can put the water to good use instead of just draining it away.
The water contains nitrogen and other nutrients which are beneficial to plants.
So, next time you want to change your fish tank water, remember you can use it as a portion of homemade plant food.
Simply collect the water and use it to wet your plants.
Nature has a way of not letting things go to waste.
10. Cooking Water
When you boil or steam vegetables, some of the nutrients in them dissolve into the water.
These nutrients are particularly good as homemade plant food.
Collect the water and let it cool completely.
Use it to water your plants to give them a highly nutritious treat.
11. Eggshells for Gardening
Eggshells consist almost entirely of calcium carbonate, which is the key ingredient of garden lime.
Calcium is a vital nutrient for plant growth and is effective at reducing soil acidity.
Gather eggshells and let them air dry. Load them into a blender and let them pulse until the shells become powdery.
Sprinkle over the soil for a nutritious eggshell homemade plant food.
You can also mix it with water overnight and use it to wet your plants.
12. Banana Peels
They’re rich in potassium, just like the banana itself.
The peels also contain small amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and magnesium, which are crucial for plant growth.
There are different ways you can use banana peel as homemade plant food.
Place the peels directly on the soil and let them break down to release their nutrients.
You can also cut it to pieces and mix it with the soil before potting it to reduce the smell when it breaks down.
A third way is to blend the banana peel and mix it with water to use as liquid fertilizer.
Whichever approach you choose, banana peel is one of the best homemade Indoor plant foods you can make.
13. Baking Soda-Ammonia
If you need a nitrogen-boosting supplement for your indoor plants, here’s something you should try.
You’ll need:
- 1 tbsp. of Epsom salt
- 1 tsp. of baking soda
- ½ tsp. of ammonia
- 1 gallon of water
How to prepare?
- Mix all the ingredients in a large container and let it sit for an hour.
- Afterward, water your plants, close to the roots with the mixture.
14. Bone Meal
Bones are mostly a waste to us humans.
However, they can be important for plant growth.
Instead of disposing of chicken bones, collect them and make homemade plant food.
Boil the bones in water for two days, turn off the stove at night. After two days, the bones would have become soft.
Pour it with the water into a blender to make a bone meal mixture.
Pour this solution into your potted plants.
This is especially great for tomatoes and blooming plants.
15. Gelatin for Plant
Store-bought gelatin is much more than a sweet dessert.
It can serve as a portion of homemade indoor plant food.
Simply mix one pack with one part hot water and three parts cold water.
Use the solution to water your plants at least once a month.
This will supply the plants with sufficient nitrogen.
16. Powdered Milk
This household staple is rich in calcium.
Since you probably already have it at home, it won’t cost a thing to make this homemade plant food.
All you have to do is mix powdered milk with the soil before potting.
You don’t even need to mix it with water.
Conclusion
We hope this list serves your purpose for reading it.
Choose any of the homemade plant foods or rotate among them all.
Whichever way you go, your plants will thank you for it.
They’re all easy to make and you don’t need to make them often.
So, you don’t have any excuse not to give your plants the best they can get.
The indoor plant foods won’t cost you extra as most of the ingredients are things you already use.
We hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.
Happy planting!
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