 Hi, this video is all about fertilizer for house plants. Let's go. Okay, first let me tell you, fertilizer is not plant food. Plants actually make their own food using light in a process called photosynthesis. Now guys, this is really cool. The way that it works is that light hits the surface of a leaf or a green stem and then specific cells convert this light into sugars that then can be used by the plant. So yes, fertilizer is not plant food, but you can see it as vitamins for the plant. These vitamins will boost the plant's health and they will help her thrive as she grows. And fertilizer is basically a mixture of beneficial minerals. Usually fertilizers include potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen, but they can include other nutrients. Now, I wanted to say this in the beginning because it's very important a nexus of these nutrients and minerals will damage your plant. So we have to be very careful with the amount of fertilizer that we offer them. But now let's talk about why we should fertilize our plants. As I said, we should look at fertilizer as vitamins for our plants to boost healthy growth. And it is very important that we fertilize our plants because they are in a pot. Now, if this plant was in nature, it would get all the nutrients in the soil because we have worms, we have bacteria, rain comes down and brings more nutrients. But because this plant is in the pot, there's a limited amount of nutrients. And this decrease over time as the plant uses them. And then also when we water the plant and the water drains down. So the nutrients also can drain down. So fertilizers replace the nutrients in the soil that we lose over time. And especially in the growing season which is generally between spring and summer, it is very important that we provide these nutrients so our plants can grow healthy. Which takes me to the next point. When do we fertilize our plants? We should fertilize our plants when they are actively growing. And we call this the growing season. Now, this will depend on where you're located on this planet. So for example, here in Berlin we're pretty much in the northern hemisphere of the planet. The growing season will generally be between spring and fall. This will also depend on your plant but generally in the northern hemisphere this is when the growing season happens. But if you live in a tropical area of the planet you may see that your plants grow the whole year. So that will mean that you will fertilize your plant during the whole year. As I said, this will also depend on your plant. So what I would recommend is that you always educate yourself on the growing season of your plant as well as how your location affects it. And this will be very helpful to know when to fertilize it. However, you may have to fertilize your plant outside of the growing season if you notice signs that she is missing nutrients. This very helpful book right here provides possible signs of lack of nutrients in the soil of your plants. And this may include slow growth or little resistance to pests, pale leaves or washed out appearance. So the color may not be so bright, yellow spotting on the leaves, no flowers in plants that should be flowering at that moment. So it is also very useful to know when your plant will flower during the year and under what conditions. Or you may see very small discolored flowers. So these signs may mean that your plant is lacking nutrients. But as I always say, it's always important to know the specific requirements for your plant because these signs may mean something else, either under watering, over watering. So always educate yourself before you decide to fertilize your plant just to make sure. And talking about fertilizing your plants when we shouldn't, this book was really helpful again because it provides some possible signs of too much fertilizer. And this include wilted leaves, white crust on the surface of the potting mix or on the side of your terracotta pot and crisp brown edges on the leaves. That actually happened to me with this plant right here. As you can see, we have some crisp brown edges there. And this happened because we were providing too much fertilizer, so we just had to cut back and now I'm just gonna observe her and see how she does. Again, always learn about your plant and the specific requirements for her just to make sure because some of these signs may mean something else with your specific plant. This way you make sure that you understand your plant a little bit better and she's happy. Okay, Lucia, so you have said that we have to fertilize our plants during the growing season as well as when we see signs of lack of nutrients. Yes, but the next question is how often do we fertilize them? And this is a great question. And I can tell you, the answer is that this strongly depends on the plant that you have and the type of fertilizer that you use. Some fertilizers may be more concentrated than others and we'll get to that in a second. And some plants may need more fertilizer than others. So one more time, educating yourself on your plant is very important. But let me tell you some of the most common types of fertilizers and this way we'll have more information on which ones are best for us, for our schedule and for our plants. So when it comes to fertilizer, there are so many factors to look at and choose from. And today we're gonna talk about three. The first one is the elements or nutrients included in your fertilizer. When we're looking at fertilizers, we wanna look for the numbers right here. These numbers tell us the NPK ratio. N for nitrogen, P for phosphorus and K for potassium. So these numbers basically tell us the percentage of these elements in our solution. So for example, in this one right here, we have 557, which means we have 5% nitrogen, 5% phosphorus and 7% potassium. These are the key macronutrients that our plants love. So let's look at these three macronutrients. First, we have nitrogen which helps our plant with the process of photosynthesis and leaf growth. So a fertilizer that is reaching nitrogen will help our leafy plants. Plants that are generally more foliage than flowers. So I can think, for example, of my Pilea paparomeotis, my network plant and other plants that have more green and leafy growth. These plants will benefit from a nitrogen-rich fertilizer. Then we have phosphorus. Phosphorus is great to encourage flowering as well as good and healthy root growth. So if you see that your plant is about to flower, you see some bulbs and you can see them blooming. A fertilizer that is rich in phosphorus will help her bloom and thrive. And the last macronutrient is potassium. And this one will also help with flowering as well as disease prevention. So this one will boost the immune system of your plant, which is great for plants that are more prone to pest attacks. For example, I know that my Alucasia poly is very prone to spider mite attacks. So then I will try to use fertilizers that are rich in potassium as well so I can help her be protected against these pests. So in terms of deciding which fertilizer is best for your plant, this is one factor to consider the elements and the ratio of each element. Then look at your plant and what she needs and then you can decide which fertilizer is best, depending on the ratios of the elements. You will also find fertilizers that have other micronutrients, which may include calcium, copper, zinc. For example, this one right here is a fertilizer that is based on copper. And it is also very good for my plants. So you can also learn about the micronutrients. And if you find a fertilizer that also includes this, this may be very beneficial for your plant. Another factor to look at when we're choosing our fertilizer is the form. You can find fertilizers in many forms. The most common and easy to use is the liquid form. Liquid fertilizers are very common in the market and they're very easy to use. One thing that I love about liquid fertilizers is that you can dilute them in water easily. And this is great when you have many plants because each plant will have different requirements in terms of fertilizer. So then you can dilute the fertilizer a little or a lot depending on your plant. Frankly, liquid fertilizers have worked really well for me. So these are the ones that I use. And this year, I'm gonna use the ones that I used last year, which are these two. This is for succulents and this is for my leafy plants. And they work really well. Another type of fertilizer that you can find is the time-released pallets. This one basically looked like this. And the way in which they work is that you stick them in the soil and as you water your plants, they will release the nutrients throughout time. I can tell you I have a little bit of experience with these and this was in the form of a pesticide. When we found thrips in our monstera, it was almost impossible to get rid of them. So we got the sticks that you stick in the soil and they function as a pesticide. They also include some fertilizer. So I saw them work. In the beginning, I could still see thrips but then as time went by, I started to see that the thrips were gone. And it was really simple. All I had to do is to water the plant and then these pallets will release the pesticide and the fertilizer. Then the plant absorbs these nutrients and the pesticide and that's how it will work. Now, there are some disadvantages to this type of fertilizer. One disadvantage that comes with this type of fertilizer is that we can risk over fertilization. This is because you stick this into the soil but you don't know if your plant is gonna be happy or not, especially if you're just learning about fertilizers like me. So it's gonna take a long time but then you may see that your plant is not happy. And since we have to take these out of the soil, it may be more difficult for us to stop the process of fertilization. The second disadvantage that I read about these pallets is that all of the nutrients are concentrated in one spot. So when they are released, they may not be evenly distributed among the root system which is also not good for even nutrition of the plant. And the third thing that I don't like about this ones is that you can get moldy around them. This, for example, happened to us when we used the pesticide sticks that also included some fertilizer. We started to see a lot of mold on the top of the soil. So then we learned that these can actually produce mold. Now, these are some of the disadvantages that come with these ones. Of course, I'm talking as a plant beginner so if you know more about fertilization, these may be very time-saving because all you have to do is stick them in the soil and they do the work. But make sure that you understand the needs of your plant so you make sure that you don't over-fertilize them. Okay, and the third factor that we should look at when choosing our fertilizers is whether we want a synthetic fertilizer or an organic fertilizer. I can tell you, in my experience as a plant beginner, I love organic fertilizers. And this is because organic fertilizers tend to be less concentrated than synthetic fertilizers. Synthetic fertilizers are made in a lab so they tend to really concentrate the element and they come at a higher rate. So the numbers in synthetic fertilizers will be higher. So you will have maybe 20, 20, 20, 20, 30, 40 or something like this. Whereas organic fertilizers are way less concentrated. So the solution will be more diluted. In organic fertilizers, you will tend to see 1, 1, 1 or maybe highest 10, 10, 10 or 9, 10, 8, but not higher than that. Now, as a plant beginner, this lower ratio in organic fertilizers help me to prevent over-fertilization. But some people like to invest in synthetic fertilizers because as I said in the beginning of the video, when you have these percentages in the bottle, the rest is gonna be a filler, either water or something that will not affect your plant. So when you buy synthetic fertilizers, you'll be investing in the elements and not so much in water or fillers. So this is totally up to you. As a plant beginner, I love organic because it helps me prevent over-fertilization. But if you know your fertilizers and you know your plant, synthetic may also work for you. Another advantage with organic fertilizers is that they tend to get more micronutrients or other bacteria that are beneficial for our plants. So that's also another factor to consider. So the question that we all have in our mind, how do we fertilize our plants? This of course will depend on the type of fertilizer that you use. For example, for me, I love fertilizing my plants with liquid fertilizer. So during the growing season, I add some liquid fertilizer to the water that I'm gonna use to water my plants. And then I water them with a solution that includes water and my fertilizer. If you decide to use a time-release pallet, all you have to do is to stick them in the soil. Now, always make sure to read the instructions in the package because they will tell you how many pallets you need to stick in the soil depending on the diameter of your pot. And then of course, just water, fertilize and observe your plant. Always observe your plant and see how they're doing with the fertilizer so you make sure that they're happy and healthy. Now tell me, which fertilizers do you prefer to use? I would love to know, so let me know down in the comments. And as always, I will see you in the next one. Okay, ciao.