Are your monstera plants looking a little droopy or your spinach leaves falling limp? It may be time to add some pep to your plants with homemade plant food. Plants need essential nutrients in their soil to grow, flourish, and fight off harmful diseases. But there's no need to rush out to your local garden center to buy expensive fertilizing powders and concentrates. Save money by making your own fertilizer at home!
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Whether you prefer to use Lomi to decompose your food waste or to get creative with banana peels and coffee grounds, this blog will provide you with all the tips and tricks you need to start feeding your plants with natural fertilizer.
If you'd like to skip to the recipes, use these links to jump ahead:
Keep reading to learn more about fertilizer and the benefits of making it yourself.
Fertilizer is made up of essential nutrients that enhance soil to stimulate plants to grow and thrive. Although the exact nutritional makeup can vary from one fertilizer recipe to another, the best homemade plant food contains a healthy dose of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).
Without these 3 essential nutrients, plants struggle to grow robust root systems, generate hearty leaves and create energy from the sun (photosynthesis). Because these key nutrients are found anywhere from composted banana peels to recycled fish waste, there are a variety of homemade plant food recipes for you to explore.
But first, take a look at why it's best to make your own natural fertilizer at home.
Store-bought chemical fertilizers pack a large amount of synthetic nitrogen in their recipe, which can damage or kill a healthy plant when used incorrectly. If too much is fed to your plants, the soil will become overly-acidic and weaken their roots. Over-fertilized soil is also responsible for contaminating clean groundwater as well as nearby rivers, streams, and lakes.
This is why conscientious gardeners and foliage lovers are now choosing to make their own fertilizer at home. Homemade organic fertilizers break down and release nutrients into the soil over an extended period of time. This protects the surrounding environment and gives plants the time they need to absorb vital nutrients.
There’s no need to use harsh chemical fertilizers or to transform your kitchen into a complicated science lab. With a little bit of food waste, you can keep your soil healthy and your plants satisfied through rain or shine. Read through the following options to discover your own homemade plant food recipe.
The best homemade fertilizer is the one that’s easiest for you to make and feed to your plants. Of all the homemade plant food options, Lomi’s nutrient-rich dirt, called Lomi Earth, is quick and easy to make from food waste.
Quick how to: Fill your Lomi bucket with fresh fruit and vegetable waste. Add a Lomi Pod and 50ml of water before selecting the Grow Mode cycle. After a few hours, your Lomi bucket will contain nutrient-rich dirt. Combine your Lomi Earth with soil in a 1:10 ratio to use as homemade plant food.
Best for: Lomi Earth is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and sodium, making it a great option for both indoor and outdoor plant varieties.
Pro tip: Curious to know more about Lomi Earth and what you can do with it? Discover 8 simple things you can do with homemade Lomi Earth.
Homemade compost is an excellent natural fertilizer because it’s loaded with beneficial nutrients for your plants. Plus, you’ll never run out of it as long as you have food scraps to get rid of.
It may be tempting to toss a leftover apple core straight on top of your strawberry patch and call it good. But unless you’re looking to befriend a family of local raccoons, you’ll need to use some type of homemade compost bin to conceal food scraps while you wait for natural microbes to break down these items.
Quick how to: If you have an outdoor space to create your own compost pile, throw your fruit and vegetable scraps, used coffee grounds, banana peels, and tea bags into a weather and critter-proof bin. Every 2-3 weeks, break up the compost by adding a splash of water and turning it with a shovel. After 2-12 months, your compost bin will contain dark, crumbly and microorganism-rich soil that your plants will love.
Best for: All plants can benefit from this excellent source of plant food!
Used coffee grounds are a great natural fertilizer for plants that require more acidic soil. Coffee grounds are also packed with the nitrogen your plants need to grow up healthy and strong.
Plus, if you already have ground coffee hiding in your kitchen cupboards, you can start fertilizing your plants without the added shopping trip.
Quick how to: There are two ways you can use coffee grounds as homemade plant food.
Best for: Coffee grounds are best used as a homemade fertilizer for azaleas, rhododendrons, roses, African violets, cucumbers, potatoes, and blueberries.
Pro tip: A light coating of coffee grounds goes a long way! Rather than spreading a thick coat of coffee grounds around your plants, sprinkle them on like you would sprinkle salt on a meal.
It’s commonly known that the inside of an egg is packed with protein but did you know that its shell is actually a great source of potassium and calcium carbonate?
Egg shell fertilizer works because of calcium carbonate, a key ingredient in agricultural lime. If your soil is overly-acidic, calcium in the egg shells will help neutralize its pH level.
Quick how to: Crack open an egg, empty out its contents and thoroughly rinse the leftover shells. Lay the rinsed egg shells out flat to dry. Once you have collected 6-12 dried egg shells, grind them into a fine powder using either a mortar and pestle or a food processor. Add a light top-layer of egg shell powder to your plant’s soil.
Best for: Egg shells are a great homemade fertilizer for lilac, forsythia, clematis, broccoli and Brussel sprouts.
Pro tip: Too much added lime may prevent your plants from absorbing the nutrients they need to grow. If you’d rather not apply egg shells directly to your plants, you can safely add them to your compost pile as they are on the list of items that you can compost.
If you regularly mow your lawn, your plants will appreciate weed-blocking grass clippings as a natural fertilizer. In addition to keeping weeds at bay, grass clippings add a boost of nitrogen and potassium to your plants while also improving their ability to retain moisture.
Quick how to: Collect fresh cut grass from your lawn to spread around your garden soil. Bury the grass clippings under a small layer of dirt to prevent them from blowing around.
Best for: Whether you are gardening indoors or caring for flower gardens, all of your plants will benefit from this nourishing, organic fertilizer.
Pro tip: Avoid using harsh chemical fertilizers on your lawn if you are planning to repurpose your grass clippings. These chemicals could irritate or harm healthy plants.
It’s no secret that bananas are a potassium powerhouse. Potassium is an essential nutrient that helps strengthen plant roots, build up their resistance to disease and enhance their ability to withstand drought (an added bonus for those of us who occasionally forget to water our house plants).
Quick how to: Chop up banana peels and bury them alongside your vegetable garden. Cover the peels with a thick layer of dirt to avoid sneaky critters looking to get their own little potassium boost.
Best for: Banana peel fertilizer is best used as a homemade plant fertilizer for tomatoes, potatoes, fruit trees, rose bushes, Monsteras, and Tillandsias (Yes, even air plants can appreciate this potassium packed fertilizer!)
Pro tip: To avoid fruit flies from congregating around your house plants, combine your banana peels with 2-4 liters of water and let soak for up to two weeks. Use the infused water to shower your indoor plants with potassium.
It may come as a shock that a cloudy fish tank full of fish waste can be used as a natural fertilizer for plants.
For more information, please visit Fertilizer Enhancer Products.
But if you’ve heard of aquaponic farming, you’ll know that fish and plants have a mutually-beneficial relationship. Plants naturally filter aquarium water while fish excrete waste that’s packed with plant-loving organic nutrients.
Quick how to: Clean out your aquarium water as usual but save the cloudy fish waste to hydrate your plants with.
Best for: Because it's packed with nitrogen, aquarium water is a great homemade fertilizer for leafy indoor houseplants such as golden pothos, Philodendrons, bamboo, arrowhead vines, or dumb canes.
Pro tip: For best results, use water from fresh water tanks. Avoid fertilizing edible plants if you routinely add special chemical conditioners to your aquarium water.
Compost tea is created by extracting the liquid from solid compost material to create a robust natural fertilizer for your plants. All you need is a sealable container and water to make this simple tea fertilizer.
Quick how to: Add banana peels, coffee grounds, vegetable scraps, tea bags, and any other organic waste to a large, glass jar using a 1:10 ratio of compost to water. Mix in fresh or dried seaweed as an added nutritional bonus. Seal and shake the mixture once a day to agitate the tea. After a week, filter out the solids and dilute the remaining tea liquid with clean water using the same 1:10 ratio as before. Spray onto damp soil in the morning or evening.
Best for: Compost tea works well as a homemade plant fertilizer for both outdoor plants and houseplants since it contains a wide array of nutrients and beneficial bacteria. Red leaf lettuce, sweet corn, and soybeans all benefit from compost tea as a fertilizer.
Pro tip: After boiling or steaming veggies, add the remaining vegetable water to your compost tea. You can even add leftover rice water to your tea for an added boost of nutrients.
Weeds can actually be a helpful resource to any gardener with a green thumb. Similar to other fertilizer teas, this recipe is easy to make and only requires a few ingredients to make and use as plant food.
But wait, aren’t weeds bad for your garden? Actually, weeds pack a robust amount of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and sulfur inside their leaves and roots. As long as you keep their seeds away from your plants, weed tea won’t generate any unwanted greenery in your vegetable garden.
Quick how to: Combine weed leaves, stems and roots with water using a 1:4 ratio. Store the mixture in an airtight jar or bucket. Agitate the mixture every few days for 4-5 weeks. Once the weed tea is ready, sieve the mixture using a cloth or paper filter. Before applying to your plants, dilute the tea with water using a 1:10 ratio.
Best for: Weed tea is a great plant fertilizer to use on transplanted seedlings as well as flowers and vegetables that are beginning to blossom.
Pro tip: Dandelions may be pesky but they are packed with nutrients! A weed tea made exclusively from dandelions will perk up any lifeless houseplant in no time.
Epsom salt fertilizer is a quick solution for introducing more magnesium into your plants’ diets. Without enough magnesium, you might notice your green plants turning a pale shade of yellow. To prevent this from happening, use Epsom salts to encourage healthy plant growth.
Quick how to: Dissolve 2 tablespoons of Epsom salts into a gallon of water. Shake and use as a spray on both indoor and outdoor plants.
Best for: Epsom salt fertilizer is an excellent homemade fertilizer for roses, pansies, tomatoes and peppers as well as shrubs like azaleas, rhododendron and evergreens.
Pro tip: When planting roses, a tablespoon of Epsom salts added directly to the dirt will encourage the bush to generate more flowers during the blooming season.
The easiest and best homemade fertilizer for plants is the one that works for your garden and schedule. Tomatoes may benefit from a sprinkle of coffee grounds whereas a fussy orchid may require a more customized solution. Choose a recipe that is easy for you to replicate and use on a regular basis.
Remember that fertilizer plays a key role in giving plants the nutrients they need to grow, blossom, and produce fruit. If you’d like to feed your plants but are worried about fitting it into your busy schedule, a Lomi offers a wide array of benefits to any gardener. With the help of this mighty kitchen appliance, everyday organic waste is broken down into a microbially-rich end product that you can immediately spread over your houseplants or vegetable garden.
Now that you’ve read through all of these homemade plant food options, it’s time to experiment and find out what works best for your plants! Or, if you’re ready to start making your own Lomi Earth, order your Lomi Food Recycler today!
Written by: Anna Buck
The fertilizer aisle of the garden store might make you wish you'd paid attention in science class. But a basic understanding of fertilizer labels, along with some updated marketing by manufacturing companies, can ease the confusion.
"The gardener of today doesn't have to be … a chemist or a mad scientist to figure out each individual thing that they need for their garden,” says Oscar Fortis, head of new business development for Dr. Earth, a California-based company that sells organic fertilizers and soils.
That's because many companies now package fertilizers based on how they will be used, labeling them for specific plants like tomatoes or azaleas, for example. But all fertilizers are based on a proportion of three basic elements, known as the NPK:
Somewhere on the package, because it's required by law, there will be the percentage by weight of each element. To use an example from the University of Maryland Extension, a 5-pound bag of 10-5-5 fertilizer contains .5 pounds of nitrogen, .25 pounds of phosphorus and .25 pounds of potassium. If you want a stronger lawn, you know to look for a higher proportion of nitrogen. For more blooms, pick a fertilizer with more phosphorus.
Organic fertilizers include manures, compost and bonemeal and come directly from plant or animal sources, according to the Oregon State University Extension Service. Inorganic fertilizers, such as ammonium sulfate or ammonium phosphate, are usually called commercial or synthetic fertilizers and go through a manufacturing process.
Before you put anything in your garden or on your lawn, however, first determine whether you even need fertilizer, experts say.
"No one should ever assume they have to fertilize,” says C.L. Fornari, a gardening author, speaker and consultant based on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. “And you shouldn't assume you have to fertilize every year. … Have a soil test done.”
You can use a home kit available at garden centers, but most state extension services offer a more thorough analysis, Fornari and others say, so consider getting a lab test at least every few years. The results will show how to improve your soil, so you'll spend less on fertilizer and won't harm the environment.
"If you have soil that's already high in phosphorus or potassium, it's ludicrous to be dumping more phosphorus or potassium,” says Fornari, “because not only does that phosphorus become a pollutant in our waterways, but if you get levels of any particular element or mineral too high in your soil, you can throw the whole thing off balance. ... Your plants won't grow well or can't absorb other nutrients that are there.”
When it comes to lawns, Chrissie Segars, an extension turf grass specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension in Dallas, says homeowners make three common fertilizer mistakes: not getting a soil test, applying too much fertilizer, and applying fertilizer at the wrong time of year.
"We want to make sure they're applying the fertilizer when the grass is actively growing,” she says. In other words, if the lawn isn't growing enough to mow, don't fertilize.
Next consider how you use your lawn. Is it ornamental or a heavily used play area? “The higher the use, the more nitrogen you'll need, because nitrogen promotes shoot growth for recovery,” she says. And think about how much you want to spend, she adds. “The more nitrogen you put down, the more you've got to mow it, right?”
If you're growing vegetables, get a soil test at least every three years, Fornari says. “If you're growing a large vegetable garden that you are depending on for a good portion of the food that may come to your table, it's good to know, right?"
Don't assume that slow growth, stunting, pale leaves or low yields indicate a need to fertilize. These symptoms can be caused by other factors, such as crowding, low sunlight, compacted soil or pests, according to the University of Maryland Extension. And beware of overfertilizing, or you might get lush green plants but no fruit.
Do not use lawn fertilizers on gardens, according to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. They may be too high in nitrogen and might also include chemicals for weed control that can damage vegetables.
Your state extension service is the best source for questions about fertilizers and application, and may have helpful fact sheets. But here are five more tips to start.
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