My Planty Recs - Fertilizer Edition
Hello! My name is Gordon, and I’m a fellow plant enthusiast who’s spent years trying different plant products.
I’ve always loved sharing tips and tricks with friends and often got questions around products I’d recommend. I’m putting this list together with no monetary incentive, and only with the goal of helping others in their plant journey! 🙂
Feel free to reach out with questions. My first post is around Fertilizers! If anyone has additional recs or comments, please let me know!
My rating caveats:
Plants I own: Aroids (Monstera, Philodendron, Anthuriums), Staghorn Ferns, Carnivorous plants (drosera, pinguicula, nepenthes), common houseplants (fiddle leaf fig, ZZ plant).
Growing conditions: I grow most of my plants in ambient, although many are in cabinets so my 2 cats don’t eat them. My temps range from 65f-80f (90f in cabinets 😶), humidity stays around 50%.
Fertilizers:
Easiest: 10/10 recommend for people who want an easy fertilizer: Osmocote Slow-release fertilizer
For most plants, I add them to soil when repotting and you only need to reapply every SIX months (I sprinkle them on top). What’s not to love? Can’t speak more highly of Osmocote.
For my staghorn ferns, I place some pellets into a tea bag and put it behind the shield frond. This helps them get the nutrients they need and mimics dead leaves / insects that get caught behind the fronds in the wild!
If you want the EASIEST fertilizer, stop reading and just buy these.
Medium Effort:
9/10 recommend for people who have aroids: Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro
I use this with most of my aroids + honestly with most of my plants. I apply it weekly and my mature monsteras are currently putting out a new leaf a month.
Am I certain it’s better than other fertilizers? No… but it works for me!
9/10 recommend for people with staghorn ferns: Liquid Seaweed
I use this with all my staghorn ferns. They seem to love it! I use this usually along with the Osmocote Slow-release fertilizer. I apply it once every 2 weeks.
10/10 recommend for people with carnivorous plants: Maxsea
I use this with all my carnivorous plants, I dilute it more water than what’s recommended and apply to the leaves of my pings and droseras, and pitchers of my nepenthes (about once a month!).
Note that this is a balanced fertilizer (16-16-16 - ratio of nutrients) and could be used for most plants IMO (although I haven’t tested this theory!).
Highest effort: Adding supplements into your care routine will help your plants. Although, with most supplements, it’s hard to tell.
6/10 recommend using Silica - I use this to strengthen my plants leaves. A lot of people have started using Silica and recommending it to stop browning of variegated monstera leaves. I have been using it without noticing too much difference. I’ll probably keep using it but can’t say it helps too much as my leaves are still browning (have been using for ~6 months).
6.5/10 recommend using Cal-mag - I use this as I was told it helps makes our plants stronger and less prone to diseases. Can’t say it makes a difference, but it’s more commonly used!
8/10 recommend using Mycorrhizal Inoculant - I use this when repotting plants and it helps with root growth!
Have I tried other fertilizers/supplements, yes! However, these are the ones I currently am using and would recommend to others. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
