One thing people always ask me is
whether they should feed their
houseplants or not. It's a really
personal choice,
some people don't because they think
their plants are growing happily enough and
they like size that they are and the
shape they are and some people just want
huge jungly lush plants and so they feed
them massively. Either way, there's no
real wrong or right answer and there's
lots of options as well you can either
choose to be totally organic or totally
inorganic. Similarly with pest control,
you can either choose to use an
inorganic pest spray which will totally
get rid of your bugs or you can go for a
more natural option. Before you start,
make sure you know what the issue is.
Take a look at our information on common
plant illnesses and how to cure them.
Treating your plant for the wrong thing
can do more harm than good and feel free
to get in touch with Patch if you're not
sure and once you're certain of your
diagnosis you can start to think about
treatment. Chemical pesticides and
fungicides can contain a lot of toxins,
often reintroducing exactly the ones
that we brought plants into our homes to
remove, so making a natural alternative can
avoid bringing those chemicals into our
homes and it's safer to keep around if
you have pets or children.
So with organic pesticides a good place
to start is with a mix of mild liquid
soap and water sprayed onto houseplants.
One teaspoon of soap per litre of water
will do the job and it sounds simple but
this formula will treat a lot of common
household pests and it's a real favorite
among organic gardeners and if you've
got problems with mold as well if you
add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to
that soap mix it will become a great
fungicide as well. Another thing that's
been used for a long time is neem oil,
it's usually bought online and again you
just mix it with water, normally around
two teaspoons of neem oil and one
teaspoon of mild soap with a litre of
water and you can spray that on to
infected plants. It also has a residual
effect so you know it'll keep working
away in the background as you treat your
indoor plants. Other people totally swear
by chili spray to repel insects although
that's definitely a preventative measure;
we don't know how well it works once the
bugs are there and in that case you want
to mix one teaspoon of chili powder
with a litre of water and a few drops of
mild soap and spray the whole lot onto
your plants. There are also recipes for
homemade fertilizer too. It's an option
if you want to avoid a buildup of salt
in the soil and you want to feed the
plant rather than the soil it's potted
in. Natural alternatives can be made up
of ingredients that will provide the
nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that
your plants need to grow. There are so
many options out there and it definitely
worth something researching properly but
as a start you need a mix of urea, potash
bone meal and water. And well done! You've
completed level 2 of the Patch Houseplant Parenting Course. I hope you found
it useful and that you're more confident
in looking after your plants now. Don't
forget that there's still level 1 if you
haven't grasped the basics yet and that
there's so much more information on the
Patch website, plus if you're a Patch
customer the plant rescue team is always
there if something goes wrong. Good luck
and happy growing!
