The long and difficult wintering period for all indoor plants usually ends with the resumption of normal regular maintenance. But you should not rush to water the plants abundantly again and start regular feeding. Spring is a period of transition from the stage of complete, conditional or forced dormancy to active growth. And only focusing on the state of the plants themselves, their development and signals can you find the ideal time and strategy for leaving. The most dangerous thing in spring is to start feeding when the plants are not ready for it.
When and how to start feeding indoor plants in spring?
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An individual approach is the best strategy for re-feeding
The main rule that cannot be violated in the spring for all indoor plants is to be guided in the matter of feeding (and care in general) only by individual recommendations. In the difficult period of adaptation of plants to changing conditions and the beginning of a new growing cycle, any improvisation with feeding can become more stressful than temperature jumps. In the spring, you should not ignore even the “small” plant requirements for conditions and care.
Before resuming top dressing in the spring, it is worth checking the recommendations for all your indoor plants again, remembering the old schedules. To start feeding indoor plants in spring correctly, you need to know for sure:
- the type of fertilizer that is more suitable for a particular type of indoor plant;
- recommended standard feeding frequency;
- the optimal form of fertilization and the ability to use fertilizers not in liquid form (including knowing if the plant tolerates long-term fertilizers and foliar feeding);
- the plant’s preferred feeding times are periods of active feeding and their reduction or stoppage; the traditional “from March” in the recommendations means that from March it is worth watching the plant more closely and choosing the date of the first feeding in accordance with its condition.
The only thing that can be determined accurately and quickly is how to start feeding the plants in the spring. Top dressing is carried out only with fertilizers recommended for feeding this type of indoor plants.
Top dressing is carried out only with fertilizers recommended for feeding this type of indoor plants
The timing of the start of dressing for indoor plants in the spring
If you want to avoid problems in the spring and help plants adapt to changing conditions, do not start feeding on the calendar. The first signs of the resumption of the growing season of all plants appear at the end of February or March. At the same time, how exactly the plants wintered or when they bloom is not as important as the signs of “spilling”.
It would be a big mistake to resume feeding on March 1. Finding a starting point is possible only by observing the plants and noticing when they begin to wake up under the influence of increasing daylight hours and light intensity.
It is necessary to resume caring for indoor plants in spring at the first signs of growth of leaves or shoots – but not with top dressing, but with transplantation and watering. Only after changing the capacity or replacing the upper part of the substrate, adaptation and the beginning of the usual “summer” watering will the time come to gradually resume feeding. Not earlier than 2-3 weeks after reaching the standard watering frequency (or replacing the top of the substrate). And not earlier than 4 weeks after transplantation (best of all – after 5-6 weeks).
Read also our article 5 main rules for transplanting indoor plants in the spring.
Simple rules for resuming feeding in spring
For plants that prefer standard liquid fertilizing (applying fertilizers along with water for irrigation), there are almost no tricks in resuming fertilizing. The main thing is not to create a situation where the roots may suffer from the unusually high concentration of fertilizers in the soil. And for this it is enough to take care of just a few preventive measures:
- Before the first feeding of the day or at least a few hours, water the plant abundantly, draining excess water from the trays.
- Use soft water at a temperature slightly warmer than the air in the room.
- If the instructions for a particular plant species do not indicate otherwise, start feeding gradually, reducing the first doses by 2-3 times.
- Distribute water evenly around the perimeter of the pot, do not soak the stems and leaves, water as carefully as possible.
- After watering, do not leave water in the pan, but before the next procedure, make sure that the substrate is dry to a comfortable moisture for the plants.
In short, it is enough to be careful and careful, follow the standard watering rules and treat any plant as capricious and hypersensitive.
The only thing to worry about when using a long-acting fertilizer in spring is moderate moisture and extremely gentle watering until growth resumes. Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com bigamart
How to apply long-term fertilizers in the spring
It’s even easier with sticks, capsules and granules so easy to care for. Long-term fertilizers, which the manufacturer recommends to mix with the substrate, are simply added in the specified proportion to the soil when replanting the plant or replacing the top layer.
The only thing worth taking care of is moderate hydration and extremely gentle watering until growth resumes. If long-acting fertilizers are simply inserted into the container, then they are applied no earlier than 5-6 weeks after transplanting, avoiding contact with the roots.
Read also our article 7 sins that houseplants will not forgive you.
How to resume foliar feeding?
In order for the plant not to suffer from too abrupt resumption of leaf dressing, it is worth postponing the first foliar dressing for 2-4 weeks after the start of the main dressing. It is extremely important to carry out the first procedure with a very weak, slightly concentrated composition, returning to the usual dosage gradually.
Before starting foliar feeding, you need to accustom the plant to regular spraying (if they were not part of the care in winter). At the beginning of leaf dressing in spring, such precautions as protection from direct sunlight play a special role.
Before starting foliar feeding, you need to accustom the plant to regular spraying.
Controversial strategy – feeding with nitrogen
Many gardeners who are fond of the garden prefer to do the same with indoor plants as with their favorite outdoor plants. Alternating nitrogen fertilization at the beginning of growth with more specialized ones from summer is a classic strategy for more decorative greenery or abundant flowering.
But you should not rush to transfer it to a room format. Of course, all plants at the beginning of the growing season, when shoots start to grow and leaves open, need more nitrogen. But it is no coincidence that indoor plants need complex, complex fertilizers containing not only macronutrients, but also a whole complex of much more imperceptible, but no less significant microelements. And if, during a considerable period of the beginning of the growing season, all fertilizing is reduced only to nitrogen, then the needs for other elements, maybe more modest, will not be satisfied.
Regardless of whether the plant grows leaves and flower stalks, in the matter of feeding (instead of improvisation and folk methods), strictly adhere to the recommendations for a particular type of plant or the instructions received when purchasing for a particular variety. If in doubt or you still want to try to achieve more green mass by adding an additional portion of nitrogen, carry out such fertilizing with small doses of fertilizers between the main ones or slightly change the ratio of macronutrients with proven biological products.
