Affordable and Natural Houseplant Fertilizers Everyone Should Know

Written by Savannah Toal

Who said feeding your houseplant had to be difficult? Here are some easy and natural ways you can fertilize your indoor plants without breaking the bank! It's important to give fertilizer to your indoor plant babies, this gives them nutrients to grow full and thrive all year long!

Feeding your houseplants has never been easier or affordable. If you can't decide between a liquid plant food or you're suspicious of granular fertilizer, try organic or natural fertilizer!

What is organic fertilizer you ask? Well, my friend, organic fertilizer is plant food that is made of natural organic material. You don't even have to leave your home to get some. In this case, we are using organic material you can find around your kitchen! Household kitchen wastes like eggshells, rice water, coffee, potato water, and banana peels are the perfect eco-friendly and affordable way to feed your indoor houseplants!

Here are my top five organic fertilizers and how to use them in your indoor plant jungle and garden!

Five Affordable and Easy DIY Organic Fertilizers You Can Find Right In Your Home

Eggshells

Save your eggshells people, I cannot stress this enough. Dried eggshells add nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium to your soil.

Clean and dry your eggshells after you make something good with them or just accidentally drop one! Grind up your dried eggshell babies in a blender. If you don't have a blender simply put them in a Ziploc bag and smash them with your fists of fury! Click here for a quick how-to video. You can then either add the ground shells to the top of the soil or create an egg fertilizer tea (yum). To create fertilizer tea, add your ground eggshells to a jar of boiled water and let sit for 24 hours. Then use to water your plants!

Rice Water

If you aren't washing your rice before you cook it, you should really try it...and then save the water for your house plants! Washing rice causes nutrients and starches to leach into the water to create a great mild fertilizer that can even take the place of NPK fertilizers. Be sure to allow the water to cool before watering your plants.

Coffee

Coffee grounds and brewed coffee are both amazing ways to keep your plants happy and healthy! Coffee grounds are high in nitrogen and are good for foliage plants while brewed coffee contains potassium and magnesium. I would note that coffee should be used for plants that can handle acidic conditions like ferns, aloe, and roses.

To use coffee grounds as a plant fertilizer, simply brew a cup of joe and let the grounds dry out. This is important, wet grounds can cause fungus. Then sprinkle onto the soil. It's that easy!

To use brewed coffee as a fertilizer, save the leftover coffee (without cream and sugar). Dilute the coffee with some water. Then water your acidic loving plants!

Potato Water

Save your potato water after you boil them. Flowers and veggies love the starch from potatoes and will thank you for it!

Simply boil some potatoes (be sure to not use water that has been salted) and save the water! Leave it out to cool and in the morning water your plants with them. It recycles water and provides nutrients your plants need to grow!

Banana Peels

Banana peels are full of potassium and make the perfect slow-release organic fertilizer! These slippery guys will keep your plants healthy and strong.

To use as a natural fertilizer, you can lay them directly on the soil, cut them up into smaller pieces, and mix in with the soil.

Or you can make a natural liquid fertilizer with them! To make banana peel fertilizer tea simply fill a mason jar with water, place a banana peel in, and let it sit on a windowsill for 48 hours. Make sure you check on your banana jar and keep the banana peels covered with water. If the peels aren't fully submerged, they might mold, ruining the fertilizer tea. Discard the peels (or throw them in your compost pile) and then water your plants with your banana peel tea to enrich their roots and little plant souls.

Quick tip: Airplants love banana tea. Spritz your air plants with some of that good good for a quick and simple fertilizer!

Another way to use banana peels in your houseplant jungle is by making a banana peel fertilizer powder!

To do this, take your banana peels and lay them on a baking sheet. Make sure you take the stickers off the peels. Then you can either lay them out in the sun for a day or bake them in an oven at 120-150°F for a couple of hours. You want them to be black and crispy. When you bend the peels in half, they must crack. If the peel bends and does not break, it has too much moisture in it still and it needs more time. If you leave moisture in the peels they will mold and we don't want that! Once you have your crispy peels, blend them in a blender or food processor until you have a fine powder! Then simply sprinkle a teaspoon on the soil and water as usual. Your plants will love it! Click here for a quick video on how to do this!

Sometimes there is no need to go out and buy expensive fertilizers when you can make natural organic fertilizer from your kitchen scraps. Who doesn't love helping the planet and your plants grow at the same time?

Happy Planting!

Savannah