Look at the label on any package of plant fertilizer and you’ll see its N-P-K ratio. The letters refer to nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), which are the key macronutrients that plants need to grow. The ratios are presented with numbers, such as 5-1-1 or 2-5-5. As plants grow from seedlings to leafy mature plants to flowering plants, their nutrient requirements change. Plant fertilizers come in different formulas—with varying N-P-K ratios—so you can feed your crop exactly the nutrients it needs throughout its life cycle.
Most plant foods have the three nutrients, but the source of the nutrients has a significant impact on the health of your plants. Fertilizers are made with ingredients, such as fish and seaweed, while synthetic plant food is manufactured with chemicals, such as ammonium nitrate or urea. Think about the difference between eating processed foods and whole foods. Both have protein and carbohydrates, but whole foods are healthier for you because the nutrients come in forms that are better for your body. The same is true of fertilizers that are compliant for use in organic production, and your plants.
While growing healthy plants that flower abundantly indoors is easy and convenient with liquid fertilizers that are compliant for use in organic gardening, you’ll want to remember these tips to get the best results.
Be Patient For Growth
![Plant seedlings]( "Be patient for plant growth")
Plants fed with compliant fertilizers don’t show the dramatic, fast growth that you might get from synthetics, but at maturity they are robust and flower abundantly. Organic fertilizers slowly release nutrients over time instead of shocking them all at once.
Be sure to follow your fertilizer’s recommended dilution rates and feeding schedules—excess nutrients don’t make plants grow faster or bigger, and they can even harm your crop.
Use Any System
The beneficial microbes that break down fertilizers into nutrients readily absorbed by plants flourish in soil, so compliant fertilizers are especially well suited to crops grown in biologically active dirt. However, liquid compliant fertilizers are useful in hydroponic systems or any indoor growing setup as well. Thoroughly mix the fertilizer with water to dissolve it completely, so it can flow smoothly through any tubing you’re using.
Mix With Distilled Water
Chlorine, often used to treat municipal water supplies, can kill those beneficial microbes that help turn fertilizer into nutrients for plants. Well water is often high in minerals, which can raise the pH of a nutrient solution. Distilled water is pure, pH neutral, and best for blending with your compliant fertilizer.
Check The pH
The acidity versus alkalinity (the pH) of your nutrient solution (fertilizer plus water) is critical to your plants’ capacity to absorb the phosphorus, potassium, and other trace elements in it.
For most indoor garden crops, the ideal pH is slightly acidic, between 5.5 and 6.5. Compliant fertilizers are close to neutral (7), but synthetics are high in salt, which can lower the pH of your solution.
You can buy an accurate, simple-to-use pH meter for less than $30. Use it every time you mix a batch of nutrient solution.
Make It Fresh
When exposed to oxygen and water, the beneficial microbes in compliant fertilizer begins breaking down the ingredients into nutrients. As soon as a day later, competing bad bacteria may move in and diminish the results of your nutrient solution. Prepare each batch just before using it so that it’s fresh and at its peak. Keep a lid on the reservoir to discourage unwelcome bacteria from colonizing there.
Know The Scent
The aroma of concentrated fertilizer made from fish can be strong before you dilute it, and it may even draw the attention of any cats in the house. But if that tempts you to switch to synthetics, you might want to take a whiff of ammonia first and then decide which scent is more unappealing.
Clean The Scene
![Fungus]( "Fungus")
Even tiny spills of liquid fertilizer can become hosts to destructive fungus in your grow room and attract fungus gnats. Be sure to keep the area where you mix and use fertilizer, spotless.
Avoid using the lid of a fertilizer container to measure, even if the cap has measurements on it, so that you don’t accidentally adulterate the fertilizer still in the container.
If you have done that inadvertently, you may notice a white brittle substance around the edges of the cap. Remove it with a clean cloth and rinse the lid clean.
What Do You Think?
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