How to make your own plant food

Plants need food too. Just like people and animals, they need the right nutrients in order to grow and thrive. Even if the plant does not produce flowers or fruit, it still needs nutrients to encourage proper growth. The good news is that you can make your own plant food with just a few basic ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp epsom salts
• ½ tsp ammonia
• 3 ¾ liters water

Method:

• Use an old plastic jug or container with a lid for this recipe. Remember, it needs to hold about 4 liters.
• Add all of the ingredients to the jug and allow it to sit for approximately 30 minutes so that the solid particles can dissolve.
• Mix together and, when you are ready, you can add the food directly to the soil. This allows the plant to absorb them right away.
• Use this mixture once a month and monitor your plant. You may need to adjust the dosage depending on how your plant responds.
• Make sure that you label the container and store it out of reach of children and pets.

Deficiencies can affect plants just as they affect all living things. Here are some deficiencies, symptoms, and treatments.

• Nitrogen deficiency symptoms include yellow or pale leaves. Add some coffee grounds to the soil.
• Phosphorous deficiency symptoms include a darkeing around the edges of the leaves. Add some bone meal to the soil.
• Potassium deficiency symptoms include brown spots on the leaves or yellow edges. Add some banana peels to the soil. Bury them in the soil for best results.
• Magnesium deficiency symptoms include yellow veins on the leaves. You can add epsom salts to the soil before watering to solve this problem.
• Calcium deficiency symptoms include yellow spots between the veins of the leaf. Add some crushed egg shells to the soil and make sure that you press them into the soil.