DIY Plant Fertilizer for Indoor Plants: 5 Recipes to Try (2024)

Learn how to make your own plant fertilizer with our step-by-step guide. Our 5 DIY recipes are perfect for indoor plants and use simple, natural ingredients. Improve your plant's health and save money with these easy fertilizers. Try them today!

Making your own DIY plant fertilizer at home is an easy and cost-effective way to help your indoor plants thrive. And, it's eco-friendly too which makes it Earth-friendly and great for the environment! That's why I've chosen to share five effective DIY plant fertilizer recipes with you that you can try out today.

Taking care of indoor plants isn't all about just watering them. To stay healthy, they need some extra help in the form of nutrients. While purchasing ready-made fertilizers from the store is an option, these pre-made mixtures can be pricy and aren't always as effective as making your own.

These are the 5 recipes we're going to look at in this plant care guide:

Let's dive right into why you would even consider making your own plant fertilizer rather than getting an off-the-shelf solution.

Why should you make your own plant fertilizer?

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Have you ever wondered why you should consider making your own plant fertilizer? It can be intimidating to come up with a good recipe but if you take the time to read about it, you may be surprised by how beneficial it is for growing healthy plants.

Here are some excellent reasons why homemade fertilizer could be the right solution for your garden:

• Cost-effective: Making your own plant fertilizer can save you money in the long run, especially if you have a lot of indoor plants.
• Eco-friendly: By making your own plant fertilizer, you can reduce your carbon footprint and avoid using chemical-based fertilizers that harm the environment.
• Customizable: You can customize your DIY plant fertilizer to meet the specific needs of your indoor plants.
• Convenient: Making your own plant fertilizer is just convenient. You might already use some of the ingredients you'll need several times per week, so why not reuse them for plant fertilizer before throwing them out?
• Gentle: Homemade fertilizers from kitchen scraps are made from natural ingredients, so it's a lot more difficult to overfertilize your houseplants.

But are there downsides to making your own plant fertilizer? Let's find out!

What are the downsides of making your own plant fertilizer?

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The downsides of making fertilizer yourself rather than using a store-bought option are quite clear. Store-bought fertilizers are more effective because they've been designed to be effective at feeding your plants. These fertilizers provide a nice balance between the three primary nutrients in fertilizer: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK).

These store-bought fertilizers also come with a specific set of instructions, which helps you to optimally feed your plant. This is a lot more difficult with homemade fertilizer.

So can you feed your plants with just homemade plant fertilizer? Yes! Is it more effective or easier than using store-bought fertilizer? Probably not.

Now that we know the pros and cons of making your own plant fertilizer, let's start with some recipes! We'll only need a few ingredients for each recipe, so you can probably already get started right now!

Recipe 1: Banana peel fertilizer

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Bananas are not only a tasty snack, but have long been known to be highly beneficial for both humans and plants alike! In addition to improving our nutrition, bananas can also make a wonderful Do-It-Yourself fertilizer for your indoor houseplants! What's the secret ingredient? Banana peels, of course! Here's how you can create a fertilizer mix with just a few simple steps:

Requirements

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• Banana peels (as many as you have)
• Water (enough to cover the peels)

Instructions

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1. Collect Banana Peels: Start by saving your banana peels. Each time you eat a banana, instead of throwing the peel away, rinse it to remove any residue and set it aside.
2. Prepare the Peels: Cut the banana peels into small pieces. The smaller the pieces, the faster they'll break down and release their nutrients.
3. Soak the Peels: Place the chopped banana peels in a glass jar or bowl and cover them with water.
4. Wait: Let the peels soak for about two weeks. You may want to cover the container with a cloth or a lid with small holes to prevent flies or other pests but still allow some airflow. Stir the mixture every few days to help break down the peels and evenly distribute the nutrients.
5. Strain: After two weeks, strain the liquid into another container. Discard or compost the leftover banana peel pieces.
6. Use Your Fertilizer: Use this nutrient-rich banana peel fertilizer to water your indoor plants. For best results, dilute it with equal parts water to prevent over-fertilization, which can be harmful to plants.

So it takes a while before the banana peels have released their nutrients in the fertilizer mix, but it's an easy way to create natural fertilizer throughout the growing season.

Banana peels are a great source of potassium, which is important for lots of plants to grow! They also have smaller amounts of phosphorus, calcium, and lots of micro minerals that can help give your plants a boost. This mix is especially good for flowering plants and plants that grow fruit.

Recipe 2: Eggshell fertilizer

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Eggshells are rich in calcium and also contain small amounts of other nutrients that plants need to grow, including potassium and phosphorus. Just like the banana peel recipe, using egg shells to grow your plants is easy.

Requirements

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• Eggshells (from roughly 12 eggs)
• 1 liter (32 oz) of water

Instructions

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1. Collect and clean the eggshells: Start by saving your eggshells. Rinse them out and let them dry.
2. Crush the eggshells: Once you have enough eggshells, crush them into a fine powder. You can do this using a mortar and pestle, or a blender/food processor.
3. Steep the eggshells: Add the crushed eggshells to a liter (32 oz) of water in a pot. Bring the water to a boil, then turn off the heat and let the eggshells steep overnight.
4. Strain and store: In the morning, strain the water into a jar or another container, leaving the eggshell pieces behind.
5. Use Your fertilizer: Water your plants with eggshell-infused water as needed.

So you can use crushed eggshells as a liquid fertilizer for your houseplants, but did you know that you can sprinkle them directly onto the soil too? This helps to give plants a slow-release calcium boost which can help with soil's structure and drainage over time. Because of this, you should see happier and healthier houseplants in no time!

It's important to remember though that as helpful as they can be, eggshells alone won't provide plants with comprehensive nutrition. That's why it's important to use eggshells together with other sources of nutrition for your houseplants.

Recipe 3: Coffee grounds fertilizer

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Coffee grounds can do more than you think! Not only are they a great source of nitrogen for your plant, but you can even use them in different ways: you can use them as an addition to the soil, as liquid fertilizer, and even as compost.

We'll look at how you can use it as a liquid fertilizer here, but if you'd like to mix it in with the soil, be aware that you can add too much to the soil and make it acidic. So when you're just starting out, start with a small amount of coffee grounds and see how your plant reacts.

Now back to the liquid fertilizer from coffee grounds!

Requirements

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• 2 cups of used coffee grounds
• 5 gallons of water (about 19 liters)

Instructions

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1. Collect your coffee grounds: Instead of throwing out your used coffee grounds, save them in a container. You'll need about 2 cups of grounds to make this fertilizer.
2. Prepare the mixture: Pour the coffee grounds into a 5-gallon bucket, then fill the bucket with water.
3. Let it steep: Allow the mixture to steep for at least a few hours, but preferably overnight. This will give the water time to absorb the nutrients from the coffee grounds.
4. Strain (optional): If you want to remove the coffee grounds before using the liquid, you can strain the mixture through a cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer. This is optional, and some plant owners prefer to leave the grounds in, especially if they'll be using the liquid for outdoor plants.
5. Use your fertilizer: Use the coffee-infused water to water your indoor plants as needed. Be sure to observe your plants closely to see how they respond to the coffee liquid fertilizer, and adjust your usage accordingly.
6. Store the rest: You can store the remaining liquid fertilizer in a closed container for later use. Just be sure to use it within a week or two to ensure that it's still fresh.

As you can tell, this is not a great option if you only need very little fertilizer. If you only want a glass jar worth, it's worth it to experiment with the ratios a little and see how your plants react to the fertilizer.

Just like mixing the coffee grounds in with the soil, you can make the soil too acidic if you use this method too often. Keep a close eye on your plants when you use this fertilizer and dilute the solution if your plant is getting yellow leaves.

Recipe 4: Epsom salt fertilizer

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Did you know that Epsom salt is a great source of the essential mineral magnesium? It's really important for plant growth, so finding ways to provide this nutrient is key to keeping your plants healthy!

Requirements

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• 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt
• 1 gallon of water (approximately 3.8 liters)

Instructions

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1. Dissolve the Epsom salt: In a large container, dissolve 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt in a gallon of water. Stir the solution until the Epsom salt is completely dissolved.
2. Use your fertilizer: Water your plants with the Epsom salt solution. You can use this in place of your regular watering, but avoid overwatering your plants.
3. Observe and adjust: Keep an eye on your plants over the next few weeks to observe their response to the Epsom salt fertilizer. You might notice greener leaves, stronger stems, and more blossoms.

Much like the eggshells recipe, Epsom salt is not a complete fertilizer. It only provides magnesium and sulfur, and plants need a variety of other nutrients as well. So you should use Epsom salt as a supplement to a balanced plant care routine, rather than the only source of nutrients.

Another thing to pay attention to is that too much of a thing is also not good. Some soil mixtures (clay mixtures, or very rocky soils) are already quite high in magnesium, so adding more will make it a bad place to grow your plant.

Recipe 5: Fish tank water fertilizer

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If you've got a fish tank, you can use it to make a DIY plant fertilizer for your indoor plants. Fish tank water contains important nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus that give plants the boost they need! Making your own plant fertilizer might seem tricky at first, but this recipe might be the easiest out of all the recipes here.

Requirements

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• Fish tank water (surprising, I know)

Instructions

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1. Clean your fish tank: When it's time to clean your fish tank, instead of discarding the old water, collect it in a bucket or other large container.
2. Let the water sit: Allow the water to sit for an hour or two. This will let any solids settle to the bottom.
3. Use the water: Gently scoop or pour the clear water from the top of your container to water your houseplants. Be careful to leave the layer of solids at the bottom of the container, as these can be too concentrated and might harm your plants.

Used fish tank water can be a great benefit for plants that prefer slightly acidic soil, as it naturally has a lower pH level than tap water. It also doesn't contain the chemicals such as chlorine and chloramines that you typically find in tap water. This nutrient can be harmful to some types of plants.

Like most other fertilizers in this plant care guide, this recipe doesn't help you make a complete fertilizer, as it only really adds extra nitrogen and phosphorus. This makes it an excellent fertilizer supplement to use alongside other fertilizers though.

And as a last note, I'd like to mention that you should only use fish tank water that hasn't been treated with fish medications or other chemicals. These could be harmful to your plants.

Thank you for reading this post! I hope it helps you to keep your plants healthy and beautiful! If you're looking for more guides on specific plants, you can always request a plant guide to get a guide for the plant you have trouble with.

Tags:fertilizer