Homemade House Plant Fertilizer

Feed houseplants with homemade compost tea.

Compost is widely regarded as the most affordable, most effective way to provide supplemental nutrients to your garden. But what about your houseplants? Compost is perfectly safe for use on houseplants, though it might be a little difficult to incorporate once plants are already established. If you've got a compost pile and some finished compost, consider making your own houseplant fertilizer out of compost tea. Compost tea provides the same nutrients as compost in its soil form but is much easier to apply to houseplants as part of a fertilization routine.

Things You'll Need

• Unbleached, undyed burlap squares
• Finished compost
• Unbleached twine
• 5-gallon bucket
• Water, 4 gallons
• Air stone
• Aquarium pump
• Watering can

Instructions

1. Make a big teabag. Take a burlap square---unbleached and undyed---about one square foot in size, and lay it flat on the table. Pile finished compost in the center of the square, gather up the corners and tie them all together with unbleached twine.

2. Fill a 5-gallon bucket with 4 gallons of water.

3. Insert an air stone---used to make bubbles in an aquarium tank---that is connected to an exterior aquarium pump. Plug in the pump. The air stone will help aerate and circulate the water while the tea "steeps." The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection recommends that the pump run for an hour before you add the compost in order to remove some of the chlorine in the tap water.

4. Drop the compost teabag into the bucket of water.

5. Let the tea steep for 2 to 3 days, then fill your watering can with the tea and apply it liberally to your houseplants.

References

• Huffington Post: How to Make Compost Tea
• Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection: How to Make Compost Tea