Fertilize Houseplants The Right Way! Soil Scientist Explains How To Choose The Right Fertilizer

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Omg I’m so overwhelmed. I need to see if I understood this right: So the soil needs to be slightly alkaline and we are likely making our soil too acidic by adding peat moss and coconut coir. Adding Lyme can correct this, or using a store bought mix that we don’t add any amendments to because they will be formulating soil that is already the right PH. But while we need more alkaline soil, we need to be fertilizing every time we water with slightly ACIDIC water, but it’s very possible our local tap water is more alkaline. (And I believe anyone with hard water, like Montreal where I live, has more alkaline water) If we’re using the method of letting our soil dry out between watering, then use synthetic fertilizers. There is also less likelihood of pests. If we use organic fertilizers be sure to not let moisture in the soil drop below 20%. Maybe also use the mentioned products to control possibility of pest and bacterial growth and give our plants a “vaccine”. The overall benefits of this method is that we are cultivating a strong soil microbiome that has benefits to our plants beyond just fertilizer. Questions: What about over saturating our soil with fertilizer? How do we avoid that if we’re fertilizing every time we water? I can imagine we need to use less fertilizer but is there any guidance on how to reason doing that with the fertilizers we are using? And this leads me to: How do we choose a fertilizer? If we have alkaline water, how do we rectify that? From what I understand, filtering said water won’t actually change the PH. Testing water Ph is pretty straight forward, how do we test soil? Do you have a video on that? You probably have a video on that. Ok I know this is a lot, and I’m kinda leaving this open to anyone who sees this who can maybe answer my questions. Thank you for all your videos, I really appreciate your presence on YouTube!

Seattle - ours seems to be around 6.5 to 7.5

Your channel is starting to grow on me and helps me get excited to grow food inside even in winter.

Jeeze, I thought I was alright with pants, but this makes me feel totally overwhelmed and unprepared 😕

You are amazing! Thank you for your incredible knowledge

117 days till I plant stuff into the ground by then I expect to be a soil scientist just from watching these videos thank you for sharing your knowledge

Nice tips, Nice channel , thank you

Once again, new information! I admit that the soil can get pretty dried out around here, mostly my own fault but it is also very dry here and has been cold with the furnace blasting away since October. This is such valuable info on what soil and fertilizer will work better for me. Thanks, Ashley!

Hi Ashley. Thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge. I have a question: Why do organic fertilizers like fish emulsion or Espoma "Grow!" liquid fertilizer not list any micronutrients on the label? Do they contain micronutrients, and they aren't required to list them because they are organic? Are the micronutrients not there? Are the micronutrients created by the process of the organic nutrients breaking down? 🤔 Thanks in advance!😊

This was super helpful for me! I’m way more knowledgeable about outdoor garden veggies than indoor houseplants. My plants sometimes thrive amazingly, usually do ok, and sometimes kick the… plant pot. Now I’ll take a closer look at their individual needs! 😂

I wish i lived by you you would be my best friend i love your energy. Keep going girl

i live in the DFW area in Texas and according to my research, the water is moderately alkaline. But I have some questions, if the potting medium is acidic and the water is alkaline, wouldn't the pH be neutralized. and also, Won't synthetic fertilizers make the pH go down ? and lastly whats the best way to use a slow release fertilizer with houseplants?

Learning lots every time I watch your videos, big thanks from an orchid grower :)

My well water in the lower Hudson Valley usually comes in between 6.5 and 7 but it has a lot of minerals so I have to take that into consideration when I use synthetic fertilizers to keep the PPM/EC down. PPM/EC may make for a good video :)

Great info. Thanks for sharing!

What brilliant information thank u

Would love a video on how to use BT in the "soil " for indoor plants. I am used to outdoor gardening and know how use use it in the presence of cabbage worm. I need to be told how to do these things like I am 5 for my new indoor hobby 😂

Thank you for sharing your knowledge God bless you.

I also have a Spider mite and Aphid issue on my indoor plants lol what can i do to get rid of them? So far i use 1/2 rubbing alcohol to 1/2 water foliage spray to kill them! ( herbs, peppers, succulents)