Feeding?

[JaneO]

We have lots of chat on the forum about pests and their control. (Provado rules) Do forumites feed their plants? If you do, do you use cactus/succulent food or Phostrogen/Tomato feed or what? Equally, indoors, do you use food for house plants? If so, which? - Baby Bio/Phostrogen/own label/none? Personally, I tend to re-pot rather than feed but I wondered what the norm was.
Thanks. Jane O

[anders]

Oh yes, because my growing media are almost inert and do not contain much nutrients. I always add some liquid fertiliser to the water (usually a local brand that I don't think is available in the UK anyway).

[majcka]

I use liquid fertiliser aswell. Not often but at least once a year. It is a cacti fertiliser bought in store.

[Geoff Lovell]

Because I use Peat and Grit I have to feed and have always used Chempak 8 for Cacti & Succulents and Chempak 4 for everything else.
If I need a nitrogen boost I have used Chempak 2.

[rodsmith]

I feed once a month between March and September. Until this year I used Miracle Gro, with good results. It contains all the trace elements that cacti (and most succulents) need, as well as being rather light on nitrates, so promoting strong rather than lush growth. This year I used a specific cactus & succulent fertiliser (see http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_nos ... fertiliser). However I didn't find this any better than Miracle Gro, which is available from most garden centres and is considerably cheaper; so next year I will go back to using it.

[Hedge]

Yes, I feed hit and miss, with tomato food, cactus food by Chempak, and occasionally with orchid food! However I have found I get much better flowering with good light and the peat free compost mix I'm now using than I ever got before. I also water with rain water whenever possible as our water reeks of chlorine and I never remember to put it to stand.

[anttisepp]

So do I also, using complete feeding for cacti & succ. with low amount of nitrogen.
If you'll try to feed one plant and not to feed another the same you'll be very pleased as the first one will much more happily grow and abundantly flower than the second.

[Herts Mike]

A few mention low nitrogen. Have you tried with a nitrogenous feed? You might be surprised at the results.........

And not what we've been led to believe..........

[rodsmith]

A few mention low nitrogen. Have you tried with a nitrogenous feed? You might be surprised at the results.........

And not what we've been led to believe..........

Please tell us more, Mike.

[Maurice Vaughan]

I make up my own concoction which has elements of rain water main ingredient, nitrogen, phostrogen, a general plant food, and finally cactus focus a balanced nutrition for cacti and succulents. It is noticable after a couple of days that the cactus become a richer colour of green, and the succulents thrive on the mixture. I am probably going OTT but if it works why change it? BY the way my Pelargoniums love the food , not really its just the water that they enjoy.