You need a good fertilizer for your Ficus To ensure vigorous growth and thick foliage with green leaves.
In this article, I will discuss the two fertilizers that I prefer for Ficus benjamina, elastica, and ginseng.
I will also explain to you why I switched to slow-release fertilizer and how to use it to have healthy, beautiful green plants without any effort.
You will also see the best natural fertilizer I recommend. Let’s go straight.
What Is The Best Fertilizer For Ficus Benjamina And Elastica?
The NPK value is the ideal fertilizer for Ficus benjamina, and elastica leans toward nitrogen and includes both macro and micro components.
Because [aff pro], a traditional fertilizer for green plants, provides all the nutrients the plant needs to develop healthily and maintain its green leaves, it is ideal.
The drawback of this fertilizer is that it needs to be used often, and over-fertilization issues, such as yellowing, browning, or wilted leaves, must be avoided by not exceeding the recommended amount.
For more information about Ficus Benjamina is turning yellow click here.
What I find is that having many of these plants might make it difficult for you to identify the one with which you initially fertilized.
Now, coming to this, overfeeding a ficus again and again because of its mixture will be hazardous to the plant.
Using a slow-release fertilizer like osmocote. [Aff Pro] is much easier and more effective because you need to spread it once on the soil at the beginning of the growing season, and you’re done.
For the six months of growth that will follow, there will no longer be a need to do anything other than water the Ficus when necessary.
To learn how I water my ficus tree effectively, click here.
Fertilizer For Ficus Ginseng Bonsai
From a nutritional point of view, Ficus ginseng has the same needs as other species. The fertilizers that can be used are:
- Fertilizer for green plants
- Slow-release granular fertilizer
- Earthworm humus (gradual release natural fertilizer [aff pro])
In the case of liquid (or soluble) fertilizer, I recommend using 1/2 of the recommended dosage at each watering for the entire growing season.
During autumn and winter, it will be sufficient to fertilize every 20–30 days.
If you use slow-release fertilizer, you must spread the product on the surface of the soil at the beginning of spring, using the dosage written on the label.
A natural, organic version of time-release fertilizer is earthworm humus, which is also rich in humic, fulvic acid, and enzymes.
The osmocote should be spread on the surface of the substrate in the spring after being gently scraped.
When To Fertilize Ficus
Ficus must be fertilized during the growing season, usually from April to September, so as to satisfy its increasing nutritional needs and make it grow thicker and more vigorous.
Suppose you aim to ensure vigorous growth and have thick foliage with green leaves. In that case, I will advise you to fertilize the Ficus during the growing season because this is important.
In a garden craft home, we always advise administering fertilizer during the growing season as it is effective for plants.
This season is when heat and light increase the plant’s metabolism, so it is now necessary to fertilize every 10–14 days.
For those like me who don’t like to rely on the calendar, the best thing to do is to fertilize with alternate waterings (one every other) with a less concentrated solution.
I like applying 1/2 of the dosage recommended on the fertilizer label.
If you have opted for a slow-release fertilizer (which I recommend), it is sufficient to spread it on the soil towards the end of March.
Or even better, mix it in the soil when repotting the Ficus. To learn more about repotting a ficus, click here.
Different Types Of Fertilizers For Ficus
The world of fertilizers is very broad, but it can be divided into two macro-categories:
- Natural (or organic) fertilizers
- Mineral fertilizers
In turn, there are three categories for mineral fertilizers: liquids, soluble granular, and gradual-release fertilizers.
To grasp the benefits and drawbacks of each, let’s quickly review their respective attributes without delving too deeply into them.
Natural Organic Fertilizer
Natural resources like compost, manure, bone meal, oxblood, and earthworm humus are examples of organic fertilizers.
They have the property of releasing nutrients gradually because soil microbes must mineralize them before plants can access them.
The nutritious components get free of the organic matrix (carbon) and assume a mineral form at the conclusion of mineralization.
Only at this point are the plants able to absorb them.
Mineral Fertilizer
Mineral fertilizers are derived from chemical processing and industrial processes with the aim of producing fertilizers with standardized nutritional values.
The concentration of each nutritional element is known precisely—low volume and economical.
Despite industrial processing, it is wrong to define them as “chemical” because, in reality, the elements are in mineral form.
These are the same ones that the plant absorbs from a biological fertilizer after the mineralization process.
[Aff Pro]
These products are usually sold in liquid form, like the green plant fertilizer above, soluble or slow-release.
Slow-Release Fertilizer
Granules that are spherical and coated with a porous resin membrane are the components that make up slow-release fertilizers.
When the granules touch water, the membrane will dissolve.
Over six months, they release all of the nutrients that are necessary for the plant to thrive, and they contain just those nutrients.
Among the many brands on the market, I recommend you use Osmocote by KB. [Aff Pro]
NPK values of 17-9-11 are perfect for Ficus due to the high nitrogen and potassium content.
It can be spread on the surface of the soil at the beginning of spring or mixed with the substrate during repotting.
The recommended dosage is 4 g/l for pots up to 10 liters; for larger pots, you need to add 1 g/l for each excess liter.
Root Stimulators
Root stimulators [aff pro] are natural extracts (often based on algae) that stimulate rapid and abundant growth of the root system.
In the case of Ficus, I recommend using it a couple of times during the beginning of spring to encourage the production of secondary roots and reactivate the plant’s metabolism.
[Aff Pro]
How To Make Homemade Fertilizer For Ficus And
Sometimes, we tend to neglect indoor plants, like Ficus, in favor of the garden and let nature do its work, neglecting that they need vital nutrients, namely nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
For this, it is preferable to favor fully natural fertilizers, which are very beneficial for Ficus.
The opportunity to zoom in on the natural solutions that can be used.
What Are The Benefits Of Homemade Fertilizer For Ficus?
Homemade fertilizer has numerous benefits for us. I have tested this and see that it is a good idea because it comes naturally.
A commercial fertilizer also has a great benefit as the manufacturer produces it according to levels of action.
The list of our homemade fertilizer for the focus tree can be applicable to other plants like Monstera, Pothos, Bonsai, and others.
Who made fertilizer for Ficus?
It is cheaper: making our homemade fertilizer is always more affordable for us, and most times, we find this material in our house, especially in the kitchen.
The material fertilizer needed for our homemade fertilizer might be our waste product or other food items we have at home.
Having these properties at home makes everything easier and cheaper, even without spending much money.
It is safer for plants and the environment; for plant owners who have decided to make their fertilizer for Ficus, it is always safe and slow in reaction.
Most of the time, commercial fertilizer can stand against us if we use it incorrectly.
Most times, this fertilizer can burn or destroy our plant within a week because of its chemical reaction.
When we talk about the environment, commercial fertilizers might be dangerous for children and adults.
Sometimes, when we want to use this fertilizer, if the smell enters our nose or mouth, it might cause us to run our nose or cough.
In the case of children, because of their curiosity, they might eat this fertilizer, which might cause serious issues for their immune systems.
Easy to customize: you can easily adjust or reduce the fertilizer when necessary.
For example, suppose your plant is not responding to a particular homemade fertilizer. In that case, you can add more nutrients or reduce nutrients to fit the plant’s requirements.
Natural And Homemade Fertilizer For Ficus?
Eggshell fertilizer
Calcium is abundant in eggshells, and plants need calcium for survival as well as growth and health.
Making fertilizer from eggshells is a rather easy process. Clean the shell after using your egg and let it air dry.
After the eggshell has dried, grind it properly until it becomes powder. A coffee grinder can be used for this tax.
Once you have achieved this, you can add a teaspoon to the soil of your Ficus monthly.
Thunder
The Ficus has a reputation for being easy to maintain. However, it is not because it generally resists well that it should be abandoned.
Your Ficus may hold up, but it will turn out to be far from glorious.
When a ficus lacks attention, its leaves quickly turn yellow, dry up completely, and fall; it has difficulty growing, and new branches become rare.
It is essential to give it a minimum of attention and to leave it in total health without effort. Tonnerre d’Frais is a perfect natural fertilizer for the Ficus.
Scatter 25 to 100 grams of this fertilizer all around the plant, water, and leave to act for the following months.
You will very quickly see it revitalize and regain its radiance.
Thunder Fertilizers are obviously also effective with ficus trees in perfect health; they will only do better thanks to their biological action on the soil.
tea leaf
Do you drink tea regularly? From now on, consider saving used tea bags to use as a natural fertilizer for ficus trees.
But how should it be done? Open the tea bags and pour their contents into a container. Dry it for a while, then spread the dried tea over the surface of the pot or incorporate it with the potting soil.
It is also possible to let your tea bags steep in a bottle of water to use them as a natural fertilizer.
coffee grounds
Coffee grinds are an excellent natural fertilizer for ficus plants since they are so high in potassium and magnesium.
Note that coffee grounds are used in the same way as tea.
cooking water
Don’t throw away the cooking water from eggs or vegetables! You can use it to water your pots and fertilize your plants.
To do this, let the cooking water cool, then water your Ficus.
aquarium water
Over time, fish distill several organic resources into the aquarium, which are beneficial nutrients for the growth of your plants.
So, rather than throwing away your aquarium water, take the opportunity to water your Ficus and other green plants.
If you have a large aquarium, you can store the water in bottles for later use.
ashes from your stove or fireplace
You should know that wood ash is very rich in potash and phosphorus.
It is, therefore, better to spread the ashes in your garden rather than throw them away.
It is advisable to place it on the surface of the potting soil after watering so that the roots can quickly assimilate the materials contained in the ash.
banana fertilizer
There is a significant amount of potassium, phosphorus, and calcium in the soil that may be found in bananas.
Get a pell or complete of bananas and slice them into sizes, then put them into a ficus pot and let them decay.
As the banana breaks down, it releases important minerals into the soil, including calcium, phosphate, and potassium.
This method works with any kind of banana, ripe or not. However, a ripe banana facilitates the process by converting starch to sugar.
And the ripe banana speed of the process.
To learn how to make your organic fertilizer by using Kitchen West at home, click here. [link]
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you choose the right fertilizer for your Ficus, whether for a benjamina, Ficus elastica, a ginseng bonsai, or more.
Among these, we find two macro groups:
Liquid and soluble fertilizers, which must be diluted in water and administered with watering
Gradual-release fertilizers are those that are spread on the soil or mixed with it during repotting.
I advise you to click here to find out more about how to maintain and care for your ficus tree properly.
