Feeding And Fertilizing Bromeliad Plants

Knowing how to feed and fertilize bromeliads is as essential as learning how to keep the garden sheds clutter-free for better organization in your garden or backyard. As if you love the boundless variety in terms of variegations and colors of bromeliads, you should learn the basic guidelines in feeding and fertilizing them. For a start on how to care for bromeliads, check out the following.

Best Time For Feeding

One of the essentials in growing these plants well is to know the best time for feeding them. Remember, they can’t live on air alone, so they need your help by applying fertilizer from time to time especially some varieties that will benefit from light and regular feeding.

The additional nutrition you can apply can enhance both their foliage’s appearance and flower production. One of the best times to feed them is in the summer months when they are actively growing, ideally from April to September.

However, you must taper off feeding from late August to allow them to prepare for partial winter dormancy.  And in all cases, you must keep watering the bromeliads regularly, but you must reduce it after the final feeding.

More tips

For blushing bromeliads, you should feed them weekly. Apply low-nitrogen fertilizer with a ratio of 5-59-10. Be sure to dilute it 1/8 strength. On the other hand, you can also apply a general-purpose fertilizer with 20-20-20 ratio that should be diluted to 1/16 strength every month.   However, you should stop or reduce feeding if the bromeliads start losing foliage color; if it becomes misshaped; or if it grows too large.

For the earth star bromeliads, you must feed them with fertilizer 20-20-20 ratio, but it must be diluted to quarter strength. You must pour it onto the soil but just around the plant’s base. But by the time that the plant grows by half under cooler conditions, you must reduce feeding to prevent unwieldy foliage from growing.

General Fertilizer Requirements

Remember that different species of the plant also requires specific care and fertilizer. Each of the species has adapted to living and thriving in a specific environment. After all, you might have a different goal for the specie you’re planting, like having large flowers.

For instance, if you’re planting Guzmania, take note to fertilize it monthly in its growing season. However, use a low-nitrogen liquid type of fertilizer with quarter strength. You can also opt for slow-release pellets to add to the soil, not on the plant’s central cup.

Fertilizer Do’s And Don’ts For Bromeliads

There are some dos and don’ts in fertilizing Bromeliads that you have to remember.  Some of them are in the following.

Do’s

• Fertilize them when they’re producing new growth actively especially when the light levels are high.
• Only feed the plants when the soil is moist. Otherwise, the plants, which are stressed by dry soil, will take more nutrients than they should.
• Stop applying fertilizer for plants that have just been moved to a new place. Bromeliads need some time to adjust to new conditions. Also, it is difficult for them to produce new growth without soil pressure.
• Before re-feeding, you should wait a minimum of six weeks before repotting in a soil where you applied fertilizer. Usually, these plants don’t need feeding if they’re repotted in soil with starter fertilizer. Thus, you must allow them to use those nutrients before fertilizing for more nutrients.

Don’ts

• Use a fertilizer containing high amounts of salt.
• Use nitrogen fertilizers because they’d just hinder the plant’s ability in flowering, except if you’re looking to achieve good foliage.
• Fertilize the plants when they’re not in the active growing season, or you will burn the leaves.
• Feed the bromeliads when they’re resting in weak winter, or you will do them more harm than good to them.
• Spray fertilizer on earth star specie, or you will just inhibit its ability in respiring and photosynthesizing.

There are thousands of bromeliad species, each requiring specific care, feeding and fertilizing. Take note of them if you want your bromeliads to thrive. Know the best time to feed and ways to fertilize them properly.

Author Bio: Emily from Cacti Landscape is a marketing specialist, having her main focus on developing and implementing various ideas both for the online and offline marketing. She is currently being specialized also in content writing, having her main focus on home improvement, maintenance, and real estate issues.