I water mine with dilute FP (1/4 tsp per gallon for the weakest winter rate) at virtually every watering without pre-wetting the soil with plain water first. I do take care to water slowly over the whole surface a bit, then go back 10 minutes or so later to water more, to get the mix to absorb as much as possible.

Even so a lot just pours through. Sometimes when I can be bothered and I'm watering enough plants to make it worthwhile, I'll collect this and dump it on a plant outside. Usually can't be bothered!

In your case it may be better to dampen the soil first, I don't think it would hurt or interfere with fertilising next. Is the water running through because the mix is hydrophobic or is it just following gaps through to the bottom from the mix compacting and pulling away from the pot walls or massive roots providing a pathway etc?

hi Robin, thanks for yor reply. i think the soil is quite compacted. i will wait into next june to repot into Al's 5/1/1 mix.

until then, which application rate should i use? the maintenance rate you are using (1/4 tsp weekly) or the rate "TO CORRECT MINERAL DEFICIENCIES- for rootbound of deficient plants (1 tsp per gallon for 2 or 3 waterings)

Most growers fertilize their houseplants only when the plants are in active growth - spring, summer and early fall. They need little if any during the winter months. The "rule of thumb" is from March through October :-)

"Fertilize plants only during their active growth phases. Most plants grow most strongly from spring through summer and need the most fertilizer at that time. Begin reducing the fertilization rate in the autumn (an excellent time to apply a bit of tomato fertilizer, which is rich in potassium, to help the plant through the dark days of winter). You may want to apply fertilizer at half the recommended rate in spring and summer and then cut back to a quarter of the rate in autumn."

My plants keep growing in winter, just at a slower rate, so I'm happy to keep fertilising at a low level. Of course you don't want to be adding fertiliser if it's not being used, this will cause a buildup in the soil that then interferes with the plants ability to uptake water.

So it's important to use dilute levels, to use a fertiliser that's easily absorbed, and to flush the soil out occasionally with plain water to reset nutrient levels. I combine this with rinsing leaves off in the shower every couple months or so.

I gotta go, but there's an excellent post (one of Al's) explaining linking fertilising to watering, how this then allows for giving lower amounts to slower growing plants in winter etc. I'll try to find it later if you can't.

I fertilize all of my Ficus weekly from spring through summer using 1.5 to 2 TBSP per gallon.

In the winter I fertilize every other week with 1 TBSP per gallon.

I flush at every watering. In the summer I water just about every other day as the trees are in full sun outdoors.

For hydrophobic soil like yours, I'd start by immersing the entire pot in a bucket of room temperature water until bubbles stop appearing and it sits at the bottom of the bucket without being held there. It could take up to an hour for the pot to get saturated.

You might want to de-pot the plant first to see if there are gaps in the soil that let water flow past the soil instead of through it. If there are, try to fill them, or at least gently loosen the roots and soil around the gaps, before you put it back in the pot.

Here's what I do when one of my pots with peaty soil doesn't want to absorb water: I concentrate on watering verrrrry sloooooowly, moving a very thin stream of water over the entire surface of the soil until water starts to exit the pot. I wait for at least half an hour for the moisture to wick around, then repeat the process. Sometimes I'll repeat it again until the weight of the pot convinces me it's absorbed as much as it can, then let it drain. Afterward be sure and tilt the pot 45 degrees for 15-20 minutes. If the holes are around the rim you'll see excess perched water draining out while it's tilted; if there's just one hole in the middle, the excess water will drain it when you set it upright again.

Hopefully Robin will come back with that link, but Al the Wise disagrees with the idea that you should completely stop fertilizing in the winter, Even if plants aren't really growing much, and recommends reducing the FP concentration to one teaspoon/gallon/week for the winter months. Some have said to leave it there overnight, but

I'd base the fertilizing plan as much on growth as the season. Hopefully Robin will come back with that link, but Al disagrees with the idea that you should completely stop fertilizing in the winter, even if plants aren't really growing much. He recommends reducing the FP concentration to one teaspoon/gallon/week for the winter months, and he has so much experience with fertilizing that I believe him.

My plants slow down but don't stop growing in the winter since I started giving them supplemental light, and their growth is directly related to the intensity and amount of light they get. The ficus benjaminas are almost comically sensitive to light, pushing new leaves and backbudding like mad within a few days of being moved into outdoor sunlight on the porch, slowing new growth to spring levels almost the minute I move them back indoors, and even responding to, say, going from 12 hours of artificial light to 9 hours.

Dave uses supplemental light too, which probably explains why he and I are so liberal with our fertilizer use.

I'll admit I sorta forgot to check Al's recommendations this summer and gave my plants two tablespoons/gallon with every watering, which was twice a week for some of them. They seemed to love it, though it was probably the fact that I flush every time I water that let me get away with it. I went to 1 tablespoon/gallon/week when they came inside and then got to ask Al about it, and will go back to 1 tsp/gallon/week in the winter--unless the additional lights I plan to install stimulate much more growth than they produced last winter.

I hope something in there helps.

thanks for your answers, everyone!

thanks for coming in Al!!

Laurie, you'll be fine using the 1 tsp/gal rate for a couple of waterings then dropping back to 1/4tsp/gal for winter. I see a few green fertiliser balls in your pot but the soil looks so old I'd imagine they've run out (they usually provide slow release fertiliser for a number of months, how long depends on the type). Unless you've added them more recently.

I don't fertilise weekly, I fertilise at each watering, which is done when an individual plant needs it rather than on a set schedule. Might be 3 days might be 8 days. Might be two weeks. If I had a set fertilising time eg weekly or fortnightly it would stuff my watering up because not all my plants are ready to be watered on the same day.

Which is why I'm a fan of linking fertilising with watering. It keeps things simpler for me and works with how I do things. And it makes sense - haven't found that post yet sorry, kinda hoping someone else would link it hint hint..

Having said all that, I do vary it a bit for different plant types. We're mid-spring here and I've increased the dose rate to 1 tsp/gal with the ficus in mind, and expect to go higher as we go into summer. But I'll stay at a lower rate for some plants like ferns.

If your other three plants are new and in good looking soil then they may well have active SRF in their pots from the grower. I'd still use FP but just at the 1/4 tsp/gal rate. I want to get a ZZ plant, and my understanding so far is they need hardly any water in winter, the watering interval is measured in weeks rather than days, so this would result in a very small amount of fertiliser. Can't speak for the other two plant types.