The right fertilizer offers your birch fig a richly covered nutrient buffet. As an evergreen houseplant, your exotic benjamini cannot do without it completely at any time of the year if it is not to starve and lose its leaves. If you want to do it professionally, pay special attention to the fluctuating nutrient requirements during care. This guide explains the details.
Ficus Benjamini needs more fertilizer in summer than in winter
Balanced fertilization in summer and winter
If the hibernation went well, your birch fig will start the new growing season in March/April. After a leisurely growth during the winter period, she is now taking off. By fertilizing your benjamini at the following intervals, you skilfully accommodate this vegetation cycle:
- Fertilize every 6 weeks from October to February
- Fertilize every 2 weeks from March to September
- Add a liquid fertilizer for green plants to the irrigation water
- Alternatively, add fertilizer sticks (€4.48) to the substrate in March, June, September and December
- Pour clear water before and after each application of fertilizer
The optimal dosage of a liquid fertilizer is tricky. There are numerous green plant fertilizers on the market in different concentrations. As a precaution, we recommend starting with half the dose. If deficiency symptoms occur, you can easily top up with fertilizer. An overdose, on the other hand, can only rarely be reversed.
In hydroponics it is better to use special fertilizers
To what extent classic green plant fertilizer is suitable for hydro plants is a matter of heated debate among hobby gardeners. If you cultivate your birch fig in water culture, we recommend using a special fertilizer. These preparations guarantee the best water solubility, so that the nutrients are available to your Benjamini precisely.
Fertilize Benjamini as bonsai - this is important
Have you succumbed to the magic of a birch fig as a bonsai? Then please consider that the nutrients are used up more quickly in the tightly measured substrate volume. Therefore, give a liquid bonsai fertilizer every week from March to September. To ensure that the valuable nutrients are processed perfectly, pour soft water before and after.
tips
If you grow a new birch fig from offshoots, no fertilizer is used during the rearing. In poor soil, the cuttings put much more effort into growing their roots. Only when a strong root system has developed does the nutrient supply start according to these instructions.