"Feeding" House Plants

**Juniper** · 28 Sep 2015 11:08

I have this plant at my desk at work. I don't know what kind it is and it wasn't originally mine. I grabbed it when the Lady who used to be it's owner got fired and she chose to not take it with her. I actually brought the poor thing back to life because she didn't care for it at all and it was limp and pale looking. Given that I don't have a green thumb what so ever, I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment.

At any rate, I give it water ever other day.. Or every third day if I forget or it's a long weekend. It's doing really well and I have to keep pruning leaves so that it doesn't overgrow with leaves. I'm also thinking about being a slightly larger pot and fresh soil.

That's not exactly why I'm making this thread though. Today, instead of giving it plain water, I gave it some of my tea from this morning (organic ginger pear white tea...it's effin delicious). I'm fairly sure that doing this once won't hurt the plant but is it OK to do that? I can't really imagine it hurting the plant at all but I'd rather want to be sure.

I've heard of tricks like adding ginger ale or sprite to bouquet flower water to make them last longer in the vase but how much truth is there to that? Is giving something other than plain water to potted plants a treat or detrimental? (I'm referring to things people drink... Though, obviously, I wouldn't give alcohol to a plant)

**Hawkfeathers** · 28 Sep 2015 11:53

A little tea shouldn't hurt. I've given it to some of mine once in a while, and some of these guys have been with me since the late 70's/early 80's. Can you post a picture of the plant?

**Ula** · 28 Sep 2015 12:02

Plants need to have fresh soil at least once a year. I would get a bigger pot and add all new soil. Tea and coffee are said to boost plants like they would a person but just like with people good nutrition is better idea. I do my plants this time of year since they are coming back inside and it's cheap.

**Hawkfeathers** · 28 Sep 2015 13:10

You can top-dress most plants (add a couple tablespoons of fresh potting soil to the pot) until they're root-bound. Some do better if repotted at certain times of the year.

**Juniper** · 12 Oct 2015 13:01

Originally Posted by Hawkfeathers

Can you post a picture of the plant?

ForumRunner_20151012_140103.jpg

Does this picture work or is it too small? It's a hit or miss with this app.

**anunitu** · 12 Oct 2015 13:08

Looks ok to me Juni..

**Hawkfeathers** · 12 Oct 2015 14:12

The picture's fine! Pretty sure that's a geranium. I've never tried to keep one inside - just outside in the summer - but people do grow them indoors. It should bloom if it gets enough light!

**DragonsFriend** · 13 Oct 2015 09:52

Plants really like things that would make humans sick. I doubt your tea will harm the plant but it might be better to put the used tea leaves into the soil.
Somewhere I have a mixture that was a gift to a tree that was given in exchange for a branch for a wand. It had dish soap (as a surfactant), ammonia (as nitrogen), beer and or soda pop (as carbohydrates) and a carrier like peat moss. I would have to look it up for the correct proportions but it was a surprise to find such vile stuff was actually good for a plant. For house plants "worm juice" is also very good. It is the liquid effluent of worms (their potty products)