The Jade plant (Crassula ovata) is a deep green succulent plant, but it sometimes loses its green color, showing the need for fertilizers.
Remember, commercial fertilizers can burn the plant, so homemade fertilizer for Jade plants is the most effective and cheapest way of making plants healthy.
So, let’s see it in detail!
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What Is The Best Homemade Fertilizer For Jade Plant?
Homemade fertilizers are a great way to make plants green and strong.
All you need is to know the helpful things you can use to make these fertilizers.
So, these are some of the best fertilizers you can use for Jade plants:
| Fertilizers | Benefits |
|---|---|
| Banana Peels | Potassium rich; also provides NPK and other nutrients in small amount |
| Epsom Salt | Magnesium rich; adds to the strength of the plant |
| Coffee Grounds | Multipurpose; good for overall plant's growth |
| Eggshells | Calcium rich; slow release fertilizer |
| Fish Tank Water | NPK, microbes; good for quick absorption of nutrients |
| Green Tea | Multipurpose; provides NPK to the plant |
In the next section, let’s learn more about the ways to make these homemade fertilizers for your Jade plant.
How To Make Homemade Fertilizer For Jade Plant
Here are the steps involved in making each of these fertilizers at home –
1. Banana Fertilizer
To make banana peel fertilizer for the Jade plant, simply cut peels into small pieces and put them in a shallow bowl.
Add water to the bowl and place it in the shade for 3 to 4 days.
On the 4th day, the color of the water will be brown.
Strain the peels from water and use water for your plant once every week.
2. Epsom Salt Fertilizer
Making Epsom salt fertilizer is the easiest thing one can desire.
Take these things and follow the steps to make homemade fertilizer for the jade plant:
- 2 tablespoon Epsom salt
- 1 gallon of water
Now take a clean gallon and fill it with clean water.
Depending on your ease, you can use tap or filtered water and mix 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt in the water.
The salt is easy to dissolve, and you will get Epsom salt fertilizer within minutes.
3. Coffee Ground Fertilizer
There are two ways to use coffee grounds as fertilizer for a Jade plant.
- First, spread the used coffee grounds on the newspaper to dry completely and sprinkle the grounds around the base of your plant.
- Secondly, make liquid fertilizer using coffee grounds. If you are interested in the second option, make diluted coffee liquid.
Take an equal amount of coffee and water to make coffee ground fertilizer.
For instance, if you have 6 ounces of coffee, make sure to add 6 ounces of water to it.
Keep one to one ratio and mix gently.
Your coffee-ground homemade fertilizer for the Jade plant is ready.
4. Green Tea Fertilizer
Take 2 green tea bags and a bucket or gallon full of water to make green tea homemade fertilizer for the Jade plant.
Hang tea bags in the water and tie the thread to the bucket’s lid.
This will help you to take tea bags out of the fertilizer.
Now let the tea bags dip and be covered with a lid for 3 to 4 days.
After this time, remove the lid and discard drained tea bags to use green tea fertilizer.
5. Eggshell Fertilizer
Here is how you can make eggshell fertilizer:
- Collect eggshells in an open jar, so they are not spoiled or produce a rotten egg smell.
- When you collect enough eggshells, you can sun-dry them or put them in the oven. This way, you can remove the moisture content from these eggshells.
- Once the eggshells are dried, you can grind them to a fine powder and store the powder for later use.
- Sprinkle the shell powder on the soil surface and gently cover the soil surface with your hands.
If you don’t want to use them in powdered form, you can also crush them a bit and use them directly in the soil.
The only downside of this method is it takes a lot of time to decompose the shells in the soil.
So, you will see its effects much later, i.e., after six months or so.
6. Fish tank Water Fertilizer
There would be no easy way to make homemade jade fertilizer than fish tank water.
You can use this water as it is or add water to weaken its power.
So, when you change the tank water, use this liquid to water the jade plant.
Tips To Feed Homemade Fertilizer To Jade Plant
- Unnecessary use of Epsom salt will not result in better plant growth but can make the growth worse.
- Use Epsom salt mix once a month in place of regular watering. In hot weather, when growth has slowed, you can use 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt per gallon of water.
- Don’t apply fertilizer to leaves as they are soil-based fertilizers, and the plant will absorb from the soil.
- Feed the jade plant every month or week to make your plant healthy.
- Mix banana peel fertilizer with half the amount of water to plant.
Things To Expect After Fertilizing Your Jade Plant
Adding fertilizer to plants is a regular activity, and you need to do this every month or week, depending on your plant’s needs.
You will see positive results in your plant after one to two rounds of fertilization which may take a few weeks.
At the same time, you should know homemade fertilizers are mild and may take some extra time to show results.
But it does not mean overfeeding your plant.
Overuse of some fertilizers can also severely affect your plant, so follow a schedule and keep feeding your plant normally.
FAQs
Yes, you can use brewed coffee and tea as a fertilizer for your Jade plant. However, do not use these fertilizers in large quantities. These are acidic in nature and will make the plant soil more acidic too.
You can use the same fertilizers mentioned in this guide for all other succulent plants in your indoor garden.
Succulents are not heavy feeders, so you should keep this thing in mind.
You should use nitrogen-based fertilizers to make your Jade plant greener.
Along with this, you can also move the plant to a slightly shaded place.
This way, the leaves will get a darker shade naturally.
Yes, you can use eggshells or eggshell powder for your Jade plants.
It depends on the type of fertilizer you’re using to feed the plant. If it’s a water-soluble fertilizer, you will need to mix it with adequate water.
Also, if it’s a solid fertilizer, you can directly apply it to the soil and water the plant later. More importantly, you should feed the Jade plant each week or every 15 days, depending on its size.
I was given a fairly large Jade Plant, I have always wanted one. My concern is it’s probably root bound. Once a week when I water my plants I loosen the top part of the soil on all my plants. When I tried to loosen the soil on my Jade I could barely get the spoon in there to loosen up the soil. My concern is transplanting it because of its size. The plant seems to be happy the way it is. Should I just leave it alone and not worry about loosening up the soil or should I transplant it into a larger pot?
Hey Amanda,
Yes, it does seem like your Jade plant is rootbound.
This means that the roots have filled up the pot and are starting to crowd each other, which can stunt the plant’s growth.
Transplanting your Jade plant into a larger pot is the best solution to this problem.
Loosen up the soil around the roots before transplanting so that they can spread out easily in the new pot.
Water the plant well after transplanting.
But you can also keep it as it is and just loosen up the soil around it every once in a while to give the roots some space to breathe.
I never knew you could make your own! Silly of me when I think about it. Can’t wait to try… my jades are looking good having come through winter here in the midwest, but I thought I should feed them. Thank you!
Hey Robbie,
Yes, you can make your own fertilizer!
It’s easy and affordable too.
The banana fertilizer should be mixed with normal water and then water the jade or use banana fertilizer directly after 3-4 days. Also should be repeated every 15 days or 1 month
Thank you for the inputs, Mrs. Menezes!
It will surely help many beginners in the gardening world.