How to Make Fertilizer for Hibiscus

Tropical hibiscus plants (​Hibiscus rosa-sinensis​, USDA hardiness zones 9-11) have the beautiful and exotic-looking flowers that are extremely popular in the tropics. This flowering plant also makes for a great household plant if you want to add a nice leafy plant that flowers relatively easily. If you want to keep your hibiscus plant healthy and continually flowering, it's important to know how to properly fertilize this plant.

Many hibiscus owners neglect their plants by not fertilizing them. This leads to the plant looking slightly lackluster with a lack of blooms or yellow leaves since it may not be obtaining the amount of nutrients it needs through the soil. Indoor hibiscus plants are kept in pots, which only provide a certain amount of nutrients since the soil it has access to is very limited.

It's important to fertilize your hibiscus plant to allow the plant to grow to its full potential and make it look as beautiful as possible. You can either chose to buy the fertilizer in store or make a DIY version using household items. If you go with an in-store version, you need to decide if you want a slow-release fertilizer or a water-soluble solution. Before selecting on a whim, it's important to know what you're looking at when comparing the various fertilizer options.

When checking labels, look for the letters N (Nitrogen), P (Phosphorus) and K (Potassium). These are the three key elements that a hibiscus plant craves because they all offer positive nutrients that will benefit the plant. The nitrogen, which can be hurtful to the roots if there's too much or too little, will promote healthy leaves.

The added phosphorus should provide a large number of blooms as well as a good root system. Finally, the potassium also helps with root development and should also give the plant an overall boost in health.

The frequency in which you need to add fertilizer to the soil will depend on which fertilizer you select, the time of year, and the soil fertility. If you go with a DIY fertilizer, each method will have its own frequency due to the item you select to make your fertilizer. The same rings true for water-soluble and slow-release fertilizers.

If you're fertilizing a hibiscus planted on the ground, eliminate the guesswork by fertilizing based on the results of a soil test. Randomly broadcasting fertilizer may do more harm than good. Potted hibiscus plants typically need more fertilizer, so follow the label directions for potted plants for best results.

Water-soluble fertilizers should be used at half strength to make sure there's no over-fertilization. This solution should be used on the hibiscus plant every two weeks, or according to label directions, during the spring and summer months. When autumn settles in, this fertilizer should be used less often and prolonged to every four weeks over autumn and winter. Slow-release fertilizer is slightly easier as you only need to use it several times per year, according to the label directions, typically early spring, after initial bloom, and mid-summer.

Homemade fertilizer is an easy DIY project that can come from various items found in your home. One item that's commonly found in homes is used coffee grounds. While this might seem like an unlikely item to use as fertilizer, coffee grounds actually provide nitrogen and potassium to the hibiscus plant. Simply dry the used grounds on a newspaper in sunlight for two or three days then sprinkle it over the soil from the trunk continuing outward to where the branches end.

There are two other DIY ways to fertilize your hibiscus. The first is to use eggshells that have been put through a food processor. Once they've been ground into a fine powder, simply sprinkle the powder over the soil. If you have a fish tank in your home, the dirty fish water can be used to water your plants. There's no need to prepare anything for this fertilizer because your fish have already done the work. Use this dirty water to water all houseplants, including your hibiscus, every other week for great results.