How To Make House Plants Grow Faster? (Crucial Factors+9 Secret Tips)

It can be frustrating for some of us when we don’t see any new plant growth for a while. How can we grow our house plants faster? What will be the technique? What’s that extra thing that my plant requires? I know, all these are the questions that pop up your mind when you are looking at your plant.

The simple answer that everyone will say is to get the care requirements like the watering, the light requirements, temperature requirements, and humidity requirements right.

However, most of us ignore the food for our plants. Just like us, plants also need proper nutrients to grow. Nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and other nutrients and micronutrients help the plant boost its growth.

In this guide, we will learn about the tips to grow our indoor homies faster and healthier. We will discuss the common yet underrated ways and some pretty cool ninja tricks you may use. Without any delay, let us move right ahead with it.

Crucial factor determining the growth of plant

Pruning, choosing the correct size pot, and providing adequate lighting is crucial for proper plant growth. These common ways are known by all and need not be stated.

If you follow our posts, we have denoted these ways along with the rules, so that it becomes difficult to forget.

Pruning

The most common way of improving the growth of the plant is by getting the grooming correct.

Yes, you are right! We are talking about the pruning of your indoor houseplant. I know that there are no difficulties in your plant.

It looks healthy, and there’s no reason to chop it off. It is a rookie mistake.

We need to give our plant proper grooming during the growing season to get the growth faster.

A plant without pruning will not grow bushier and healthier as compared to the plant with proper pruning.

Some secret tips for pruning- 

• Get your clippers/scissors/pruners disinfected with rubbing alcohol before you begin the pruning.
• Another secret to pruning will be that we should consider pruning only during the growing season, from early spring to late summer.
• Do not be astonished that your plants show minimal or no growth during the winters. It is typical for a plant not to flourish during the winters.

Alo Read: How To Prune Indoor Plants? (Step-By-Step Guide)

Getting the pot size correct

We know that getting the pot size correct is crucial for the plants and what a bigger or smaller sized pot can do to our plants.

The reason is the roots and the development of the roots system in the plants is directly dependent upon the pot size.

When the roots are rootbound, the plants experience slow growth in the stem, leaves, and flowers.

If the pot is too small, it might damage the roots and will stop any further growth.

Too big pots will diminish plant growth as the plant focuses on the roots. It also leads to the most common issue of overwatering.

Repotting helps the plant with its growth and enhances its root system of the plant.

A Secret to getting the pot size correct-

• Choose a pot that is one size bigger than the plants.
• If the plant is 7-inch long, then a 1-gallon pot, when it grows 1-foot, then a 2-gallon pot, etc.

Also read: What happens if you choose too big of a pot for your plants

Light Conditions

If your plant does not get sunlight at all, then we will see reduced growth and the plant being dull most of the time.

We should consider moving out of our plant for at least one hour a week. This extra light will increase the process of photosynthesis and improve the mechanism of the plant.

What does a plant need? Speaking scientifically, plants produce C6H12O6, which in simple language is sugar.

In this process, the plant requires an optimum supply of light, water, and carbon dioxide to produce the sugar that’s needed by the plant.

We have talked about the watering regime and the ways of watering the plant. The carbon dioxide we need not worry about as it is ample in the air.

We need to focus on the plant’s light requirements so that they turn out to be bushier and healthier.

Also Read: How To Use Grow Lights For Indoor Plants? (A Complete Guide)

9 Secret tips to grow your houseplant faster

We will move towards those factors and secrets that will enhance the growth of the plant.

As stated earlier, the plant needs the right amount of nutrients and a good feed for bushier and quicker growth.

To get the best feed might cost you a lot and burn a hole in your pockets. We have come up with some secrets which are pocket friendly and readily available within your household.

Plants require healthy soil, and to get healthy soil; we need to get the mix of nutrients balanced, exactly like a human diet. Here are a few ninja tips you may try to enhance the health and nutrients of the soil.

Eggshell is an excellent fertilizer

We choose to mostly throw away the eggshells from our kitchen, considering it a waste.

This waste comes handy as a homemade fertilizer and can be used for enhancing the growth of a plant.

The eggshells are rich in calcium and help in preventing any type of rot. Isn’t that beautiful?

We can also sprinkle some eggshells near the plants’ base, and the eggshells will help keep the snails and slugs away.  

What do we need to do?

Rinse the eggshell in water for about 5-6 days. Once the water is dusky, it is ready to be used as fertilizer.

We can add this to the plant every week during the growing season.

Adding the eggshells in your compost bin will reduce the acidity because of its lime content.

A secret to use- Use the eggshell water when we opt for water propagation. Add the water and the eggshell water in the ratio of 5:1, when we change the water. It helps in the development of roots and makes your plant bushy as well. 

Boiled egg water can add calcium to the soil

The process of using the water from boiling eggs may sound awkward to you; however, what we need to do is to preserve the water used after the boiling of eggs.

The boiling eggs leave a calcium content in the water and is a superb feed for the plants.

A secret to use- Never forget to cool down the water before we use it.

Oyster Shells are great for making the soil alkaline

Yes, that’s right! Oyster shells are the key to rich alkaline soil. If you are wondering how to use it, do not worry.

For the people leaving near the coastal areas and have an abundance of oyster shells, collect them all. They are awesome!

Oyster shells are rich in calcium carbonate, which makes the soil more alkaline. For the plants, which love alkaline soil, this is the best natural option that we should consider.

A secret to use- We need to crush the oyster shells as small as possible. Bring the shell in powder form that will act as a slow-release fertilizer for the soil.

Aspirin boosts the immune system of the plant

Research has found out that when water containing aspirin was sprayed onto seeds directly sown in the ground, there was a 100% germination.

Spray the plants once every three weeks using a spray bottle.

The use of aspirin helps boost the immune system of your plants, but it is also seen that there was stimulation in the flowerings.

A quick tip- The ratio for aspirin and water should be 1:1. That means that we will need two aspirin for 2 gallons of water.

Iron Nails or Iron Shavings adds iron to the soil

Do you know the use of iron in the process of photosynthesis? Iron helps as an ignition for the plant to produce chlorophyll.

Chlorophyll is the food for the plant. The better the production of the food, the better is the growth of the plant.

We can also use some iron nails and insert it in the soil. The soil will be enhanced with the help of iron nails and will be iron-rich.

For people who happen to get hold of iron shavings, we can use the iron shavings and add that in the upper portion of the soil.

Ninja tip- Use around seven or eight iron nails, depending on the pot’s size, and surround the plant’s base with it.

Banana Peel/Skins adds micronutrients to the soil

The banana peel or skin is scientifically proven to be one of the best fertilizers available for the soil.

The banana peel is rich in potassium, calcium, and phosphorus. They also have many other minerals, which are good for the soil’s health.

What we can do is either chop the banana skins, or we can also add them to our compost bin. If not, we can do the same thing we did with eggshells.

Please take a few banana skins and rinse it in water for a couple of days. It will enhance the mineral composition and will act as one of the best fertilizers.

A secret to use- If we are using chopped banana peels, bury these peels anywhere between 2-4 inches beneath the soil.

Tea Compost is a great fertilizer for the soil

Once we have used the tea leaves, please do not throw them away. Keep the tea bags if they are made of paper, silk, or Muslin.

If the material is polypropylene, then the tea bag will not decompose. However, we can still use it. All we need is to remove the bag and collect the leftover tea after use.

The tea leaves act as an excellent fertilizer for the soil.

A secret to use- We can use the tea bags as compost for fertilizer in the compost bin, else we can also dig loose tea leaves and compostable tea bags around our plant.

Coffee Grounds is an excellent source of nitrogen

Like the way we had used leftover tea leaves, we can also use coffee grounds as our fertilizer. That is for all the coffee lovers who prefer coffee over tea.

We also have an option now.

The coffee ground is very rich in all the three-ingredients used for fertilizer. Fertilizer generally has nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus.

Coffee grounds have all three essential ingredients and are very rich in nitrogen.

They help the plant grow faster and bushier.

Seaweed Solution/ Water from Aquarium used as a natural fertilizer

Some of us have an aquarium in our house, and we generally clean the aquarium by changing the water. Do you throw away the water?

Now, we can use aquarium water to water our plants. This water has a high content of minerals and can be used in almost any season.

The waste from the fishes or any aquarium plants enhances the mineral content and is best for the plant.

Likewise, a seaweed solution can be used as a natural fertilizer for your houseplants. This solution is created from seaweed or aquatic plants. It has a high content of nutrition.

Seaweed solution is readily available in your nearby nursery, and if it is not available, we can also buy it online.

It is a balanced natural fertilizer that can be used in any season and has all the plants’ nutrition during the growing stage.

A secret to use- Take two spoonfuls of seaweed solution and pour it into 15 liters of water. Use the solution to provide for the plants.

Another critical factor is that we need to add this solution, from the very beginning, from the seedling itself for better growth in the future.

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Source: The University of Georgia, University of Florida, University of California.