# Aquarium dry ferts for indoor plants?



## Ovidiu (24 Apr 2016)

Hey guys,

This might be a dumb question but i havent found any answers on google so i am asking here: 

Do you think that the dry ferts we use in the aquarium would work for the indoor plants aswell? 

I have some plants near the aquarium that are not doing so well because of the hot weather and i was thinking i could help them with some supplements.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (24 Apr 2016)

I guess the dry ferts would need to be dissolved in water to make them accessible to the plants so do as I do, change some water in the tank and use the old water you've removed to water the plants. Everyone's a winner. 


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## rebel (25 Apr 2016)

Dry ferts are fine but if hot weather is the problem, ferts won't solve it. 

NPK is just that. 

Water from a water change is great for plants. Esp if it has some mulm as well.


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## ian_m (25 Apr 2016)

There are considerably cheaper dry ferts eg ammonium nitrate etc for terrestrial plants. Can use these in tanks as they are toxic to fish.


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## zozo (26 Apr 2016)

Plants you keep in pots on regular organic plant soil take their micros from the soil for a considerable long periode (read years). So feeding them now and then with regular NPK (macro) ferts in the growing season is sufficient.

The ferts used in our tanks is mainly aimed to micro only, (if there is NPK it will be in very controled little quantities) this is because the substrate used even if partialy organic isn't organic enough to provide the plants with sufficient micros. Usualy your life stock provides the macros like N and P sufficiently.. 

If you keep your indoor plants on a hydroculture with inert substrate, then you need to provide your indoor plants with micros, becuase the substrate is inorganic and not providing. Do you keep them on organic soil, no need for micros till you see dificiencies..  They need extra NPK because there are no poopers around to provide them with that..


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## Ovidiu (29 Apr 2016)

Thank you all. It's exactly the answer i was looking for. So the ideea is that i am using an organic soil but i have one bushy plant that is growing good but all the new leaves are a very light green. I could assume its because of macro definciency.


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## EdwinK (29 Apr 2016)

ian_m said:


> ammonium nitrate


and urea are the best nitrogen sources in aquarium as long as you know what you are doing.


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## zozo (30 Apr 2016)

Ovidiu said:


> Thank you all. It's exactly the answer i was looking for. So the ideea is that i am using an organic soil but i have one bushy plant that is growing good but all the new leaves are a very light green. I could assume its because of macro definciency.



Most likely it's a macro deciciency, just give it a nice shot of regular houseplant NPK ferts, if you do not see improvements in few weeks depending on kind of plant could be days you can add some micros.. Every deficience starts out with leaves turning lighter of yellow in the beginning only further in the process it develops necrotic characteristics to possibly pin point which compount is in shortage.. For example yellow vains and fading yellow spots in the leafs usualy stands for magnesium shortage, necrotic burned spots could be potasium, overal light green color could be nitrogene, upwards curled necrotic leaves could be to much nitrogene.. But this also depends on the plant spieces. Google the spieces and its deficiencies for regular houseplants there are always care sheets to find. Also could be its just standing to wet and the roots are suffacating, then a plant shows shortage as well..  Most popular houseplants in the trade are tropical jungle plants which actualy live in nature under the forest canopy in the forest soil or as epiphyte. So they grow rather shaded with filtered light and rather relatively slow in lean soil (forest floor).. They are used to not having to much of everything and there for do good as houseplant.That's why most houseplant soils are peat based, this represents forest floor the closest. The organic matter slowely decays and gives nutrients like micros. Anyway, if you put such a plant in a pot at the window at a light spot, it'll grow faster and needs more water and food, do you give it a slightly shaded spot it grows slower and needs less of all. 

Most people i know keeping houseplants almost all forget them or drown them in the end.


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