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How to feed houseplants

Updated: October 2026

You already have a bottle on the shelf, the compost looks dry at the edges, and you are about to pour because the leaves have stalled. This is how to feed houseplants without treating every label as the same recipe. Winter detail lives on [feed houseplants in winter](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/fertiliser-for-houseplants/sub/fertiliser-for-houseplants-winter-feeding). Product ranking stays on the [houseplant fertiliser comparison](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/fertiliser-for-houseplants). The Products Compared editorial team wrote this on 21 October 2026 from RHS, Gardeners' World, Westland and retail label pages. It is not a personal trial. If you swallow concentrate, contact NHS 111. Do not mix a feed with a pesticide because a review once did.

You already have a bottle on the shelf, the compost looks dry at the edges, and you are about to pour because the leaves have stalled. This is how to feed houseplants without treating every label as the same recipe.

Our top picks

Baby Bio Baby Bio Houseplant Food 175 ml

Best overall

Baby Bio Baby Bio Houseplant Food 175 ml
9.4/10about £3.99
View offer
Growth Technology Ltd Houseplant Focus 300 ml

Alternative

Growth Technology Ltd Houseplant Focus 300 ml
9.2/10about £7.44
View offer
Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro Pour and Feed 1 L

Alternative

Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro Pour and Feed 1 L
9.0/10about £5.00
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Check which bottle you have
  2. 2.Two label patterns you will actually see
  3. 3.When in the UK year to feed
  4. 4.Compost, drainage and leaves

Check which bottle you have

Read the title before you touch the watering can. Baby Bio's 175 ml indoor concentrate says 5–10 drops in half a litre, then pour onto the soil. Houseplant Focus says 5 ml in 1 litre. Baby Bio Pour & Feed and Miracle-Gro Pour and Feed are 1 litre pour-ons. If your bottle says pour and feed, you pour a portion and you stop. If it says concentrate, you mix first. The buying guide is where you choose the format. The £3.99 Baby Bio listing prints 1:0:0. That string is not a dose, and it is not an NPK.

Two label patterns you will actually see

Morrisons prints Baby Bio house plant food as 5–10 drops in half a litre of water, and also as half a cap in a litre every two weeks. Those are alternative lines, not a sum. Pick the line that matches the bottle in your hand. Houseplant Focus says 5 ml in 1 litre, and the listing also says every other watering. The 200 ml Westland listing advertises a doser and does not print those millilitres. You do not put 5 ml of Pour and Feed into a litre. Worked example for a peace lily in May: half a litre of water, 5–10 drops if that is the label you hold, poured onto compost that is already slightly moist.
Baby Bio Baby Bio Houseplant Food 175 ml

Testsieger

Baby Bio Baby Bio Houseplant Food 175 ml
9.4/10about £3.99
View offer

When in the UK year to feed

For most foliage the useful months are March to October. The RHS puts liquid feed in that stretch, once or twice a month, or at quarter strength every watering, and it says not to feed dry compost. Gardeners' World suggests about every two weeks while foliage is growing, then a stop in winter. A monstera that stalled in a dark corner in November is not in the March regime because the heating is on. If the compost bag states a feed period, wait that period before you add a bottle dose.

Compost, drainage and leaves

The RHS line is not to put feed on dry compost. If you use a cover pot, empty the sleeve afterwards. Do not spray a root drench on the leaves. The bottles in this set are poured onto the soil. One Westland review mixed feed with a pest-control liquid. That mix is not an instruction. If a child or a pet has swallowed the liquid, that is an NHS 111 question, not a gardening one.

Common questions

How often should I feed in spring and summer?
For foliage in growth, think of the March to October window. The RHS talks about once or twice a month, or quarter strength every watering. Gardeners' World talks about every two weeks, then easing off in autumn. Westland's advice page says about every second watering, roughly every 10–14 days, in spring and summer. Follow the bottle you hold when it is more specific. Do not stack every one of those intervals in the same week.
Can I put concentrate on the compost neat?
No. The 175 ml Baby Bio concentrate is drops in half a litre, then poured onto the soil. Neat concentrate is how a small pot gets a burn from a bottle that would have been mild once diluted. Ready-to-use litres are the products you pour without mixing. If you are unsure which you bought, read the title. Pour and feed means already diluted. Concentrate means mix first.
Should the compost be wet first?
Yes. The RHS says not to feed dry compost. Water so the rootball is slightly moist, then add the diluted feed or the pour-on. Dry compost can hold a pocket of solution against roots. Empty the saucer afterwards so the pot does not stand in feed. A cover pot that you never tip out is the usual way this step fails in a flat.
I just repotted. Do I feed today?
Not automatically. A lot of houseplant compost already includes feed for a period printed on the bag. Wait that period if it is stated. This comparison does not add a universal number of days. If the bag says nothing, use the feed label's normal interval rather than a double dose on moving day. A tired plant after repotting usually needs water and light before it needs a stronger mix.
The Amazon field says 1:0:0. Is that the dose?
No. On the Baby Bio concentrate that field is not a readable NPK, according to the product data, and it is not a mixing ratio you can follow. The dose on that listing is 5–10 drops in half a litre of water, poured onto the soil. Other scraped strings, including 0.02-0.02-0.02 and 1:32 or 1:64, are the same kind of noise when the bullets never explain them. Read the bottle. Ignore the field.

Related pages

Fertiliser for houseplants

Best houseplant food UK: mixed, measured or pour-on

Houseplant fertiliser buying guide: choose a format

Houseplant feed: concentrate or ready-to-use litre

Feed houseplants in winter: when to pause the bottle

Sources

Public UK and maker sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are from the nine amazon.co.uk listings captured on 21 October 2026. Listing ratio fields are not treated as NPK. The organic word on one Baby Bio title is not a certifier. A maker analysis is the maker's statement, not an independent UK lab test.

  1. RHS, houseplants growing guide (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  2. RHS, feeding plants (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  3. Gardeners' World, how to feed house plants (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  4. GOV.UK, manufacturing and marketing fertilisers (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  5. Fertilisers Regulations 1991 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  6. HSE, about pesticides (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  7. Westland Houseplant Feed (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  8. Morrisons, Baby Bio house plant food 175 ml (retrieved 21 October 2026)