Does it really matter what kind of fertilizer you use for your indoor plants? After all, they all provide the same primary nutrients—nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. But the truth is that many synthetic fertilizers lack the micronutrient blend and microbial content that you can find in organic fertilizers like bat guano. Guano is one of the best organic fertilizers available, and it comes in a variety of types. Here is The Tye-Dyed Iguana’s guide to choosing a guano fertilizer that fits your plant needs.
Types of bat guano
Bat guano fertilizer comes in two main types—those that are higher in nitrogen and those that are higher in phosphorous. You will want to select the type that fits the needs of your plants in their current growth stage. The nutrient ratios of bat guano are determined both by where the guano was collected and how it was processed.
Either type of guano will come as a dry powder that can be mixed into soil or combined with water to make a fertilizer tea. A major advantage of bat guano as a fertilizer is that it can increase the growth of microbes in your growing medium. These microbes help to make your plants healthier, just like good bacteria does for your digestive system. It’s kind of like yogurt for plants.
Nitrogen-rich bat guano
A fertilizer high in nitrogen can help bring back vitality to plants that are starting to look sickly. And unlike synthetic nitrogen, bat guano contains other micronutrients that help to boost your plants health. Think of it like your own health. You know vitamin C can help boost your immune system, but a healthy diet filled with all the nutrients you require works better than a vitamin C supplement at keeping you healthy. Nitrogen-rich bat guano will give your plants the nitrogen boos they crave while also pumping them up with balanced nutrition. Sunleaves Mexican Bat Guano is a good high-nitrogen fertilizer.
Phosphorous-rich bat guano
Phosphorous is good to feed your plants at the planting stage. A high-phosphorous fertilizer like Sunleaves Indonesian Bat Guano applied early in the plant’s lifecycle can help to encourage a hardy root system. And as with any quality bat guano, a good phosphorous-rich guano fertilizer will also provide your plants with micronutrients and healthy microbes for exceptional all-around growth.
Nitrogen and phosphorous are both essential nutrients for plant growth. Selecting a bat guano fertilizer that contains both of these nutrients can be a good way to improve the health of your plants and increase your harvest from an indoor garden. A balanced bat guano, like Sunleaves Sumatran Bat Guano with a mix of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, can carry your plants through both the vegetative and flowering stages.
Overall, bat guano fertilizer is an effective natural supplement for your indoor garden, and the type of guano you choose depends upon the starting nutrient levels of your growing medium and what stage of growth your plants are currently in. Keep an eye on our blog for more tips on fertilizer selection from The Indoor Cultivator.