These plants are pretty adept at going an entire year without fertilizing – making them ideal for forgetful gardeners!
Plants on this list are slow growing and prefer poor soil; For this reason, it’s okay to fertilize them less frequently if necessary. If you are busy, forgetful or don’t want to bother, breed these and feed them once a year before the start of their active growth phase with a balanced, slow-release fertilizer.
Houseplants that don’t need fertilizer after a year
1. Aloe Vera
Botanical name: Aloe barbadensis miller
As a succulent this plant It stores moisture and essential nutrients in its thick leaves, minimizing the need for feeding over a very long period of time.
2. Jade plant
Botanical name: Crassula ovata
What works in the Jade plant The advantage is the extremely slow growth rate, which reduces the need for fertilization. The succulent is also adapted to growing in dry conditions, so it stores nutrients in its fleshy leaves and uses them up slowly.
3. Snake Plant
Botanical name:Dracaena trifasciata
This masterful indoor specimen will continue to grow if you water it regularly and expose the plant to indirect light! As Snake plant also follows CAMIt is very effective at storing water and nutrients.
4. ZZ facility
Botanical name: Zamioculcas zamiifolia
The plant has a tuberous root system – rhizomes. They are very effective at storing water and nutrients, allowing Zamioculcas zamiifolia thrive without additional fertilization.
5. Lucky Bamboo
Botanical name: Dracaena sanderiana
This plant has a slower growth rate, so don’t worry about feeding it very often! If you are growing the plant in water, you can add diluted aquarium water with each change to meet its nutritional needs! If it still doesn’t grow well, mix in a pinch of balanced fertilizer.
6. Ponytail Palm
Botanical name: Beaucarnea recurvata
The plant’s elephant foot-like trunk (the reason for its other name, Elephant foot palm) stores water and nutrients that the ponytail palm uses to survive in all growing conditions, eliminating the need for frequent fertilization.
7. Haworthia
Botanical name: Haworthia
Just like aloe, Haworthias Thick and fleshy leaves serve the same purpose! Combined with the slow growth rate, frequent fertilization is not required!
8. Pearl necklace
Botanical name: Senecio rowleyanus
As a succulent pearl necklace’ grows slowly and does not require routine feeding, you can do this 2-3 times during the growing season.
9. Bishop’s Cap Cactus
Botanical name: Astrophytum myriostigma
Cacti generally have minimal nutrient requirements because they are naturally adapted to dry environments. Astrophytum is no different and has a specialized metabolism that works on CAM photosynthesis, helping to conserve water and nutrients.
Botanical name: Davallia fejeensis
What sets this fern apart from the others in its family is its drought tolerant and nutrient efficient nature that makes it possible Hare’s foot fern You can easily survive without additional food for a year!
11. Living stones
Botanical name: Lithops
Lithops grow extremely slowly (more than many common succulents!) and also thrive in nutrient-poor soil. These plants can even survive without fertilization for more than a year!
12. Wax plant
Botanical name: Hoya
be epiphytic, Hoya plants are naturally adapted to survive on trees, meaning they do not require frequent fertilization to thrive like other houseplants.
13. Mistletoe cactus
Botanical name: Rhipsalis baccifera
This plant is also an epiphyte and thrives quite well in poor soils with few nutrients. The mistletoe cactus is able to store nutrients, so it does not need to be fed for a long period of time.