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Why you want this: Keeping indoor plants alive can feel like a maddening game of guesswork as you try to achieve the perfect balance of sunlight and water. If you’re looking for a simple and straightforward way to aid your plant’s health, consider food spikes. Depending on the time of year, you simply insert the spike in the plant’s soil and then replace every 30 to 60 days.
What the experts say: The Spruce calls the Miracle-Gro Plant Food Spikes the best option for indoor plants, writing, “Your plants deserve the same nutrients as their outdoor counterparts. Food spikes are the perfect, mess-free option; stick it into your indoor plant’s pot soil, and your work is done.”
What the people say: Versatile and affordable. (“I swear by these plant food spikes!!! The package says they are for indoor plants, but I actually use them for all of my outdoor plants, especially my herbs. I first tried these after planting some basil and other herbs that seemed to be taking an eternity to grow. I went to a local home improvement store and searched the garden center for plant food but many of them were priced much higher than I was willing to spend until I found these spikes. … I now keep at least one extra pack of these on hand stored in a ziplock bag to protect from any water/weather damage, and I add new spikes about once every 6-8 weeks to my plants. I now use these ‘plant steroid sticks’ (as my boyfriend refers to them) in all of my plants—they worked great in my tomato plants this summer, too!”)
Good for the struggling gardener. (“I always kill my plants but I decided to try again. I just bought five houseplants, three of them were marked down because they were looking pretty puny, but since I tend to kill them anyways, I figured I would give them a try and save some money. I put one of these spikes in each plant and they all looked so much healthier and happier after just a couple days.”)
The Miracle-Gro Indoor Plant Food Spikes are now about $2, or 81 percent off the normal price.
