Whoa! Who says there's no biology in houseplant soil? Mine are full of it (as I am sometimes told). I water my plants with milk diluted from the morning's cereal or whatever is left in the glass. You should smell the soil on my plants. It smells exactly like a forest floor, teeming with biology. I'm talking about growing African violets in the original Wal-Mart crummy soil for years on end without changing the soil and without any problems. I occasionally use other fertilizers like corn meal or coffee grounds, but no chemicals at all.

Wow, that's really cool. I'd really like to know more about maintaining soil biology in my pots.

So, milk gives good biology to the soil? What about that fat in the milk? It's not bad to have it go into the soil?

Sprinkling organic matter like coffee grounds is also cool. But I was wondering about the mold factor, and how it might be unhealthy if you live very close to these plants if they were to grow mold and fungus on the soil once the organic matter has been added.

Just use organic protein sources as fertilizers. Any ground grain and most animal products will provide protein. The fat in milk doesn't seem to be a problem. When animals die in the wild, the fat sometimes makes it into the soil. You can use non fat or non fat powdered milk if you want to.

Mold and fungus ARE the biology you are looking for in the soil. The amount you would use would be on the order of a 2-finger pinch or two.

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil Biology Primer

what does the milk/powdered milk add? protein? i was thinking microbes, til i saw you recommend powdered milk

Protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. I'm sure some of that gets lost in the dehydration process.

I'm even more curious now about using diluted milk in my soil from what I'm reading here.

BTW - newbie to this forum, I butterfly/moth garden, don't use pesticides, but do use fertilizer (espoma) that I know is not entirely organic (nitrogen). I use tons of chicken manure in my garden for lots of foliage growth on my butterfly/moth host plants.

Re: the milk. We drink 2%. How much do I dilute it? How much do you apply to a houseplant versus garden plants of various sizes (small perennial to large perennial to shrubs)?

Susan

I've used milk straight and I've rinsed out my milk glass and poured the rinse water into the plants. If you want a number I'd say 2-3 ounces of milk to a gallon of water. It doesn't matter how much fat the milk has. What matters is that it has protein.

I like sardines (good one without added oil) and every time when i eat them, i wash empty can with leftour joice in bowl of water (rain or some other without chrorine) and add this water to my plants. They love it.

I used fish emulsion on my indoor plants, & a week later, they all started growing fuzzy mold on the soil.