TheGardenLady received this question from Rene.
I have two adult Lady of the Night plants. I fed them Miracle Gro for Acid Loving Plants. Will anything happen to them? And if so what can I do to save them?
TheGardenLady is assuming your Lady of the Night Plant is Brunfelsia americana. How lovely to have this plant reputed to be the most fragrant of all the Brunfelsia plants which are very fragrant and the MOST fragrant of all plants.
Brunfelsia’s soil pH requirements are 6.1 to 6.5 (mildly acidic) to 6.6 to 7.5 (neutral).
Moderate occasional food and moderate water is all that is required. This Lady of the Night plant even handles dry soil well. They are very long lived. Brunfelsia plants are light eaters which means they don’t need much fertilizer.
But your concern is that you fed them Miracle Gro for Acid Loving plants. TheGardenLady doubts that you will have any problem from the one time only feeding of Miracle Gro for Acid Loving plants.
If you fed them as the Miracle Gro label says to feed plants and not given them an overdose (Remember to ALWAYS follow label instructions when applying fertilizers!) there should be no problem but don’t give these plants any more fertilizer. Brunfelsia don’t really need fertilizer- or if you feel you need to feed, highly dilute the fertilizer.
However, if you feel that you overdosed the plants on Miracle Gro, you can try flushing the soil with water. Brunfelsia plants don’t like overwatering just as they don’t need much fertilizer, so this is only to be done if you think you may have given the plants a gross amount of fertilizer.
Now if you have a problem with any Scotts’ product and Miracle Gro is a Scotts’ product, call them at 1-888-270 3714 as TheGardenLady did to be sure she was advising you correctly. They suggested that if you feel you must fertilize your Brunfelsia their recommendation is that you should use their all purpose fertilizer which has the numbers 24-8-16 on the box.