Plants need nutrients when they start growing again after their dormant phase. The frequency and timing of fertilising depends on the specific needs of the plant and the type of fertiliser used. Some plants need frequent fertilising, while others only need to be fed once or twice a year.
How is the fertilising recommendation generated?
The fertilising recommendation isn’t based on a single measurement, but on the interplay of several factors:
- EC value: how many nutrient salts are currently present in the substrate.
- Growth Index: a daily score that evaluates how favourable moisture, temperature and light have been for your plant recently.
- Moisture uptake: how quickly the substrate dries out – this allows us to draw conclusions about your plant’s growth activity.
- Growth stage: whether the plant is in an active growth phase, a slow growth phase, or dormancy.
- Your input: information about the last fertilising session, repotting, and growth stage significantly improves the analysis.
From these factors, we derive the nutrient requirement and recommend a date in the future when you should fertilise or repot.
The fertilising recommendation is not static – it adapts dynamically based on environmental conditions, season and your own inputs. Our algorithm checks daily whether an adjustment to the recommended fertilising date makes sense, based on your plant’s current moisture curve. Smaller fluctuations are deliberately ignored so that the date doesn’t keep jumping around.
Growth stage: automatically detected or your input needed
For ornamental plants (houseplants, decorative plants), the app automatically detects the growth stage based on sensor data – for example “Productive Growth”, “Slow Growth” or “Dormancy”. Depending on the stage, more or less fertiliser is recommended.
For productive plants – such as vegetables, herbs or cannabis – plants go through clearly defined growth phases like germination, the vegetative phase or the flowering phase. Since we can’t detect these phases on our own, we need your input here: if you tell us which phase your plant is currently in, we can tailor the fertilising recommendation even more precisely to its current needs.
Your input matters
We also take into account the information you give us about your last fertilising session or the last time you added fresh, nutrient-rich soil. While we can analyse your plant’s needs over time, we can’t reliably determine the existing nutrient content right from the start – since nutrient availability depends not only on salt content, but also on variables such as pH level. Your input helps us improve the analysis.
If the algorithm detects a sudden spike in the EC value, the app will ask you whether you have fertilised – so that the cycle can continue correctly.
What a value that's too low or too high means
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| Value | What it means |
|---|---|
| Too low | The substrate is nutrient-poor – your plant may soon go hungry. |
| Optimal | Nutrient supply is good – no action needed. |
| Too high | Too many salts in the substrate – this can damage the roots. |
If the value stays in the upper range for a longer period, the app recommends thoroughly flushing the substrate with water or repotting the plant, to reduce the salt build-up. If it stays too low, it’s time to fertilise.
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The fertilising curve in the app
The curve you see in the app does not show direct measurements – unlike, for example, the moisture curve. It represents a model of how the nutrient content in the substrate will decline until the next fertilising date. The purple gradient gradually fades over time – the paler the colour, the lower the remaining nutrient content in the substrate. The curve shows you:
- The date when you last fertilised or repotted.
- Where you are in the current cycle today.
- When you should next fertilise or repot.
In the calendar view, you can also track all past fertilising and repotting activities – they are marked and recorded on the respective day. After a confirmed fertilising event, the cycle starts again from the beginning.
Summer, winter and growth stages
If the FYTA Beam detects that your plant has entered its dormant phase due to changes in environmental factors – usually in winter – the fertilising recommendation in the graph is pushed further out, since your plant now needs little or no fertiliser. When the season shifts from dormancy back into the growth phase, you’ll be recommended to fertilise more frequently again.
In line with this, the app also shows your plant’s current growth stage – for example “Dormant” in winter, “Slow Growth” during transitional periods, or “Productive Growth” when conditions are optimal. This gives you an at-a-glance view of which phase your plant is currently in, and why the fertilising recommendation is adjusted accordingly.
Important: we don’t detect summer and winter mode based on the calendar, but on actual light data. The sensor evaluates the real hours of sunlight over the past 14 days. Only when all 14 days clearly point to summer or winter does the system switch modes – a single cloudy or sunny day isn’t enough to trigger a switch.
Salt content (EC) in the app
You can also see the exact salt content as a separate EC graph below the calendar view. Since EC values are only reliable under certain moisture conditions, the value may sometimes appear greyed out – more on this in the article “What is EC and how do we measure nutrients?”.
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