Fertilising guide
How to fertilise Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow (Brunfelsia pauciflora)— schedule & NPK
Also called Yesterday-today-and-tomorrow, Morning-noon-and-night, Kiss-me-quick, Lady-of-the-night, Franciscan rain tree.
More about yesterday-today-and-tomorrow
About Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow
Brunfelsia pauciflora · also called Yesterday-today-and-tomorrow, Morning-noon-and-night · flowering
Yesterday-today-and-tomorrow (Brunfelsia pauciflora) is an evergreen tropical shrub whose fragrant flowers fade from purple to lavender to white over three days. Give it bright, slightly filtered light, consistently moist acidic soil, warmth and high humidity. The ASPCA lists it as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, so keep it away from pets.
Growth habit: Slow-growing, bushy evergreen shrub with glossy oval leaves. Flowers open deep purple, fade to lavender the next day, then to near-white, so all three colours appear at once. Responds well to light shaping; prune lightly just after the main spring flush.
Watch for — Few or no flowers: Too little light or excess nitrogen drives leafy growth at the expense of blooms. Give brighter light, use a balanced feed and allow a cooler winter rest to set spring buds.
What fertiliser yesterday-today-and-tomorrow actually wants — and why
Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow is an acid-loving plant — it can only take up nutrients in acidic soil, so the feed itself matters less than using an ericaceous formula and never liming.
An ericaceous (acidic) fertiliser, formulated to keep the soil pH low and supply iron and trace elements in a form acid-loving roots can absorb. Ordinary feeds and any lime lock out iron and yellow the leaves.
For the language behind the three numbers on the bottle — what nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium each do — see the NPK ratio explained entry. The short version for yesterday-today-and-tomorrow: match the feed to the job the plant is doing right now, not to a generic “plant food” on the shelf.
How often to feed yesterday-today-and-tomorrow, and which months
Feeding only earns its keep while the plant is in active growth and can use the nutrients — pour feed into a dormant or low-light plant and it simply builds up as root-burning salt. For yesterday-today-and-tomorrow:
Feed during spring and summer only with a balanced water-soluble fertiliser (such as 10-10-10): full strength monthly for garden plants, or diluted to half strength every two weeks for container plants. Avoid excess nitrogen, which favours leaves over flowers. An acid-formulated feed helps maintain low soil pH. In practice: an ericaceous feed in spring as growth resumes, repeated through the main growing months; never apply lime, bonemeal or wood ash, which raise pH.
The dormant-season rule matters more than the exact interval: skip feeding entirely when yesterday-today-and-tomorrow is resting. For the wider context on indoor feeding rhythms across the seasons, the houseplant fertiliser schedule walks through the year month by month.
What strength to mix for yesterday-today-and-tomorrow
Follow the ericaceous product's own rate — these are formulated for the plant, so the dilution on the label is right for yesterday-today-and-tomorrow. The variable that actually matters is pH, not concentration.
Feeding always goes onto already-damp soil, never dry roots — water yesterday-today-and-tomorrow first if the soil is dry, then apply the diluted feed. The companion question is when to water at all, covered in the yesterday-today-and-tomorrow watering schedule.
Signs you are over-feeding yesterday-today-and-tomorrow
Over-feeding is far more common — and more damaging — than under-feeding for most plants. The classic tells for yesterday-today-and-tomorrow:
- Brown, scorched leaf margins from too strong or too frequent a dose.
- White salt crust on the soil surface.
- Soft, lush growth that fruits or flowers poorly.
Signs you are under-feeding yesterday-today-and-tomorrow
- Yellowing leaves with green veins (iron chlorosis from high pH).
- Weak growth, poor cropping and an overall pale, stressed look.
- Stunted new shoots in spring despite adequate water and light.
If the symptoms point at watering, light or roots rather than nutrition, the full yesterday-today-and-tomorrow care brief covers soil, humidity and the common problems for this species.
Flushing and leaching the salts
Flush yesterday-today-and-tomorrow with rainwater (not hard tap water, which raises pH) if salts build up; better still, mulch with pine needles or composted bark and water with rainwater to hold the acidity.
Organic vs synthetic feeds for yesterday-today-and-tomorrow
Organic options
Composted pine bark, pine-needle mulch, used coffee grounds and an organic ericaceous feed gently maintain acidity. UK: Vitax or Westland Ericaceous; US: Espoma Holly-tone or Dr. Earth Acid Lovers. Slow, soil-improving, hard to overdo.
Synthetic / liquid feeds
A liquid or granular ericaceous feed — UK: Miracle-Gro Ericaceous, Vitax or Westland; US: Miracle-Gro Acid-Loving Plant Food or Espoma Holly-tone. Pair with rainwater and an acidic mulch for it to work.
Brand names are examples, not endorsements, and UK and US ranges differ — check the label’s own NPK and dilution rate, since formulations change.
Fertilising yesterday-today-and-tomorrow — frequently asked questions
What fertiliser does yesterday-today-and-tomorrow need?
An ericaceous (acidic) fertiliser, formulated to keep the soil pH low and supply iron and trace elements in a form acid-loving roots can absorb. Ordinary feeds and any lime lock out iron and yellow the leaves. Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow is an acid-loving plant — it can only take up nutrients in acidic soil, so the feed itself matters less than using an ericaceous formula and never liming.
How often should I feed yesterday-today-and-tomorrow?
Feed during spring and summer only with a balanced water-soluble fertiliser (such as 10-10-10): full strength monthly for garden plants, or diluted to half strength every two weeks for container plants. Avoid excess nitrogen, which favours leaves over flowers. An acid-formulated feed helps maintain low soil pH. Feed during spring and summer only with a balanced water-soluble fertiliser (such as 10-10-10): full strength monthly for garden plants, or diluted to half strength every two weeks for container plants. Avoid excess nitrogen, which favours leaves over flowers. An acid-formulated feed helps maintain low soil pH. In practice: an ericaceous feed in spring as growth resumes, repeated through the main growing months; never apply lime, bonemeal or wood ash, which raise pH.
What strength of feed for yesterday-today-and-tomorrow?
Follow the ericaceous product's own rate — these are formulated for the plant, so the dilution on the label is right for yesterday-today-and-tomorrow. The variable that actually matters is pH, not concentration.
What does over-feeding yesterday-today-and-tomorrow look like?
Brown, scorched leaf margins from too strong or too frequent a dose. White salt crust on the soil surface. Soft, lush growth that fruits or flowers poorly. Feeding yesterday-today-and-tomorrow an ordinary fertiliser, or growing it in hard tap water / limey soil, is the defining mistake — it triggers lime-induced chlorosis (yellow leaves, green veins) no amount of feeding fixes until the pH comes down.
Should I flush the soil of yesterday-today-and-tomorrow?
Flush yesterday-today-and-tomorrow with rainwater (not hard tap water, which raises pH) if salts build up; better still, mulch with pine needles or composted bark and water with rainwater to hold the acidity.
Keep reading
- Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow care — the full brief (light, soil, humidity, problems, pet safety)
- How often to water yesterday-today-and-tomorrow — the watering schedule
- The houseplant fertiliser schedule — feeding through the year
- NPK ratio explained — what the three numbers on the bottle mean
- How to fertilise peace lily
- How to fertilise bird of paradise
- How to fertilise hoya
- All 609 fertilising guides in the Growli library