Multi-purpose compost - ok for houseplants?

[wickedfairy]

As above really - used this stuff last week when doing stuff in the garden but also used it to repot/replenish the soil in a couple of pots with houseplants in them.

One of the plants is like a small tree/fern thing and had quite dark green leaves. These have lightened and are now a paler green - is this because of the compost? I did also leave the houseplants outside on a couple of days to get some natural light/a little rain - maybe this is the cause of the lighter leaves? One of the other plants has a few of the green leaves lighten as well (think it is a flamingo plant - the one where some "leaves" are bright red)

Maybe I just over-watered them after repotting....

Any advice - am I killing them? TIA!!

multipurpose is probably a light, fluffy peat-based (or peat substitute) thing. The have very little in the way of minerals or nutrients.

I find, for a plant that will be in its pot for a year or more, the heavier loam-based John Innes formula (it is not a brand) potting composts do better. For a big, established plabt with strong roots, the higher numbers contain more fertiliser (e.g. JIP2 holds more than JIP1)

the multipurpse peaty stuff hols little fertilser, so you need to add a liquid feed, maybe once a week in the growing season.

If you overwater a pot so that water drains out of the bottom, it will be washing away the plant foodf/fertiliser content.