# understanding osmocote and ferts in inert substrate



## steven p (Jun 22, 2012)

if you can get osmocote plus, it would be best. take an ice cube tray, half dust the bottom of each cube with osmocote, top with 1/2 cm water. wait.

insert fertcicles every few inches as needed, ice melts, leaving fert pellets buried in the substrate. osmocote is recommended for it slow release traits. topsoil mud can be subbed for water in the fert cubes.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

osmocote plus has copper as well as trace minerals that plants need to survive right? this copper, will it affect my other scaleless fish? also i have heard of this sizing for osmocote. like 00 gel caps or something. do i need a special kind of osmocote, liek aquarium osmocote, or would one from OSH or Lowes/HD work?


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

There is no aquarium osmocote. Look for osmocote plus in any garden center, including the stores you mentioned. 

00 gelcaps are a medical thing, easily available on line. Fill them with osmocote and push them under the substrate. 
Freezing as described above is a good way, too. 

There is not enough copper or other nutrients in osmocote to cause problems in the aquarium. First of all, you are not using very much. Second of all it is slow release, so all the minerals etc that are in the osmocote are released slowly, so the plants use almost all of them.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

ok that is good. i will look at OSH, HD, and lowes or any other garden stores for it. i am looking for osmocote plus multipurpose plant food by miracle gro is that right? i dont want to get the wrong stuff. 
and with the fertilizing, would i put one cube for every batch of plants that needs fertilizing?


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## Kyrol (Feb 24, 2012)

Depending on where you live you may have to buy some of it online. I couldn't find it locally. People on the forum sell them pre made if you dont feel like making them.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

i called my local garden centers and i dont think they stock it here. i may order it online on monday and start fertilizing my plants. i think my recently acquired plants are going through the official melting stage. lets hope they survive!


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## Aquaticfan (Oct 30, 2011)

Even in low light or no co2 tanks it may ne possible and I've seen it happen more then not. You may need to add macro. It will depend on bio load vs plant load. Some plants like hygro are nutrient suckers. Let your plants tell you what they need. As this goes on you will see if any signs of nutrient issues arise. 

sent from my HTC EVO 3d


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

the bioload on my tank is moderate right now. i have a school of lemon tetras (7), 3 GBRs, 3 honeycomb cats, 2 otos, and 1 lone hatchetfish (7 more coming on tuesday). i will use the osmocote as soon as i can order it. i was looking at the CSM+b as well but i think i will only be using that after i run out of flourish comprehensive. do you know if osmocote plus has micros as well?


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## Aquaticfan (Oct 30, 2011)

Osmocote plus does supply micro and macro. But its meant to do so VIA under the substrate. Not all plants are heavy substrate feeders. This is why having non limiting nutrients even in the water column of both micro and macro complete the puzzle. 

sent from my HTC EVO 3d


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## Aquaticfan (Oct 30, 2011)

Btw... 3 GBR may not work very well. Do you have them sexed yet? GBR's are monogamous creatures. One male one female. If you have a 2nd female chances are she will get bullied and chased. If 2 males one female. Then one male gets bullied. And so on. 

sent from my HTC EVO 3d


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

i had 4 originally, but one fell to ich i think. the other 3 are getting along ok. i had hoped to have them pair off as they grew up. i bought them from a local breeder when they were small. right now i am inclined to say all are female...which is kinda disappointing considering that i was hoping there would be at least one male. i had a spawn that was unsuccessful before my ich outbreak. the eggs did not hatch, im assuming due to infertility. once i can figure out the sex of these ones, then i can purchase 1 more (hopefully it may match, i know males are picky). i was told that 4 gbrs in a 40 gallon is acceptable. 

and regarding the osmocote being under substrate. that is good for me i think. i have a few substrate rooted plants, s.repens, s. hygro, alternanthera rosefolia, and soon stargrass. those will benefit from osmocote right? the others i have pennywort and frogbit would only benefit from water column ferts? since this is low tech, im aiming for my macros to come from fish and their waste + decomposing matter. if it turns out not to be enough, then ill look into a dry fert mix or something. do you have any that you like? i was looking at the plantex NPK i think it was for if i needed it


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

pandemonium, the Home Depot in Concord sells Osmocote Plus, that is where I got it. Maybe I just got lucky and they had some that day. 
Try again in your local stores, though maybe the stores in the city do carry a different range of products. The big picture that comes up first is the one I got. 

http://www.scotts.com/smg/templates/index.jsp?pageUrl=osmocoteLanding&itemId=cat50020&id=cat50020

Start by putting just a few capsules or frozen cubes next to each plant. Not really close, but an inch or two away. Maybe one on each side of the faster growing plants like hygro. For more diffuse plants that are planted over a larger area or that have runners you might spread out a few capsules in their general location, perhaps 2"-3" apart. As the plants grow their roots spread all over the tank, so that a capsule placed way over here is supporting a plant that is growing way over there. As this happens you are no longer adding capsules next to each plant, but will spread the capsules pretty much equally through the whole tank. Still wide spread, though.


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## Aquaticfan (Oct 30, 2011)

Plant x is different from npk. Plant x is your micro. Npk is 3 different items that are nitrates, phosphates and potassium. But try it without first. See what happens.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

Diana said:


> pandemonium, the Home Depot in Concord sells Osmocote Plus, that is where I got it. Maybe I just got lucky and they had some that day.
> Try again in your local stores, though maybe the stores in the city do carry a different range of products. The big picture that comes up first is the one I got.
> 
> http://www.scotts.com/smg/templates/index.jsp?pageUrl=osmocoteLanding&itemId=cat50020&id=cat50020
> ...


thanks diana, i will check it out when i have time today. i called two local garden centers. one by the SF zoo and the other in the city and they only carried the outdoor/indoor and the normal version, not the plus. 
ok i will do that when i get it. i plan on using the ice cubes to distribute the fertilizer. how many pellets should i put into each cube? i read anywhere from fully dust the bottom of the ice cube tray to 6-8 pellets. i plan on using the containers for frozen fish food to make more manageable ice cubes, not the actual ice tray ice cubes. 



Aquaticfan said:


> Plant x is different from npk. Plant x is your micro. Npk is 3 different items that are nitrates, phosphates and potassium. But try it without first. See what happens.


ok will do


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

In those little frozen food cubes, I would half fill them.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

ok will do that then. thats like 10 or so pellets i think. i saw different osmocotes today at home depot. the strange thing is, no one has ever heard of osmocote plus. even the garden center by the zoo which is really knowledgeable. i am guessing it may be since it is so new? not sure about that haha. ill probably end up getting it online. i dont know when i will going across the bay next. so about 10 or so pellets at least 1 fertcicle under each set of stem/root plants and then spread them about 2 to 3 inches apart from each other throughout the tank? so i should be using quite a few for my 40 gallon breeder tank?


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## saguaro48 (May 9, 2012)

It appears that Osmocote PLUS is difficult to locate in many parts of the country. I ordered on line/mail order and spent an extra $9.00 for shipping. Afterwards, I discovered that the product is available from Ace Hardware. Your local store probably does not have it but you can get it shipped free to the store. To do this, go to acehardware.com and type in osmocote in the product search. DO NOT type in osmocote plus (you will incorrectly get a Product not Found message) When you get the page displaying the products, lo and behold Osmocote Plus will be the first one listed. You can then add it to your cart and select Free Shipping to my store. IF YOUR STORE is NOT listed, then just call the 800 number and they will ship it to your home free! 
I've recently returned to the hobby and enjoyed reading the posts on this site. Thanks to those who go out of their way to help fellow hobbyists. I'm glad to be able to provide a bit of info for others.

Now, for providing this information, can someone tell me how long between putting doses of the product into the substrate (kitty litter in my case?) weeks/months? 

Thanks


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

wow that is convenient. ill check now just in case i need more. i will be sharing this with my mom for her roses and peonies and other plants. 

i have read that osmocote works on land for 6 months. in water i have seen 2-4. i am going to replace every 3 months ish or as needed depending on plant growth. i have sunset hygro which turns red when it has enough nutrients. in that case, when it turns green, its time to add more haha


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## saguaro48 (May 9, 2012)

pandamonium said:


> ...
> i have sunset hygro which turns red when it has enough nutrients. in that case, when it turns green, its time to add more haha


Didn't think of doing something like that. So simple yet sort of foolproof (just what I need )


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

fool proof for a person like me is a good thing. i have had so many issues with things going wrong. lets just hope this hygro doesnt decide to mess with me.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

I snagged mine a year ago in HD. Haven't seen any since. I think it's off the consumer market and only wholesaled to nursery growers and farms.


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

Love Osmocote Plus, great stuff.

I found mine at Fred Myers.

Sent from my HTC Evo 4G


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## zherico (Mar 19, 2009)

You can allways make your own root tabs by placing the root osmocote in potters clay (which has a nice CEC). Here is a link 

http://aquaria.net/articles/DIY/plants/clay-balls/


Also as other forum members have stated, you are not going to have much in the way of any nutrient exchange between your inert substrate and water column, so you will need substrate fertilizer AND some dry/liquid ferts to add


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