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Re: Osmocote

To all experimenters,
   It appears my mention of Osmocote has created some interest, so I
thought I would share some of my findings. 
   The reason I decided to try Osmocote was because of a tip from one of
my growers. Unfortunately, I threw the box out, but as I recall it's a
time release fertilizer. This is the part I hate to mention, because I'm
not very sure, but I seem to recall that the beads are plastic coated.
This is what causes the slow release.
   As I write, I'm looking at a 20 High that I set up about 6-8 months
ago. Last week I sold a Mermaid plant out of that tank and when I
uprooted it, up came 3 beads. The beads are not much smaller than when I
put them in there. Part of this reason COULD be because they might have
swollen a bit. Anyway, this particular tank has no filter on it and the
water is still clear. 
   Actually, uprooting these beads happens often and I have never tried
to rebury them in the substrate. I mention this because I checked some
other tanks where I know I have brought up many beads, yet I no longer
see them. This might suggest they dissolve faster above the substrate or
my eyesight isn't so hot. I'll try to pay more attention to the  beads I
just uncovered and see if I can see them disintegrate and over what
period of time.
   I suspect it would be easy enough to see how long they last in the
substrate, if some were buried in the substrate against the front glass.
   I also raise a lot of plants outside. In the last couple of weeks,
most of the plants are starting to come back from winter. As an
experiment, I have thrown the Osmocote on top of the substrate. If it
works, I won't have to uproot a lot of plants to refertilize. This is an
easy test for me, because I have running water (when needed), if all
"green" breaks loose.
   Also, I have been getting a lot of e-mail on how much Osmocote to use
in the substrate. This has been a complete guess on my part, but the
Osmocote comes with a little plastic spoon (looks to be about a tsp.). I
have been using  about 1 level spoon per sq. ft.
   I would like to remind readers, that the criteria for my methods are
normally based on cheap and easy, not maximum growth. Lastly, my methods
come with no guarantee.   
Regards,
Dan Quackenbush