Diy Root Tabs - How Often To Add Them?

I use osmocote plus as a diy root tab. It seems to be working just fine. My question though is how often should I add more?

 

Hello!

You can redose every 2-3 months generally, or as needed (ie: if you have a really big sword plant, they might need to be dosed every month or two)

 

Ok. Cause it's been about a month and was starting to question. No really big swords yet. Just medium sized Vesuvius swords and some baby Amazon's. Then a few stems.

 

DIY Osmocote+ vs. Flourish tabs, no comparison: Flourish hands down. I used to use DIY Osmocote+ tabs and they just seemed to make my plants "hang on" and not really grow. The Flourish tabs on the otherhand, WOW! And this coming from a guy who has had issues with Seachems liquid line and refuses to use it.

 

Well the Vesuvius swords are growing and throwing runners like crazy. I started out with one and now I have about 10. I think the Amazon's just aren't getting enough light. They are behind some stems.

 

The only thing Ive had grow well with Osmocote+ tabs are hygrophila corymbosa, but they were in a tank with T5 lights and a big bioload. My Amazon swords LOVE the Flourish tabs. Id been feeding them DIY tabs for years with no growth or runners at all. 4 months in a tank with Flourish tabs and I'm getting runners with 4-6 plants per constantly.

Maybe the DIY tabs just aren't as strong and you can use a lot more, a lot more often. I haven't done any "scientific" studies.

 

I've used both Flourish and DIY Osmocote Plus tabs and both work well but are different. Flourish doesn't last long, maybe a month but it works really well in that month. Osmocote is time released so you need to use a lot more (3-4 per 1 Flourish tab) for heavy root feeders like swords but they last 3-6 months. Some say up to a year. Osmocote Plus has better nutrients (macros and micros).

 

So if you have 1 big Amazon sword, how many DIY tabs would you use?

 

I put about 4-6 around each sword that are 10-14" but I have a bunch close together so they also share tabs. For one large, I'd put 6 around the roots.