I've watched a lot of YouTube videos showing people making DIY root tabs using a time released fertilizer called Osmocote Plus and 00 gelatin capsules.
This got me pretty excited, since it was so much cheaper than buying root tabs at the pet store...
Then I learned that Osmocote Plus was discontinued and then brought back on the market under a new formulation that had an inferior source of potassium and lacked calcium. The old stuff was in orange bottles and the new stuff is in pink bottles.
A recommended alternative on a lot of forums was Dynamite Select, which corrected these two problems, but lacked zinc.
So, I kinda felt like I was in a now win situation here. Someone on reddit suggested I buy both the new Osmocote Plus and the Dynamite Select and mix them together. I thought that was a pretty good idea, but decided I would need to do half and half in each gelatin capsule to ensure each tab had both. If I dumped the two into a bowl and mixed them, I may end up with tabs that were 100% of one of the products and missing either zinc or calcium.
Then I had this idea of checking stores for "new old stock," bottle that may be setting on the shelf for years. I thought I could find a bottle of the old stuff.
Well my lazy *ss found the old stuff on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/282308601417
$18.00 for a 4.5 lb bottle. That will probably last me years, if not decades.
Some YouTube videos on DIY root tabs:
And a video on the Dynamite Plus:
And a picture of the bottles.
Original Osmocote Plus in orange bottle:
New pink bottle:
This got me pretty excited, since it was so much cheaper than buying root tabs at the pet store...
Then I learned that Osmocote Plus was discontinued and then brought back on the market under a new formulation that had an inferior source of potassium and lacked calcium. The old stuff was in orange bottles and the new stuff is in pink bottles.
A recommended alternative on a lot of forums was Dynamite Select, which corrected these two problems, but lacked zinc.
So, I kinda felt like I was in a now win situation here. Someone on reddit suggested I buy both the new Osmocote Plus and the Dynamite Select and mix them together. I thought that was a pretty good idea, but decided I would need to do half and half in each gelatin capsule to ensure each tab had both. If I dumped the two into a bowl and mixed them, I may end up with tabs that were 100% of one of the products and missing either zinc or calcium.
Then I had this idea of checking stores for "new old stock," bottle that may be setting on the shelf for years. I thought I could find a bottle of the old stuff.
Well my lazy *ss found the old stuff on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/282308601417
$18.00 for a 4.5 lb bottle. That will probably last me years, if not decades.
Some YouTube videos on DIY root tabs:
And a video on the Dynamite Plus:
And a picture of the bottles.
Original Osmocote Plus in orange bottle:
New pink bottle:
