Ready-planted baskets and tubs have become hugely popular with the UK gardening public. Providing instant, bright and colourful displays - no matter what the size or location of the garden – they are particularly popular with less experienced gardeners wanting an instant result requiring little maintenance.
Often positioned close to the property - to give a splash of bright colours, or easy access to fruits such as strawberries or tomatoes - the public put their trust in nurseries to do the hard work selecting plants to give long-lasting displays. For spring / summer basket and tubs, flowering or fruiting plants ideally need to keep performing right through to autumn. Of course, this also relies on the plants receiving sufficient feed, as well as water, and is where Osmocote Exact tablets can play an important part, says Stuart Gammage, technical area sales manager for the East.
Our easy to use tablets are widely used on nurseries for feeding pots. However, they are also ideally designed for baskets and tubs. Available in 5-6 or 8-9 month longevities, and in 5 grams or 7.5 grams sizes, they provide controlled release feed for baskets and tubs while on the nursery, at the retail outlet and in the end user’s garden.
Unfortunately, all to often the care these plants receive finishes at the retail outlet. Many of the public only focus on watering. Indeed, more often than not, they over water leading to nutrient leaching!
This is where Osmocote Exact tablets are perfect as they are controlled release. No matter how often the basket or tub is watered, the tablets release feed gradually on a daily basis over several months while conditions are ideal for growing. As a result, plant growth and colour is optimised while plants are also kept healthy.
These tablets benefit from having our 3rd generation coatings, delivering controlled release NPK, plus the required levels of essential trace elements. Conical in shape, they are easy to push into the growing media and are manufactured using an environmentally friendly water soluble adhesive.
The tablets start to disintegrate slowly after the plants are watered and at this point become locked into the growing medium. Safe for the plants, they won’t scorch roots - making them ideal for baskets and tubs while on the nursery. Meanwhile, the end user benefits from many months of colourful and bright displays without any more input - apart from watering and dead heading.
All in all it’s a win, win, win situation - as hopefully they are so pleased with their purchase that it leads to repeat business!
For more information and rates, please talk to your local technical area sales manager.