Viewing post #3077427 by Baja_Costero

Gina1960 said: Osmocote is a controlled release. What 'controls' it is the temperature of the soil. It needs to be around 80F to start releasing, and it does it because molecules in the little balls expand at that temp, and when water hits them, they release. If the soil temp is below about 80F, Osmocote will not release.

Not true. I use this product with good results and our soil temperature is almost never above 80F for long.

The release goes up with temperature (so it will be faster at higher temps) but it is still quite significant at temps below 70F (which is the case for all soil here except the topmost layer, for almost all of the year).