Osmocote fertiliser tablets for water lilies and lotus
These Osmocote fertiliser tablets with slow release feed water lilies, lotuses and marginal plants grown in pots. Their 14-8-11 formula is enriched with magnesium and trace elements.
They are pushed into the grow medium in the basket, to a depth of about 2 cm, at a rate of 3 tablets per 14 L pot, once per season in spring.
The summary
- What you receive: a bag of 20 Osmocote slow-release fertiliser tablets for aquatic plants.
- Formula: 14-8-11 with 2% magnesium and trace elements, geared towards flowering.
- Dosage: 3 tablets per 14 L pot, pushed about 2 cm into the grow medium.
- Per plant: 3 to 5 tablets for a water lily, 2 to 3 for a marginal plant, 6 to 9 for a lotus.
- Frequency: one application at planting, then once per season in spring.
- What it prevents: fertiliser dissolving into open water, where algae take it up before the plant does.
Osmocote 14-8-11 slow-release pellets, 3 per 14 L pot
An aquatic plant grown in a pot exhausts its grow medium within a season. These Osmocote tablets are pushed into the soil of the basket, in contact with the roots, and release their nutrients gradually, so a single application in spring feeds the plant for the whole season. Their 14-8-11 formula is enriched with magnesium and trace elements, and it promotes flower development.
💊 Placing it in the basket
You have nothing to take out of the water. Locate the grow medium in the basket, then push each tablet about 2 cm in with your finger, around the rhizome without touching it and rather in front of it, on the side where the shoots emerge. Allow 3 tablets for a 14 L pot, the usual size for a water lily basket, and apply them at planting and then once each spring. The cloudiness you stir up settles within a few minutes.
A water lily
Allow 3 to 5 tablets, depending on the size of the plant and the depth of water.
A pond-edge plant
Allow 2 to 3 pellets, as its needs are more modest.
A lotus
Allow 6 to 9 tablets per plant, at planting and then every spring.
The timing
Place the tablets in spring, when the first leaves are forming, then add nothing more.
A packet of 20 tablets covers 6 to 7 water lily baskets of 14 L, which is most of a private pond for a whole season. For lotuses, which need 2 to 3 times as much, the same packet feeds 2 to 3 plants. Push your tablets in once, note the date, and you will not need to come back until the following spring, since the slow release covers the entire growing season.
🐟 In shared water
Feed the potted plant rather than the pond water
A liquid fertiliser poured into a pond is diluted throughout the whole volume and benefits the algae first, which take it up faster than the roots do. A tablet pushed into the grow medium stays where it is useful. That is why it suits a hardy water lily or a Nelumbo nucifera lotus seedling in its second year.
In a system where fish and bacteria share the same water, this reasoning becomes a safety rule. A mineral input released into the open water changes what your tests measure and upsets a balance that took you weeks to achieve. Keep these tablets for pots of ornamental plants, and feed your crops with the split applications described in the article on fertiliser in aquaponics.
🧪 A 14-8-11 formula
The three figures give the content of the major nutrients: 14% nitrogen, 8% phosphorus expressed as P2O5 and 11% potassium expressed as K2O, plus 2% magnesium (MgO) and trace elements. Nitrogen supports the foliage, phosphorus and potassium support flowering, and magnesium is part of the chlorophyll molecule. This balance suits your water lilies as well as your lotus, the difference between the two lying in the number of tablets rather than in the formula.
Technical specifications
The formula and how to apply it
- Shape
- Osmocote slow-release pelletsTo be buried in the grow medium, never dissolved in the water
- Formula
- 14-8-11 + 2 MgOWith trace elements, formulated for flowering
- Contents of the packet
- 20 tabletsEnough to treat 6 to 7 baskets of 14 L
- Reference dosage
- 3 per 14 L potSpaced around the rhizome, without touching it
- Planting depth
- Around 2 cmPushed in by finger, without lifting the pot out of the water
- Rhythm
- 1 time per seasonAt planting, then every spring
To budget for separately
- Potted plant
- Water lily, lotus or marginal plantThese pellets can only be used in a grow medium that contains them
- Heavy grow medium
- Clay or garden soilA light soil would let the tablet float back up
In the box
- 20 Osmocote fertiliser tablets for aquatic plants
Formula, packaging and dosages recorded on 11/10/2026 from the product sheet and cultivation advice of the grower Latour-Marliac; dosage for marginal plants from a second European specialist.
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Frequently asked questions
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