Fertilizing Column plants vs. Root Feeing Plants

[Zac]

For those who have a mix of water column feeding and root feeding plants, when you use root tabs, do you place them around the roots only or do you place them throughout the whole tank? And how do you determine when you need to replace the root tabs?

[lefty o]

i put them next to the roots of the plant i am targeting.

[Rita]

I put them around the target plants. I will say I have a dwarf aquarium lily in one tank that I accidentally neglected for about 5 months… I was confused why it was looking anemic and leaves were dying back… then I realized it lacked root tabs! Once I inserted more it bounced back. I now make an effort to put them in every 2 months or so.

[Baphijmm]

I put them at the roots of the targeted plant. I understand the impulse to potentially spread them around the tank (and if you're planning on doing a carpeting species, eventually you might be doing this!), but for columnar feeders, I'd say water additives are gonna do the job far better than root tabs. So, I'd do a combination of fert strategies for a combination of root and column feeders.