They do absorb a lot of water but are a bit reluctant to give them up to soil, especially as the granules start to dry. The material expands abundantly and so the soil tends to heave and sink with wetting and drying. The recommended types are biodegradable.

I used a lot of other brands back in the late 1980's toward the end of 7 year drought here in SoCal. Loved to see the pearls of water-swollen gel bursting out of the soil. We also found that aggressive trees and shrubs rapidly colonized the gel-enriched areas.

I suspect that the gels are best used in containers and for kinds of hydroponic situations. We didn't see too much advantage on using the gels except for paying way too much.

Hey Anne,

I have been using Quench for a couple seasons on tomatoes now and I love it. I use it on both my sweet 1000s I have in pots and my Best boys i have in my garden. I'm trying it on my beans this year so we'll see how that goes.

I was skeptical at first having used the crystals years ago but I was struggling to keep my pots watered so I took the plunge. I've never grown better tomatoes. I actually planted fewer plants this year because I had so many left over last year

My suggestion: give it a shot.

Happy gardening,

David