Yes, you can, and I have found them helpful.

I soak them in a pail of water first until they expand, then mix them with the potting soil. If you put too many dry crystals in the pot and then water you may experince a volcano effect.

I've never tried the crystals with container-grown roses, but I have used them in window boxes that, by midsummer, need to be watered twice a day. Perhaps I didn't incorporate enough of the dry crystals into the soil mix, or perhaps my containers were simply too shallow to begin with. Whatever the case, I wasn't impressed with the results.

Here's an intersting/possibly informative link . . .

Here is a link that might be useful: Crystals & Container Gardening

I have used them, they're primarily intended for containers, but I won't use them anymore. I can see that they absorb water just fine. What I don't see is that they give up that water to the plants. I don't believe the plants were able to get that water at all. Don't count on them to work.

Much more reliable would be a drip irrigation system for your pots, on a timer. You can get battery-operated timers that attach to a faucet.

Here is a link that might be useful: DripWorks irrigation products

I have used them very successfully in large pots with other plants and see no reason at all why they wouldn't work with roses. I think they're really handy for pots where frequent watering (& water monitoring) would be a chore to deal with. (I had my pots on an exposed, windy, southeast facing deck that was not close to a hose.)

If you can do so, get one of the polymers with potassium in it rather than sodium. Over time the polymers break down, and when the potassium gradually becomes free the rose will take it up as a slow release, gentle potassium fertilizer boost, whereas freed up sodium will only get in the way of the rose's ability to take up whatever other potassium there is in the pot while simultaneously doing nothing helpful for the plant's physiology at all.

On the whole, it sounds like its best to avoid this stuff.

You also could try the unsented, non clumping, clay kitty litter. This is a case where the cheaper the better.

There are really no issues with water crystals technique in fact Polymer crystals are great idea for any gardener who wants to have better control over their watering systems, no matter how large a gardening area they are caring for.

You bet you can. Since our area has been under water use restrictions the last 4-5 years, they have become a real life saver. However, based on what has happened here with El Nino the last two months, the drought looks to be over...well, until the next time.

I've used them with great success.

I planted some rose seedlings in brand-name potting soil premixed with the polymers. We had a heavy rain, and it looked like the pots were covered with ice--it was crystals swollen up into large lumps of jello-like consistency. The soil in the pots was loosened up due to the swelling of the crystals, and the little plants were almost shoved out of the pots. A few cycles of rain and dry and several plants were lost--too much disruption of small roots, I think. Don't know how the "do it yourself" crystals would work, but I don't think I'll use them again.

They worked fine for me. I also put my pots into larger pots with a layer of bark or another insulating material between them so that the pots don't get too hot when the sun hits them. It helps to keep the roots cool and happy. Also be sure to mulch well on top of the pots. If you have to go and can't move your pots to a shaded area like under a tree, I put up inexpensive umbrellas to shade the plants and they don't dry out so fast until I return. This strategy also helps to keep petals from frying on the really hot days. Drip irrigation is probably the best idea if you don't move your pots around much.

@ lucretia1 7/8 PNW (My Page) on Sat, Feb 6, 10 at 20:22

I agree with you regarding seedlings. The physical displacement of the seedlings' roots would be too much.