Kathy,

I have bought a soil mix with water crystals in it and (to my great surprise) was NOT happy with the results. The plants stayed TOO wet and didn't do well even though I had them in large pots with good drainage. However, that doesn't mean that I don't think the product has merit....just that in the one year I tried potting soil with its own water-retaining polymer crystals, I wasn't thrilled with the results.

I do think it was in 2004 and that was the westtest summer we've had here in Love County, with about a foot of rain falling just in the month of June, so the excess rain HAD to have contributed to the problem in those containers. I might have been happier had I bought the polymer crystals separately and added them to my own custom-made potting mix for containers. (And, I might have had better results in a different year....like this year.) I 'meant to' give the water polymer crystals another chance, but then wildfires ate our lunch in 2005-06 and I got sidetracked with all the firefighting activity, including 240 fire calls in one year, and just never got around to trying the crystals again.

The water crystal polymers ARE great for making cool collars (bandana-type neck wraps filled with polymer crystals) for our volunteer firefighters. Last year a local organization made cool collars for all the firefighters our county's 14 volunteer fire departments.

The best price I've seen for the crystals in a quantity larger than 1 lb. is on the attached website, although if you google a little, it is possible you'd find a better price. Sometimes you see them here (more in north Texas than in southern OK) in local nurseries and craft stores but generally only in smallish sizes, like 6 or 8 or 10 oz.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Where to Buy Water Crystals in Large Qty.

Morning, Dawn!

I'm planning to purchase them separately and mix them into my own potting soil. The things I did cuttings of have rooted and will soon need to go into pots, so I was thinking that a small amount of the crystals in the soil would help out a lot, especially on busy weeks when I'm working nutty hours and don't get the time to check on my babies as often.

Thanks for the link and the info :) I'm only planning to put a small amount in the soil, not quite what's suggested, that way I can hopefully avoid root rot :)

Kathy

Kathy,

I think they'd be OK inside where you can control the moisture that goes into the pots. They just didn't work outside for me when the rain was falling at a tremendously high rate. I do intend to try them again....maybe in the hanging baskets on the wraparound porch next year.

Dawn

I suggest that you mix these polymers into your soil, rather than buy pre-mixed. A little goes a long-long way.

You might want to try WaterCrystals.com.

Here is a link that might be useful: Water Crystals

Are these the same thing that is in a baby diaper that absorbs urine? I saw on one of Jim Baker's gardening shows where he mentioned putting a whole, urine-soiled diaper in the bottom of the hole for a tomato plant. A lot of his stuff seems pretty goofy to me. I wouldn't want to dig up pieces of diaper next year, so even though I currently have a supply, I'm not interested in doing that. Even so, I have to wonder if there's an easy way to remove the crystals from the diaper...

I've been watching this thread, wondering if anyone would bring up diapers. I use them in pots, but I've never taken the leap of faith for urine soaked ones. I use fresh and dry.

Basically, you are looking for the absorbent pad in the diaper. When you cut a dry diaper open it looks more like stiff quilt batting, with a fibrous texture. When you add water, however, the crystals become much more apparent. After I pull the pad out, I also rinse the cut up pad enclosure over my peat mix to ensure I get the remaining fiber/crystals out. Mix the wet crystal goo into the soil with any other amendments (I include Osmocote and iron) and you are good to go.

I've never used this technique directly in the garden, only in containers. Given the petroleum history and the slow break down of the crystals, (which I have no facts on...I'm just listening to my gut) I'd be hesitant to put them directly in the garden.

Wow, and yet ANOTHER idea I had never thought about! You kids are so good.

As some of you know, I tried growing bell peppers in containers this year. I used 19 silver trash baskets that I bought for $1 each at a thrift store. DH drilled one hole in the center of each bottom. I found, however, that I had to water frequently. Peppers seem to require a lot of water. During periods of heavy rain, I discovered that the soil in the pot sometimes would clog the drain hole and then the pepper would sit there in water and would wilt badly if I didn't notice and drain it in time. So I had "feast and famine". I'm wondering if it would help to just open up a new diaper and put it in the bottom of the pot before adding the soil?? Would the moisture in the diaper wick up into the soil? The diaper would probably keep the drainage hole clear and excess water might drain out more easily once the contents of the diaper were thoroughly soaked.

I can see the wisdom of using a urine-soaked diaper since I've seen whole discussions in other forums about urine being a perfect fertilizer. Supposedly it's bacteria-free when fresh and people say they dilute it one part to ten parts water when they use it in their gardens. The only caveat I've seen is that you shouldn't use urine from someone who takes medications. I can see how a baby's urine would be...... well....... pure. But if it doesn't wick up into the roots then I can't see myself tearing apart a urine-soaked diaper to mix with the soil. Ick. Besides that, I'd have some explaining to do in even getting any of those, since there hasn't been a baby in our household in 18 years and I've announced to ALL that I'm not raising a third generation! LOL --Ilene

I don't think you'll have luck using a diaper at the bottom of the container. Once you wet the fibrous pad it disinegrates into gooey crystals. Better to mix them in with the soil. The diaper will not keep the drainage hole clear, but instead will ooze out of the hole.

The concept of the crystals is they hold many, many times their weight in water, minimizing how often a well watered pot will dry out. It will stabilize the "feast and famine". Better to have these water hoards distributed throughout the pot where roots have easy access to additional moisture as they are ready for it.

Incidentally, it wasn't untill I started using this method that I discovered the "real" difference in cheap diapers and name brand ones. It isn't the "fit". It's the amount of water absorbing polymers. I tried buying cheaper diapers for gardening, only to learn the better value in terms of absorption crystals was my reliable Huggies from Sam's. Wet two fibrous pads side by side and you can definitely see the difference.