Commercial Grade Super Absorbent Polymer Potassium Based Water Crystal (1 Pound)

Plants like potassium a lot better than salt. These swell up to larger than giant jaw breakers. Pro tip: use fish emulsions and compost tea to "charge" them before you use them.

Super for keeping plants happy and watered!! Don't know how I lived without this. Environmentally friendly!

1) Holds lots of moisture.2) Work as described. It becomes a water source that helps the plant get through dry periods between rain.3) Woul definately buy again. But my garden is small and the polymer balls last a long time. It may be years before I need to buy more.I mixed it in with potting soil.The beads looked sooooo small so... I added some extra. Ok, a lot extra.First time it rained, my container overflowed. It was like the dirt was pushed up from the bottom of the planted. This was a 24" container filled to 4" below the rim. Now theres a big mound of dirt thats 6" over the top of the container and a lot of dirt overflowing the container.So...The beads asorb a LOT of water. I changed how I use them as follows:Put a tiny amount in a big jar, add water, wait a few hours. Put them in a collander to drain overnight. When transplanting, put these in a ring around the base of the plant. I put the balls in a 2" radius from the center of the plant about 6" deep.When the soil is "dry," the plant sits in a soil depression because the polymer balls shrink from losing water to keep the soil moist. Easy indication to water the plant. Great stuff.

I bought this for my hurricane preparation kit. The specs say that each bag will absorb approximately five gallons of water, which is a FAR better ratio than the horticultural version I have used in the past, and at a better price. I did a test with a tablespoon of this product and it appears the specs are accurate. Granted, it won't save your house from a major flood but similar products have saved my carpets from being soaked during a Category 1 hurricane. How I use it: Using cotton zippered pillow protectors as bags, put appropriate amount of the product in each bag and place them on the INSIDE threshold of exterior doors. I have planned for two bags for each of my standard doors.

I’ve been using this stuff since the 80’s, it really makes a difference and significantly reduces the amount of watering required. A little goes a long way so don’t overdo it. I typically will hydrate it first and mix it into the potting soil when planting in pots/containers. In sandy soil it may over time (years) work it’s way to the surface as it continually expands and shrinks. It worked great for roses when I lived near enough to the ocean to be growing in what may as well have been beach sand, no matter how much organic material I added.

In the past I've gotten water crystals for potted plants but now am using it in the garden. As I am now gardening in the woods with soil that is well-draining to the point where a full planting hole full of water is empty after 10 mins or less, I really needed something above and beyond compost and peat moss to retain moisture - most shade-loving plants like moist soil - so I've been using water crystals to help with that. These are quite different from the previous ones in that the crystals are much bigger so far fewer are needed per planting hole. What I particularly like about these is that they are potassium-based so will add that to the soil as they break down. This is a newly created garden so all the plants are going in this year, 2021 so I suppose I'll need to come back in three years or so to say how it has gone. But I expect these water crystals are going to help give the plants a good start in life without me standing over them with a hose all day. Good idea to take a few crystals and soak in water beforehand to get an idea of how much they expand so you can see how few you need per plant.

Used it our raised flowere beds. Had planted veggies and a few flowers. Gone on vacation for 10 days. Held enough water that the plants were fine even in hot weather. Also used in flower pots on porch and the flowers were fine.

I always had some planters that would alway dry out and had to be put in a bucket of water to get them to take water again. I used these gel crystals in those planter. It doesn’t take much just put them down by the roots. Now those containers don’t dry out and the plants never looked better.