Water retaining crystals in veg pots?

[maverick451]

I grow alot of my veg in containers, can I use the water retaining crystals to help retain water?

I had good results last year but the compost did seem to dry out awfully and then being peat based it ran straight through it, Id love to add in an exotic mix of soils etc but as I have about 50 30l containers to fill I cant afford the likes of vermiculite etc

[Guest]

I grow alot of my veg in containers, can I use the water retaining crystals to help retain water?

I had good results last year but the compost did seem to dry out awfully and then being peat based it ran straight through it, Id love to add in an exotic mix of soils etc but as I have about 50 30l containers to fill I cant afford the likes of vermiculite etc

If you go to a builders merchant you can get medium grade (I think) hooge sacks of vermiculite around £10-£15. Which is fine for pots. In my mind that would be just as cheap as water crystals

[polc1410]

I've certainly used them in small pots prior to potting up and in hanging baskets with toms and straws in...

[kathyd]

I'm going to try them in baskets this year too - but I'm also wondering about putting torn up newspapers into the compost? Or maybe there are other things people could suggest? It's really anything that will hang onto water isn't it? I don't think I could afford enough water crystals for 30 pots! I didn't know vermiculite would hold water too?

[roitelet]

If you have a Bricomarche near you they have some vermiculite in big sacs,I'm told. It's called Epiferl.

[Plot10]

Be careful not to let any of the gel crystals touch the stems above ground level, I used a fertiliser with added gel crystals last year and lost a couple of tomato plants where the wet crystals had caused the stems to rot..

[mrswadders]

I haven't tried it myself(although I'm going to give it a go) but on another gardening group I'm on someone uses cheapo nappies! Just cut open the nappies and use the crystals inside - I got a pack of 10 from the ££p shop to try

[Nicos]

How biodegradable are these gels?

I'd be concerned about the long term effect if you intend to reuse the compost elsewhere.

[Valleyman]

If you go to a builders merchant you can get medium grade (I think) hooge sacks of vermiculite around £10-£15. Which is fine for pots. In my mind that would be just as cheap as water crystals

In my mind too. And for those wondering "hooge sacks" is the official definition for 100L.

At £5 to £8 for a 10L bag from a garden centre, it's expensive but I'd be broke if I paid that. You can get the big stuff for £11 from Jewsons. The smaller, more suitable stuff for gardening tends to be around £15.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Hanging baskets are easy line the bottom third with a cut up compost bag, that one's free and I love free.

[Kristen]

I have seen some scientific discussion debating whether the break-down products from water retaining granules pose a health threat when absorbed by plants.

When I collect up the used composts from tubs / hanging baskets etc in the Autumn it all gets mixed up, and some reused for Veg the following year, so I, personally, have stopped using them altogether.

I haven't seen anything definitive on the science, so there may be nothing worrysome about it, but we grow our own veg to have known provenance, and nothing added / sprayed on, so for me Water Retaining Granules are out.

[Alison]

I haven't tried it myself(although I'm going to give it a go) but on another gardening group I'm on someone uses cheapo nappies! Just cut open the nappies and use the crystals inside - I got a pack of 10 from the ££p shop to try

I've heard of people doing this too, really wouldn't want stuff like that near my edible crops. Wouldn't use the gardening ones either for stuff I'm going to eat and therefore avoid them for other stuff as I don't want them on my compost heap.