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water polymers guerilla growers savior? (retaining moisture)
- Thread starter DimeBag65
- Start date
Mountaineer
Member
The Polymers Work Well.
This little survivor is a product of Soil Moist brand polymers
She was started from seed in mid June (late start).
The picture is from the end of September.
Now I know they'll be questions, so I'll try to answer
them without doing a full blown off-topic grow log here.
It was quite a walk and climb through the
worst part of the brush in my state.
The soil was prepared before planting by amending
with just a little composted chicken manure and
some cheap potting soil, plus the Soil Moist.
3 gallons of water into the mix after the hole was prepared.
Gave her one gallon of water to drink on the night she
was transplanted into the hole, and another gallon at
the end of August.
She could have done better if given nutes during the
waterings or by adding more compost at planting, but
five miles is a long hike, especially when you have to
climb a rock at the end of the hike with a pack on
your back.
That was only an experimental grow to see how well
the polymers would work in a very dry environment.
About a half of a 1 pound bag was used in a 2x2x3' hole.
You obviously will not need to use that much if you
plan on watering every week to 2 to 3 weeks.
This little survivor is a product of Soil Moist brand polymers
She was started from seed in mid June (late start).
The picture is from the end of September.
Now I know they'll be questions, so I'll try to answer
them without doing a full blown off-topic grow log here.
It was quite a walk and climb through the
worst part of the brush in my state.
The soil was prepared before planting by amending
with just a little composted chicken manure and
some cheap potting soil, plus the Soil Moist.
3 gallons of water into the mix after the hole was prepared.
Gave her one gallon of water to drink on the night she
was transplanted into the hole, and another gallon at
the end of August.
She could have done better if given nutes during the
waterings or by adding more compost at planting, but
five miles is a long hike, especially when you have to
climb a rock at the end of the hike with a pack on
your back.
That was only an experimental grow to see how well
the polymers would work in a very dry environment.
About a half of a 1 pound bag was used in a 2x2x3' hole.
You obviously will not need to use that much if you
plan on watering every week to 2 to 3 weeks.
plastic taste in the buds? yuck, no thanks. i would rather the extra work of watering more.
i am considering buying some. i would like to know if i could just mix these with the soil that i put into the holes when planting. otherwise i don't see a use for them as a top dressing and i really wouldn't want to make holes to drop them in. it seems that in doing so it would mess with the root system.
i am considering buying some. i would like to know if i could just mix these with the soil that i put into the holes when planting. otherwise i don't see a use for them as a top dressing and i really wouldn't want to make holes to drop them in. it seems that in doing so it would mess with the root system.
I'd take his word for it, sounds like he knows what the fuck he's talkin about
There is no plastic taste if you use the right kind of polymer, the Polyacrylates will taste like shit because they are breaking down in the soil around the same time your flushing. Polyacrylamides take 5-7 years to break down so your good to go.
What I do is bring them out right in the container along with my seedlings or clones, dig a hole keeping some of the native soil next to the hole, add some bomb dirt I tote in with me mixed with a bit of the native soil, add my polymers, mix it up, then I add more of my bomb soil and native dirt and put a little bit more polymers in for good measure and mix it up. Water your clone or seedling and your good to go.
I won't grow without them guerilla style, no chance in hell would I try to fight off the summer droughts. When its 90-100 degrees out and your not gettin rain for a month or two at a time your screwed unless you got some polymers. You can't bring in enough water to keep them happy and healthy, you'll be lucky to keep them alive sometimes. I'm not stingy when I use em either lol...but if you over do them they can actually swell so much after they get wet that it can push your plant right back out of the ground.
I wouldn't touch these! I've grown outdoors for some time and I have never had to water a plant after it's roots have developed into the natural soil, just don't use pots unless they are near a water source.
Also what goes in your soil mix comes out in the final product, I've grown with them and they do not lend nicely to the taste of the finished product.
Also what goes in your soil mix comes out in the final product, I've grown with them and they do not lend nicely to the taste of the finished product.
you're lucky to live in climate with enough rain. you need to water twice a week just to keep them alive where I live. I'm not too excited about them either but I would choose them even if it helps only 10%. my water supply to plants is limited. what's wrong with smart pots if they're big enough?
Warmer climates obviously need more watering but if you can find annual plants/weeds that are growing with drought then I would plant your plants beside these as they apparently get enough water.
Smart pots from what I've seen seem to be the best type, but obviously being above ground and exposed to the drying air then they do not hold water very well.
Smart pots from what I've seen seem to be the best type, but obviously being above ground and exposed to the drying air then they do not hold water very well.
there are indeed few indigenous annual weeds/grasses capable of growing in such a dry conditions. it's intersting all these plants have specific root system consisting of single tap root going straight down with very few side roots. really deep. usually this root will be much much bigger than what grows above the ground. cannabis root system is nothing like that. 6' tall ganja bush water request cannot be compared to tiny weeds that grow here during summers. it's interesting how indigenous mediterranean perannuals adjusted to dry summers. mostly they're evergreen plants. there's even evergreen type of oak here.
last year there wasn't any rain here from end of may to beggining of september, even pines, figs and old vines struggled from drought. my plants were loosing leaves so rapidly I couldn't deal with picking it so I used it as mulch. still had very nice harvest but believe it would be double at least with few summer rains. early strains are not so good in such dry seasons as they stop growing and start flowering in the middle of dry season, fortunatly we have long growing season here. I have few ideas how to improve my holes for this year and water crystals surely go into the mix. I'm just not sure how much to use.
