[TheIO]

For those of you who dont know what it is, its these little cyrstals that absorb water... They claim that it prevents overwatering and you dont have to water it as much...

Any one used these little things? They work well? Im trying them out for the first time as we speak.

The fact that they extend time between waterings is just ripping away the control you have as the grower over what they eat. It wont do you any good if the plant is emerging from the stretch and demanding P and your soil mix is still saturated with a higher N food. I would go so far as to say the more frequently you are able to water a soil garden, the better off it is for the grow, to a point.

Good luck with those cyrystals, all things in moderation

[TheIO]

Well the only reason i was gonna use them was for outside grows(cant water it all the time)... but i was testing it in an indoor grow since it is still freezing here.

[mpd]

I'm using the Agrosoke brand of polymer crystals and have noted they are not good for seedlings, but if you put them in the medium for end stage vegging and bloom stage, they will be useful in balancing the moisture content and having the water available to the plant, as the plant needs it.

To make it work, please consider the following medium profile:

1. Expanded coir (I use the SAI brand compressed brick). I use it because it is pH corrected and sterile, so there will be no pest issues in the grow. By volume, try for around 60%.

2. Large lava rocks like the kind you get for your charbroiler. I bought mine at Sears but HD carries them as well. You want them to account for 25% of total volume.

3. Agrosoke crystals about 15% of total volume (expanded).

I've had fairly good luck with it.

[Peg Leg Pete]

I usually like to go up near my cottage every spring and pick out a few plots to grow. I grow up to 40 plants out there most of the product goes to bubble hash. But seince i only go up to my cottage every 2 or 3 weeks i use water polymer crystals in the soil and i find them great here in quebec where we can go 2 weeks without rain.

[Captain Canibus]

A thick mulch around your plants helps retain moisture and prevent weeds.

You want your plant's roots to grow out to get all available moisure. If you use the crysyals, do so sparingly, maybe a little on one side.

[TheIO]

CC

With the crystals the plant starts to rely on them if there are too many? Is that what you mean/ Is that the basic idea?

[Captain Canibus]

The roots will stop branching out and quit spreading if the can get everything they need in a small space. Say you dig a 1' x 1" hole and load it up with soil/ferts and crystal, the root mass will tend to grow in that hole. Basically a plant's mass above ground is roughly equal to that below ground.

IMHO a little of those crystals wouldn't hurt. You just don't want to over do it.

I used to have an enormous vegeteble garden in the woods. When it was dry, I could only carry water from the lake in 5 gal. buckets. I used to mulch with old moldy hay. Got it for free. I would almost cover the plants. It really helps retaining moisture.

When its really dry, dig a hole. The top layer will be dry, but the deeper you go, the more moisture.

What I'd do for a stealth grow, is to rake the leaves in the fall, bag them and use them. Or do it this spring.

[GreatLakes THC]

Mix it with Ona and water, and blow it around the room with a fan and it works great to get rid of odors. I haven't used it for growing though. There's a thread on this over at OG, but I haven't taken the time to look it up.

[TheIO]

What is ONA? Sorry for my ignorance...