Celestial
Well-Known Member
Here is my experience with this stuff:
I have used these crystals for some time mixed in with soil in outdoor planters (non-cannabis) and I find them really fascinating.
I recently experiemented with germinating some seeds in this substance. It was the miracle-gro brand water retaining crystals. Dry, they have the consistency of a coarse sand but when watered each grain swells up to around the size of a rice crispie (not sure what the US equivelent of this cereal is - puffed rice?). I used a drop or two of nitrozyme in the water so the crystals went an ugly dirty colour. The seeds took about 24 hours longer to germinate than ones started at the same time in paper towels. Initially I didn't think it would work because the crystals do not feel wet to the touch at all and they do not merge together to form a jelly like in pics of mum's plants but stay in rock shaped pieces, however, before long it was clear the seeds were absorbing water. Out of interest I left one in the gel and planted the others in soil. Its root developed well and as I have it in a clear cup (I keep it inside a pot so light isn't getting to the root area and I also made a top for the cup because crystals are fairly translucent and I wasn't sure plant would like 400w light shining onto roots) I can check out the root. So far, the ones in soil are outperforming the gel seedling but it is definitely growing and has quite a decent taproot now. I wasn't really sure what to do about nutrients for it so in the end I just mixed up a really weak solution of general plant fertilizer, absorbed some more crystals in that and mixed a few of them in around its root. The gel does seem to hold water really well but the ones on the top layer do shrink noticably if left unwatered. A couple of times a day I add a little more water to the mix (~30 ml at a time) and can see the top layer swelling back up. The top layer has gone a considerably paler shade than the ones at the bottom so clearly the nitrozyme at the top is being diluted with more watering. I think that when it came to flowering time you would perhaps have to make up some more gel with flowering nutrients and maybe some food colouring so you could identify them more easily and try and remove some of the veg ones and replace them, but you'd obviously have to have some kind of clear container in order to see them and the root placement. Hard to see how you would flush it at the very end.
I have a really strong tendency to overwater and it is essentially impossible to do so with this medium as the crystals seem to have a maximum water storing capacity and any excess just runs straight off so in that sense it's been good for me. On the other hand it does seem that once the crystals have absorbed whatever liquid you have given them, it cannot be replaced with anything else unless they are given a chance to dry out. I do think that if you overfertilized it would be a problem as there would be no way to flush (maybe you could mix in some plain water ones). Luckily I used a plastic cup so if I want to repot it, I can just cut the bottom off it, but I am not sure how it would be done otherwise as I can see that as the roots develop further they will probably thread through the gaps in the crystals as they have a rubbery-jelly texture and are quite slippery although if you squeeze them hard between your fingers they will break apart. Perhaps over time they merge to form the gel? I know nothing about hydroponics but I think it would be risky to use them as a soil substitute and just manually water, because if allowed to dry up they return to sand-like texture and would presumably subside which would potentially leave roots at top exposed to air. Maybe pot could be left sitting in dish of water? Close-up, I have also noticed a slight smell coming from the pot which I can't really describe. It isn't exactly unpleasant but it doesn't smell great either and would only worsen in a larger pot I'd imagine. I have a feeling it might be from the fertilizer or nytrozyme.
I also had the idea to use them to attempt to rescue another soil-based overwatered plant. I took some old pantyhose, put some of the crystals inside them and using a rubber spatula inserted them between side of pot and soil. They did seem to absorb a lot of moisture from soil but it was hard to retrieve pantyhose from pot again once they had swollen up (in retrospect, I probably should have just left them there to dry out) and obviously their swelling and my pulling them out disturbed soil a lot. I didn't have the idea to do that for at least 24hrs after overwatering symptoms developed and plant eventually died as its stem was completely weakened beyond recovery. When examining the soil from that pot and others I had just left to dry out, the soil was a lot drier where crystals had been, although in the centre it was still very wet. I gave up on plant about a day after trying this though, and it was less than two weeks old, so had they been left in there, results may have been better.
They are also really good for cleaning up spills on carpets as you can just scoop them up once they have absorbed the moisture.
Anyway unfortunately I have lent my camera to someone so can't post a pic at the moment but will try to do so at a later date (if plant survives) and maybe even enter your contest!
A 250g pack cost ~£5 (although I have seen other brands retailing more cheaply) and I would guess that it took around 3tbsp of dry crystals to fill a 250ml cup. All the directions on the pack pertain to mixing them in with soil and it does state that they are biodegradable and will slowly disappear.
I have used these crystals for some time mixed in with soil in outdoor planters (non-cannabis) and I find them really fascinating.
I recently experiemented with germinating some seeds in this substance. It was the miracle-gro brand water retaining crystals. Dry, they have the consistency of a coarse sand but when watered each grain swells up to around the size of a rice crispie (not sure what the US equivelent of this cereal is - puffed rice?). I used a drop or two of nitrozyme in the water so the crystals went an ugly dirty colour. The seeds took about 24 hours longer to germinate than ones started at the same time in paper towels. Initially I didn't think it would work because the crystals do not feel wet to the touch at all and they do not merge together to form a jelly like in pics of mum's plants but stay in rock shaped pieces, however, before long it was clear the seeds were absorbing water. Out of interest I left one in the gel and planted the others in soil. Its root developed well and as I have it in a clear cup (I keep it inside a pot so light isn't getting to the root area and I also made a top for the cup because crystals are fairly translucent and I wasn't sure plant would like 400w light shining onto roots) I can check out the root. So far, the ones in soil are outperforming the gel seedling but it is definitely growing and has quite a decent taproot now. I wasn't really sure what to do about nutrients for it so in the end I just mixed up a really weak solution of general plant fertilizer, absorbed some more crystals in that and mixed a few of them in around its root. The gel does seem to hold water really well but the ones on the top layer do shrink noticably if left unwatered. A couple of times a day I add a little more water to the mix (~30 ml at a time) and can see the top layer swelling back up. The top layer has gone a considerably paler shade than the ones at the bottom so clearly the nitrozyme at the top is being diluted with more watering. I think that when it came to flowering time you would perhaps have to make up some more gel with flowering nutrients and maybe some food colouring so you could identify them more easily and try and remove some of the veg ones and replace them, but you'd obviously have to have some kind of clear container in order to see them and the root placement. Hard to see how you would flush it at the very end.
I have a really strong tendency to overwater and it is essentially impossible to do so with this medium as the crystals seem to have a maximum water storing capacity and any excess just runs straight off so in that sense it's been good for me. On the other hand it does seem that once the crystals have absorbed whatever liquid you have given them, it cannot be replaced with anything else unless they are given a chance to dry out. I do think that if you overfertilized it would be a problem as there would be no way to flush (maybe you could mix in some plain water ones). Luckily I used a plastic cup so if I want to repot it, I can just cut the bottom off it, but I am not sure how it would be done otherwise as I can see that as the roots develop further they will probably thread through the gaps in the crystals as they have a rubbery-jelly texture and are quite slippery although if you squeeze them hard between your fingers they will break apart. Perhaps over time they merge to form the gel? I know nothing about hydroponics but I think it would be risky to use them as a soil substitute and just manually water, because if allowed to dry up they return to sand-like texture and would presumably subside which would potentially leave roots at top exposed to air. Maybe pot could be left sitting in dish of water? Close-up, I have also noticed a slight smell coming from the pot which I can't really describe. It isn't exactly unpleasant but it doesn't smell great either and would only worsen in a larger pot I'd imagine. I have a feeling it might be from the fertilizer or nytrozyme.
I also had the idea to use them to attempt to rescue another soil-based overwatered plant. I took some old pantyhose, put some of the crystals inside them and using a rubber spatula inserted them between side of pot and soil. They did seem to absorb a lot of moisture from soil but it was hard to retrieve pantyhose from pot again once they had swollen up (in retrospect, I probably should have just left them there to dry out) and obviously their swelling and my pulling them out disturbed soil a lot. I didn't have the idea to do that for at least 24hrs after overwatering symptoms developed and plant eventually died as its stem was completely weakened beyond recovery. When examining the soil from that pot and others I had just left to dry out, the soil was a lot drier where crystals had been, although in the centre it was still very wet. I gave up on plant about a day after trying this though, and it was less than two weeks old, so had they been left in there, results may have been better.
They are also really good for cleaning up spills on carpets as you can just scoop them up once they have absorbed the moisture.
Anyway unfortunately I have lent my camera to someone so can't post a pic at the moment but will try to do so at a later date (if plant survives) and maybe even enter your contest!
A 250g pack cost ~£5 (although I have seen other brands retailing more cheaply) and I would guess that it took around 3tbsp of dry crystals to fill a 250ml cup. All the directions on the pack pertain to mixing them in with soil and it does state that they are biodegradable and will slowly disappear.
