Photo courtesy of Eduardo O. at Flickr.com.

While it might sound like an oxymoron, “solid water” actually exists in the form of something called hydrogel. Hydrogel is a super-absorbent gel polymer that was invented back in the 1960s. These “water crystals” absorb enormous amounts of water and nutrients, and slowly release them to your lawn or garden plants by osmosis. They use water so efficiently that you can cut down on the need to water by as much as 50%.

For a new lawn, lightly and evenly spread about a pound of water crystals per 1,000 square feet of yard, then work them in to a depth of about six inches. The same can be done for a new garden, just before you plant for the year. For an existing lawn, aerate thoroughly first, and then mix a pound of water crystals with 50 pounds of humates, and spread the mixture over 4,000 square feet of lawn.

This might seem like a lot of work, but the water savings are tremendous — a significant consideration in this day and age. Not only that, but water crystals are perfectly safe for your family and pets, and you don’t have to worry about root rot.

Photo courtesy of Hein Van Meelis at Flickr.com.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under Gardening Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.