one more - Polymers

**"* D* <m*@gmail.com>**

My other complaint about the polymers in containers is that when we
get a month like this one
 with 9-inches of rain, the polymers float right out of the containers.
Martha
Muskogee OK
80-F today with 35 mile an hour wind
Planting our hands off, eating early veggies from the garden, enjoying
a thousand iris in bloom.

On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 1:17 PM, Fran Gustman <fgustman@gmail.com> wrote:
> I like the idea of leaf compost. I won't use polymers, but most people say
> that they do a wonderful job of providing moisture in containers. How do the
> plants stay turgid, if they are not getting into the water? I love your
> comparison to jello.
>
> By the way, I once saw the soil slither over the lip of a container during a
> rain storm as the polymer continued to soak up water.
>
> Fran
>
> >
> > Most of these polymers are marketed as storehouses of moisture that the plant
> > roots can attach to and draw on as needed. Dr. Bonnie Appleton at Hampton
> > Roads, VA, did some research in the past and found that they actually locked
> > up
> > all available water and removed them from the plants. I explain it to my
> > students as trying to get a drink of water from Jello.   Some are starch-based
> > and
> > others break into toxic compounds.
> >
> > Leaf compost works better.
> >
> > Donna Williamson
> > Winchester, VA
> > Expecting frost.
> >
>
>
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