Hydrogels

**G*@aol.com**

Hello again -

So I guess what I understand from the posts over the last few days is that 
some people use hydrogels as a necessity, some people don't because many of them 
break down into toxic compounds, and others think a little bit is OK. 

It doesn't seem to be of any interest that they don't actually work in pots 
or containers or even the garden situation? Great plant choices make containers 
work well. The only use that has been proven for these hydrogels is as a 
slurry over roots for shipping bareroot plants ...a temporary situation. I've 
received mail-order plants where the gel was used in big blobs on top of the soil 
to prevent soil from drying out - newspaper would have worked as well and more 
economically. Packages of these materials are on every nursery counter for 
impulse buyers with a little container of hydrated polymers for 'show n tell'. 
Is there no role for garden writers in explaining the work of Appleton or 
Chalker-Scott and getting the information out to interested consumers?

Donna Williamson
Winchester,VA

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