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Google
Has anybody tried 'Stay Moist'?
5 posters
Square Foot Gardening Forum :: Square Foot Gardening :: Outside The Box :: Non-SFG Gardening discussion
Page 1 of 1
Has anybody tried 'Stay Moist'?
(This thread is in the Non-SFG gardening forum.)
I'm in the middle of a non-gardening project that calls for Stay Moist, and I hadn't heard of it before. I'm just wondering if anyone has used it in their pots or boxes.
It's a polymer crystal that absorbs and releases water similar to vermiculite. It's supposed to be biodegradable and non-toxic.
One pound of the product was $14 delivered to my door. At the recommended application, that amount covers 100 sf. The price is 1% of what I pay for vermiculite. (The cost of vermiculite in the PNW seems to be higher than in most of the rest of the country.)
I have no interest in using it in my boxes. I was just curious if anyone had tried it in any gardening application, and what their results were.
http://www.soilmoist.com/products/soil-moist.php
I'm in the middle of a non-gardening project that calls for Stay Moist, and I hadn't heard of it before. I'm just wondering if anyone has used it in their pots or boxes.
It's a polymer crystal that absorbs and releases water similar to vermiculite. It's supposed to be biodegradable and non-toxic.
One pound of the product was $14 delivered to my door. At the recommended application, that amount covers 100 sf. The price is 1% of what I pay for vermiculite. (The cost of vermiculite in the PNW seems to be higher than in most of the rest of the country.)
I have no interest in using it in my boxes. I was just curious if anyone had tried it in any gardening application, and what their results were.
http://www.soilmoist.com/products/soil-moist.php
Re: Has anybody tried 'Stay Moist'?
I grew tomatoes in a large indoor planter using water beads in the mix. It grew to be about 2 feet tall and had several flowers when my husband set the plant outside on a hot day and left it there.
It was dead before I noticed.
![affraid](https://2img.net/i/fa/i/smiles/affraid.gif)
It was dead before I noticed.
drixnot- Posts : 41
Join date : 2013-04-17
Location : northern ohio
Re: Has anybody tried 'Stay Moist'?
I have a similar product here in the UK , I'm using it in all six of our hanging baskets it's been there for just over a year and still seems to be working .
I also used it in the seven or so tomato tubs last year & other green house tubs ... it does hold the water well , a single crystal can swell up to a half inch dollop of jelly .
In these tubs I activated it first by using a weak solution of baby bio house plant food for feed purposes & gently worked the jellified blobs in the top inch or so of the tubs. It was still showing as jelly when I cleand the tubs out in early November .
My reason for using it was I went on holiday for a while and left the auto watering system on a very low level to come on at 04.30 hrs each morning .
I hoped that the water given from the auto system would be held till used by the plants during the day if it ever became too hot in the glass house . It sees to have worked for when we came back we had toms , aubergenes and capsicum peppers .
I also used it in the seven or so tomato tubs last year & other green house tubs ... it does hold the water well , a single crystal can swell up to a half inch dollop of jelly .
In these tubs I activated it first by using a weak solution of baby bio house plant food for feed purposes & gently worked the jellified blobs in the top inch or so of the tubs. It was still showing as jelly when I cleand the tubs out in early November .
My reason for using it was I went on holiday for a while and left the auto watering system on a very low level to come on at 04.30 hrs each morning .
I hoped that the water given from the auto system would be held till used by the plants during the day if it ever became too hot in the glass house . It sees to have worked for when we came back we had toms , aubergenes and capsicum peppers .
plantoid-
Posts : 4099
Join date : 2011-11-09
Age : 73
Location : At the west end of M4 in the UK
Re: Has anybody tried 'Stay Moist'?
It sounds like it worked well for you mixing it in on top.
The directions on this product are emphatic that the stuff be worked in at a depth of 3-4 inches, closer to the root zone.
The directions on this product are emphatic that the stuff be worked in at a depth of 3-4 inches, closer to the root zone.
Re: Has anybody tried 'Stay Moist'?
My reasoning was that the use of MM will distribute the moisture out of the top gel reserviors .
I would have had to have mixed it in with the initial charge to the baskets & tubs to get it that deep , to try and do it with growing plants would seem me damage the roots unless i trickled it dry down man made holes using a 1/2" steel bar.
One thing that has made me think abit is that a fair amount of water held in suspension in a basket /tub may start some form of funcal/bacterial rot .
To see the possibilities of what may happen I've got a 4 pint jug of reconstitured gel crystals sat out on my potting bench . It's been ther nearly three months & has turned green with algae but as yet nothing else seems to ahve occurred to the small particles of MM that's mixed in with it.
I would have had to have mixed it in with the initial charge to the baskets & tubs to get it that deep , to try and do it with growing plants would seem me damage the roots unless i trickled it dry down man made holes using a 1/2" steel bar.
One thing that has made me think abit is that a fair amount of water held in suspension in a basket /tub may start some form of funcal/bacterial rot .
To see the possibilities of what may happen I've got a 4 pint jug of reconstitured gel crystals sat out on my potting bench . It's been ther nearly three months & has turned green with algae but as yet nothing else seems to ahve occurred to the small particles of MM that's mixed in with it.
plantoid-
Posts : 4099
Join date : 2011-11-09
Age : 73
Location : At the west end of M4 in the UK
Re: Has anybody tried 'Stay Moist'?
I started using it in 2003 when I took a container (flowers) course at a community college in the Chicago area. Although not the total answer, it helped. A lot of my pots survived better than when not using it. I want to combine soil moist with using compost tea and see if the boost in water retention and added nutrients will help in the baking heat here in NC
Kay
Kay
A WEED IS A FLOWER GROWING IN THE WRONG PLACE
Elizabeth City, NC
Click for weather forecast
walshevak
Certified SFG Instructor-
Posts : 4374
Join date : 2010-10-17
Age : 81
Location : wilmington, nc zone 8
Re: Stay Moist
I use it in my upside down tomato planters. I mix it throughout the potting mix. We get so much wind that these plants were drying out too quickly. The soil moist seems to retain the moisture longer.
![-](https://2img.net/i/empty.gif)
» Trying to get started
» keeping the SFG moist
» Carrot Week 2012!
» Should they stay or should they go?
» Tomato seedlings Help!
» keeping the SFG moist
» Carrot Week 2012!
» Should they stay or should they go?
» Tomato seedlings Help!
Square Foot Gardening Forum :: Square Foot Gardening :: Outside The Box :: Non-SFG Gardening discussion
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