Hydroponic Polymer, called Hydrokeeper...?

Indoor Growing
#1

Hello everyone, have you gang heard of something called “Hydrokeepers” they are polymers bio-degradable and a substitute for Perlite. Any experience with it? Let it be weed or other applications… They say it’s to protect lands from drought and it’s some kinda of a white dust that absorbs up to 350 times its own weight and retains the water inside the polymer, by osmosis the plant absorbs what water it needs, and the polymer turns into some kinda of a gel, retaining the water in it, and not overflowing the sustrate…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Vh4mvXYXQ

I think it is also called AquaGel…

#2

People use gel polymers under different names (plantabsorb, …) here for outdoor plants mainly for guerilla farming.

I don’t think it is substitute for perlite because perlit repels water making soilmix more airy.

2 Likes
#3

Yeah my mistake, not a substitute for perlite. Plus perlite is cheap. HAHAHA!

I was thinking the same thing to put some sativas and germ them to do a guerilla farm around here with the hydrokeeper. Will do that before the end of the year, so they get a full six months of unforgiving sun… LOL

#4

I wonder if that stuff is like this:

I used these crystals to blend in with my soil-less mix a few years back. They worked OK, but, I went back to using vermiculite as it is substantially cheaper and works fine.
I did not see a big advantage with that product.

1 Like
#5

I think so… Seems splendid for guerrilla farms…

#6

That sh!t scares me. I avoid it but i also know nothing about it.

Edit: I do remember one brand at Osh said not for use with food crops.

1 Like
#7

My friend is using it in his commercial greenhouse, its not for adding air, its for retaining water, mainly because he has to put up with very dry and hot conditions, and any error in irrigation is costly, and thats with soaker hoses in the pots for irrigation with smart pots.

I would have to say that you could use it but there has to be a very specific reason that you are using it, like somebody mentioned hidden grows where irrigation would be difficult, or you have issues with water access.

If you were to use it you only need a little bit, These water gels have crazy expansion and ive only used them in the house plant setting…

If you have water issues, I would use a mulch to prevent evaporation first. Microbes, and cation exchange in my opinion works better when the soil is properly irrigated.

5 Likes
#8

I plan on making a guerrilla grow in the near future, but will apply it already hydrated to prevent putting too much of it and spoiling the grow, thanks GGW. It’s very dry where i live in the long summer, it’s 6 straight months of unforgiving sun, i dunno if you seen any pics of my first attempt at getting my own harvest, and seen the sun we get down here, but this is the rainy season. When the long summer gets here, it’s super dry.

Starts in december and ends in May… or something like that.

1 Like
#9

I cut the bottom out of disposable baby diapers and shred them up.

1 Like
#11

It’s the same thing isnt it! That’s right!

#12

You guys are animals! Ha! Ha!

1 Like
#13

The same principle, but baby diapers are a clean product. No company would risk pissing off moma with an unhealthy product.They would be kicking in some corporate office doors and whipping some tails.

3 Likes
#14

I don’t really use diapers but i betcha they would work… I just found out about this product myself…

1 Like
#15

They work really well…

2 Likes
#16

The old school way of adding moisture retention is to take leaves that have been rotting for a year and work them into the dirt you are going to plant in. It is also what you used for homemade potting soil instead of peat and before coir.

2 Likes
#17

Perlite works great too.

1 Like
#18

Hi @shroomgod,
I do not mean to be dickish, but vermiculite is much better for water retention than perlite. Which is why I like it so much for my smallish containers.:grinning:
I use roughly equal amounts of perlite and vermiculite when I mix up my soil-less blend.
…
Vermiculite is best used for plants that require soil to stay damp and not dry out. For plants that love water, using vermiculite or mixing a healthy scoop of it into your potting soil is the way to go. It can absorb 3 to 4 times its volume when water is added, making your pots a little bit on the heavy side.

Since vermiculite acts like a sponge and absorbs more water than perlite, it doesn’t aerate the soil as well. This means less oxygen for plant roots. If you use it when growing plants that don’t need damp soil, you might find your plants suffering from root rot. So be aware of your plants’ needs when you decide how water retentive you want your soil to be.

from:

2 Likes
#19

Perlite adds more air. It can hardly hold any moisture.

3 Likes
#20

Perlite, can hold a significant amount of water, when I used to clone in perlite fully saturated with water it does hold water that you can feel, however, how much water depends on grain size of perlite, The finer grades hold water similar to sand.

Dispersed in soil perlite should break up the capillary effect by changing the pore size and water would drop out of the soil quicker.

3 Likes
#21

So in that case better to use Perlite then…