moisture crystals?

This year we got some new "sunpatiens", the impatiens supposedly sun tolerant. Wrong! They require heavy watering daily or they wilt as soon as the sun hits them. And they were expensive. They are planted in a 2 year old bed in part sun.

I want to add some water retention polymer crystals into the soil around the plants and see if that helps. I've never used them in the ground before, only in pots. Is this stuff detrimental to the soil? They seem like they would be inert.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Karen

I found this page: http://www.watercrystals.com/Tested&Approved_s.htm

Seems that they're ok for outside use.

The reason for the plant problem is impatiens can not tolerate much sun. Therefore they transpire too much and the soil is not going to help. Move the inpatiens when the summer ends and shade them for now.

Soferdig: I realize that impatiens are generally for shade. This hybrid, however is called "sunpatiens" because they are supposedly tolerant of sun. That's why I tried them. Wrong! And in their spot they don't get much hot sun. Maybe about an hour around 11 a.m., then they are shaded by my large maple tree, then sun again from around 4 till sunset, when the sun isn't even all that hot.

BackYardZoo: thanks for that link. I thought they would be inert.

Karen

Oops! I did not know that any impatiens could do well in sun. Sorry Karen.

Seems to me that these don't, but they're supposed to!

I tried these for several years, why I am not sure, hard lesson learned.
later-linda

http://www.watersorb.com/index.htm
Karen, I buy them in bulk from this site.. Mainly for potted plants, but I have certainly mixed them into the soil in areas where it was not under irrigation. I mix it right into the soil and it does help with water absorption. i saw a PBS garden show where the expert said that they may not actually deliver the water when the plants actually need it the most.. when the ground has dried out, but that the expanding and contracting polymers do actually help with root delevopment...So, whatever.. but yes I use them and feel good about it.

Susan

Has anyone seen a (university, research center) study on the effectiveness of these crystals? Some folks swear by them but even if I was told the sky was blue without an explanation...
K

They look like they work so they must. American engineering at its best. I used these things once and threw them out. The only place I can see that they work is the hanging pot and I prefer to store water in them with a thin layer of news paper on the outside edge to hold in the water temporarily. Peat of course and moss lined.

I've not had good luck with the crystals to reduce watering. Just when it got really hot, the plants died. I do think they suck the moisture out of the plant because my plants died faster than the ones without the crystals. My FIL, who is an orchid hobbyist and a retired plant researcher, reports they didn't do well for him either.

Maggie