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Hydrogel

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has tried growing any CPs in hydrogel.
For those not familiar with it, hydrogel is usually acrylic polyacrylamide or rather acrylic polyacrylamide is a type of hydrogel.  It is usually purchased in the form of opaque granules.  When it gets wet it swells to an incredible size.  It is typically mixed into the soil of plants to reduced watering.  Here is a company that supplies some. http://www.biconet.com/soil/hydrogel.html
It usually lasts about 5 years before breaking down.  I was wondering if anyone has any CPs growing in it.  I thought pure hydrogel might make a good material for leaf cuttings.  Here is a picture of some hydrogel I just purchased from a local nursury.

What do you all think?

CS
 
Sounds cool, I might try that.

-Rail
 
A medium that shrinks and swells so much is bad for roots.
 
well what about for the linning @ the bottom of the pot, to have well drainnage
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I tried it with D. capensis and it turned to mush in the water tray. The plant wasn't very happy either; it didn't survive. I think air is too important to bog-loving CPs. Nepenthes, on the other hand, might work with this. I'd be curious to see how something like hydrogel and rockwool would work.
~Joe
 
Seedjar do you mean that other CPs should have a more airy mix then Nepenthes?
 
No, I mean that CPs that sit in trays of water shouldn't have a mix with hydrogel in it because the hydrogel soaks all of the water up until it exceeds the hydrogel's saturation point. Then the hydrogel turns to liquid and the whole thing quickly turns into an algal stew. Or so was my experience. Neps might work because they need moist soil but don't like to sit in trays. The hydrogel is meant to keep soil moist for longer periods of time, for things like houseplants that don't like to sit in standing water. Bog-loving CPs, the ones that need water trays, need the soil wet, beyond the capacity of hydrogel - it's just as good to leave them in a tray.
~Joe
 
I was thinking it could be used for leaf cuttings. Something temporary. Rather than floating the leaves in water (which needs to be changed to maintain sanitation), perhaps you could either lay them on top of the hydrogel or maybe even cover them. Light will still be able to penetrate the gel. The more I think of it, the more ridiculous it sounds. Why spend the money on hydrogel for leaf cuttings when RO water works fine.

I still think it would pretty neat to see a CP growing in the hydrogel. I'll have to experiment with it one of these days.

Chris
 
I've used it for other plants.  It expands and shrinks too much for use in potted plants.  If it dries out completely, it will kill the roots.

They actually make hydrogel blocks for rooting leaf cuttings...usually the stuff is infused with rooting hormones.  It's susposed to work great, but I haven't tried it.

Brian
 
  • #10
wait a sec dont cp's need acidic soil i have hydrogel so i might just use it but like i said i thot they needed some type of acidic soil it sounds like a good idea tho
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  • #11
When hydrogel is used in potting mixes the ratio is about 1 tablespoon hydrogel to 1-3 gallons soil mix. It wouldn't be wise to use a pure hydrogel as soil.

Brian
 
  • #12
ooo I get it
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