janallyn

i may be posting in the wrong place, as i am new, and really am just trying to figure out how to post correctly

can you help me, i bought some miracle gro water storing crystals, they just dissolved, the did not make the little beads i was hoping for, can someone tell me where to purchase the correct ones? i got these at home depot, and they were very expensive so i guess all my plants will get a good drink, but i wanted the ones that shrink and then expand, these just dissolved into nothing. thank heavens i did a test first.

jan in palatka

Painiacs

Wow! I didn't know there were didferrent ones! Thanks!!

quilt1950

I just used the MiracleGrow Water Storing Crystals, and they worked fine. When you tested them, were they enclosed in fabric? If you just put them in a bowl, it may appear that they just disappear, as there is nothing to contain the gel that forms.

janallyn

yes, did sew them up in a little packet of a test, they just ended up slimmy and no beads, just like froggy stuff, no form nor shape, just slime, actually i thru them away as i felt that they would possibiliy hurt my plants also,

MTS

What size were the crystals? Really fine or pellet size? I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be the medium size crystals.


Yep, from the instructions:
Approximately 1 teaspoon of medium-size polyacrylamide crystals
here:
http://soldiersangels.org/uploads/se...carf-instr.pdf

janallyn

they were really tiny, like couscous.much smaller than a grain of rice or a lentil, more like the head of a silk pin

MTS

That explains it then. Your plants will be very happy. ;-)

janallyn

yeah they will, but my neck sure will not be, with the slimmy froggy thing that i made, lol, actualy i had planed to make them as gifts for a wedding party, oh well, new plan, not sure how i am going to explain it, will find a way,
lv ya

jan in palatka

quilt1950

Once they absorb the water they do not feel like crystals anymore. More like a gel. Perhaps you used too many, and it oozed thru the fabric, or the fabric wasn't woven tight enough. The directions do warn not to squeeze the cooler, or the gel will ooze out. I sewed my tube, which started at 5" with a 1/2" seam, into 4" sections. In each section I used a scant 1/2" of crystals.

Greenheron

Mine don't turn into beads--just irregular pieces that feel like frog spawn, I tried them in a plastic cup just to see what they would do. No problems. Ordered mine online but they're pretty much the same item, only cheaper, if you're going to make lots.