You actually don't want "super absorbent soil". You want soil that drains well. Use a mix with at least 50% bark and water regularly. Soil that retains water will cause crown rot during the winter for Hostas.

Stevee

double post

This post was edited by almosthooked on Wed, Jan 21, 15 at 0:30

I used these for all my window boxes and hanging plants a couple years and they do cut down on the watering and helped in the survival for especially the ones in the southern side of our house. I have never tried this on potted hosta but should be just fine but making sure the roots have enough drainage too. The only thing embarrassing was going in to the store and buying adult diapers so I just bought a large box for the largest sized kids I could find " for my grandkids" lol Hard to believe just how much water they really do hold too well worth the try for all the pot growers. You can get this same stuff in garden shops but the price is way more $$ then the diapers are

I might try it on my annuals, but I've lost too many hosta to "moisture control" potting soil to use it for my hosta. Moisture control potting mix works well during the summer, but the hosta rot over the winter, like Steve says. Repotting everything repeatedly is a lot of extra work.

I heard that it's how they grow palm trees in Saudi Arabia.

bk

Having two little ones still in Diapers, this video cracked me up. Had no idea you could use that diaper gel for so much.

if you use them. what do you do in fall ... when you wnat the pots to dry out a bit???

how will the pot .. freezing solid ... and the crystals presumably expanding ... affect the hosta roots???

many questions ...

sounds like a great experiment for some duplicates .... especially in the north

ken

Sounds like a great idea for hanging basket ferns. You can't get enough water on them.

They die when it freezes, so you don't have to worry about over wintering them.

bk

Most of my ferns don't die, but they do get ugly. I toss the ferns on the ground and next spring they are naturalizing. I think you might try some asparagus fern, and move the baskets into some winter protection and they'd do fine. Those ferns have water bladders on the roots, which soak up lots of water so they are good survivors in hot climates. The three big pots I have get nipped by the cold, but come spring they soon cover the dead fronds. They should be hardy in your zone too, BK.

Would you believe they are hard to find? You wouldn't think so. You can get them in 4" pots, but I seldom see the hanging baskets. It doesn't seem like they are fast growers, either. I tried to grow some from seed one time, but, if I remember correctly, they took forever to get 2" tall.

You're right. They do survive most winters here.

bk

They grow so fast here I have to replace them in my 12" hanging pots each Spring. I plant them 2" below the rim and by Fall, they are so rootbound that the soil level is raised above the rim and they cannot be watered. They split plastic pots, and the red berries self seed everywhere. Otherwise they are fine as they require so little care.

-Babka

BKay, mine self sow like crazy. They bloom, and the white flowers turn into bright red round fruits which are mostly seeds. Then I find small plants growing all around the biggest pot.

BK--If you want some seeds, or some seedlings, let me know. They grow fairly quickly.

Babka, I can see that happening in the golden land of Californy.
When those bladders on the root system get full, they swell up. Almost as hard to get them out of a pot as it is to get out papyrus sunk in a pot underwater.

I'm trying to figure out what a papyrus would be like sunk underwater. Mush is what comes to mind.

bk

Papyrus grows in bogs or ponds...under water. ;-)

-Babka