gojo
05-27-2008, 07:13 AM
Hey yo'
found some more interesting info i thought would be good to post.
I've read the water crystals can actually "steal" (absorb) water from soil when they are dry and steal nutreints too. Supposedly this stolen water/nutrients are not returned to the soil until the soil is mosited again :( . heres an example form the PDF I attached to this post:
Hydrogels 2007.pdf
Moreover, excessive use of PAM can lead to nutrient deficiencies; phosphate and silicon were reduced in tomato and wheat, and this latter plant also suffered manganese and boron deficiencies when grown in under high PAM concentrations.
and...
Summary and recommendations:
Many of the products labeled “water gel crystals” and “poly-clear” are cationic PAM gels. Not only are they are more toxic to aquatic organisms and generally less effective than anionic gels in landscape situations, they can also contain higher levels of residual acrylamide. Even though these cationic gels are banned for many applications, they are still manufactured and sold in the United States, China, and other countries. Cationic PAM hydrogels should not be used in gardens and landscapes.
It is difficult to predict short-term effectiveness of anionic PAM hydrogels on plant survival and establishment, since the ability to absorb water is reduced by several environmental factors, especially salt, temperature extremes, ultraviolet radiation, and microbial activity. The functional lifespan of cross-linked PAM hydrogels used outdoors can be as short as 18 months and at best only a few years; they cannot be regarded as long-term solutions to landscape water needs.
and finally if you use EM, ACT, AEM, SAEM, microbial poweders, etc, etc:
Even if gels are protected from environmental exposure they will still be broken down by decomposition. A number of naturally occurring soil microbes have been identified as active decomposers of both soluble and cross-linked polyacrylamide gels. Decomposers include bacterial species (Bacillus sphaericus and Acinetobacter spp.) and white rot fungi (Dichomitus squalens, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, and Pleurotus ostreatus). The fungal species solubilize the polymer, which is then susceptible to further degradation by many other soil microbes.
It’s not surprising that polyacrylamide is rapidly broken down by decomposers; one study found the average size of the polymer to be less than 25% of the original in only 14 days of microbial action. These gels contain a significant amount of nitrogen, which is often a limiting nutrient in both aerobic and anaerobic environments.
found some more interesting info i thought would be good to post.
I've read the water crystals can actually "steal" (absorb) water from soil when they are dry and steal nutreints too. Supposedly this stolen water/nutrients are not returned to the soil until the soil is mosited again :( . heres an example form the PDF I attached to this post:
Hydrogels 2007.pdf
Moreover, excessive use of PAM can lead to nutrient deficiencies; phosphate and silicon were reduced in tomato and wheat, and this latter plant also suffered manganese and boron deficiencies when grown in under high PAM concentrations.
and...
Summary and recommendations:
Many of the products labeled “water gel crystals” and “poly-clear” are cationic PAM gels. Not only are they are more toxic to aquatic organisms and generally less effective than anionic gels in landscape situations, they can also contain higher levels of residual acrylamide. Even though these cationic gels are banned for many applications, they are still manufactured and sold in the United States, China, and other countries. Cationic PAM hydrogels should not be used in gardens and landscapes.
It is difficult to predict short-term effectiveness of anionic PAM hydrogels on plant survival and establishment, since the ability to absorb water is reduced by several environmental factors, especially salt, temperature extremes, ultraviolet radiation, and microbial activity. The functional lifespan of cross-linked PAM hydrogels used outdoors can be as short as 18 months and at best only a few years; they cannot be regarded as long-term solutions to landscape water needs.
and finally if you use EM, ACT, AEM, SAEM, microbial poweders, etc, etc:
Even if gels are protected from environmental exposure they will still be broken down by decomposition. A number of naturally occurring soil microbes have been identified as active decomposers of both soluble and cross-linked polyacrylamide gels. Decomposers include bacterial species (Bacillus sphaericus and Acinetobacter spp.) and white rot fungi (Dichomitus squalens, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, and Pleurotus ostreatus). The fungal species solubilize the polymer, which is then susceptible to further degradation by many other soil microbes.
It’s not surprising that polyacrylamide is rapidly broken down by decomposers; one study found the average size of the polymer to be less than 25% of the original in only 14 days of microbial action. These gels contain a significant amount of nitrogen, which is often a limiting nutrient in both aerobic and anaerobic environments.