A greenhouse experiment finds water-sorbing polymers do not conserve water
- 1 May 1992
- journal article
- Published by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) in California Agriculture
- Vol. 46 (3) , 9-10
- https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.v046n03p9
Abstract
To assess claims that water-sorbing polymers promote water conservation, a greenhouse experiment with container-grown marigolds was conducted to determine the effect of adding the polymers to soil mix. Plant growth and water retention in I- and 3-quart containers were not particularly affected, but in the 6-quart size, maximum water retention was significantly higher for the 4 lb/yd3 polymer treatment than for the other treatments, and the time from watering to wilt progressively increased from 6.1 to 7.4 days for the 0, 1, 2 and 4-lb/yd3 treatments. However, no water conservation occurred because evapotranspiration was not significantly affected by the polymer treatment.Keywords
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