Been wonderin whats the best way to utilize water crystals. Don't want to over do it or waste them. any help thnx.
No. Seriously I was thinking like a teaspoon/tblspoon all the way down as deep as possible, a little bit mixed in with the soil mix, and like a teaspoon/tblspoon on top underneath the mulch. Would this be suffice? What kind of results should I expect?
Use a food friendly sort (like water keep or other) because diapers are full of toxics. My area is super dry and I use 5 TBS (dry) per hole (10 gallon soil). Add them bloated (= 1 Gallon total crystals per hole). Make sure YOU MIX them EVENLY in the hole. Important. There haven't been any studies on the crystals so no one knows but do use food grade ones... Also add mulch of course. My weather is bone dry and I watered my south facing spots avery 12 days (5 liters= 1.25 gallons) per hole ever 12 days. Not bad. I'm not dead so far lol.
I plan on adding a grocery sack of new soil per plant so like a table spoon per sack would be like the right amount right? What about vermiculite too. is it needed with crystals?
Vermiculite won't hurt. It'll make the soil lighter and will also hold some water but crystals will be enough. I used 4-5 TBS for 7 gallons of soil ALL MIXED in thoroughly so your proprtions are right too. I think I used a little too much (but still half what was recommended for other plants). No root rot or any other pbs. Also mulch is very useful. Later man.
Watering could get tricky when using the crystals considering rain. You said you water every 12 days. I guess I will water if there's around 2 weeks of no rain. It might be hard to not want to water. Lol. It goes against your instinct of takin care of your babies. I f I use vermiculite should I cut down on the crystals? A formula for this would be nice but I'm guessing that would take much work as the physics of this stuff could get very complicated. I'll just have to go with my gut. thnx for advice.