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Home → Publications → Tree Planters' Notes → Tree Planters' Notes Volume 38, Number 1 (1987) → Commercially Produced Superabsorbent Material Increases Water-Holding Capacity of Soil Medium

Commercially Produced Superabsorbent Material Increases Water-Holding Capacity of Soil Medium

Four levels of a commercially available superabsorbent material (Terrsorb, a starch-based polymer) were applied to a soil medium used in container seedling production. The superabsorbent treatments were very effective in increasing the water-holding capacity, which was directly related to the rate of application of the superabsorbent material. After watering was stopped, tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum var. pelican) seedlings in control medium (no superabsorbent) died rapidly, but seedlings planted in media with the superabsorbent remained viable for a longer period of time, which varied with the concentration of superabsorbent in the medium. Tree Planters ’ Notes 38(1):24-25; 1987.


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Author(s): B. G. Lockaby, John C. Adams

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 38, Number 1 (1987)

Volume: 38

Number: 1