Driwater

Whole Earth, Spring, 2001

Driwater 800/255-8458, driwater.com. Available easily from the big boys (Wal-Mart, Ace) but you can search the Driwater Web site for smaller outfits. For restoration quantities, contact Driwater.

Driwater is a gel. 98-percent water and 2-percent food-grade ingredients. It is used to release water evenly to reduce wet/dry stress for seedlings and for long-term "hands off" irrigation. If you're away, it's great for potted plants (will water plants for up to thirty days or shrubs and vines for ninety days). Also for larger landscapes, hydroseeding on unstable slopes, drought-intolerant rootstocks, and dessicating climates.

The alternatives (petroleum-based polymers) have drawbacks: they need water to perform, and have a shorter cycle in which they hold on to it: polyacrylimide polymers have some toxicity: the granules migrate toward the surface.