I tried something similar last year. We were lucky to be gifted with a hamper of meat, the meat arrived still frozen due to the package insulation which happened to be wool, so I thought I'd try to line the hanging baskets with the wool insulation. It did work, except the wool I used was a natural white and it became unsightly. The black does look a lot better.
One day I'm going to make/sew a haybox for cooking with the rest of the wool insulation.
Excellent experiment with the water retaining gell from nappies, @Jenny_Aster. And dabbing it with kitchen roll was a simple but very effective way of demonstrating that the water is reabsorbed by another medium. I wonder how the plants get to the water in the 'normal' crystals ? Probably the same way, by the growing medium around the crystals being hydrated in the same way as the kitchen roll was, just as you propose, and 'growing right through it' as you quote.
I wonder if the water retaining parts are biodegradable, or is it the rest of the nappy ? You know how these things go, unless it says '100% biodegradable' then it probably isn't.
What we need is for someone to do a trial planting.
When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
dabbing it with kitchen roll was a simple but very effective way of demonstrating that the water is reabsorbed by another medium.
I've run similar experiments by having a small child drop a used nappy onto my clothes it also works with carpet, bedding, curtains and stretched thin patience. I'm not a fan of disposable nappies but we had to use them for certain things. I'm kind of sad I didn't think of using the used ones to line hanging baskets while we had the chance.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Reading thru this thread, I wondered if anyone has used sheep wool to line hanging baskets or the open manger type troughs ? I've used it to "mulch" some of my veg and found it quite effective to keep the soil damp. When it gets soaked by the rain, it stays intact and so far, after 3 years, it hasn't broken down. One disadvantage I have found tho is that the birds tend to pick it for use in their nests.
Excellent experiment with the water retaining gell from nappies, @Jenny_Aster. And dabbing it with kitchen roll was a simple but very effective way of demonstrating that the water is reabsorbed by another medium. I wonder how the plants get to the water in the 'normal' crystals ? Probably the same way, by the growing medium around the crystals being hydrated in the same way as the kitchen roll was, just as you propose, and 'growing right through it' as you quote.
I wonder if the water retaining parts are biodegradable, or is it the rest of the nappy ? You know how these things go, unless it says '100% biodegradable' then it probably isn't.
What we need is for someone to do a trial planting.
What a question you asked about the crystals being biodegradable! That really sent me down a deep rabbit hole .
The conclusion I've come to is that I'm no where near clever enough to answer your question. For instance if the crystals were buried in soil, they could biodegrade in several years, but as far as I understand, if they were put in landfill which is probably where many disposable nappies end up, they might take 150 years to breakdown. Considering each child could use 5k of them, the mind boggles.
My searches used 'super absorbent polymer gels' which is what I understand nappies are made of. Sorry but I'm copping out here and asking that people should do their own research.
I'm not intending to replant fields with it, just two hanging baskets, my third one will be the controller. Hope to plant them up this weekend.
BTW, I'm not intending to line the baskets with the stuff, but to mix it in with the compost.
I wondered if anyone has used sheep wool to line hanging baskets or the open manger type troughs ?
Yes, @debs64 mentioned using a branded form of sheep's wool further up the thread.
Thanks Jenny - not sure how I missed that. I don't actually buy the wool - it's courtesy of my neighbour who keeps show sheep so it can be a bit "grubby ".
Oh no, @Jenny_Aster , I wasn't expecting you to know whether or not it's really biodegradable, just me musing on it is all. The natural progression from my question is, I suppose, if somebody decides to mix the contents of hundreds of those nappies into their garden soil expecting to cut down on watering, will the crystals or whatever still be there in the soil 50 years down the line ? Or will they have to dedicate a fortnight every autumn to 're-nappyating' the garden.
And did I just make up a new word ?
When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
@philippasmith2 I think the wool is to be mixed with compost on hanging baskets to retain water. It’s carded wool,dark brown in colour and comfortable to handle unlike cotton wool. Looking forward to trying it
Sidonglobophobia (si-dong-lo-bo-foh-bee-uh) is the fear of cotton or cotton balls. Doctors may also call it bambakophobia, which is a combination of bambaki, which means “cotton” in Greek, and phobos, meaning “fear.”
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One day I'm going to make/sew a haybox for cooking with the rest of the wool insulation.
Making something for nothing really get me.
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
I've run similar experiments by having a small child drop a used nappy onto my clothes
I've used it to "mulch" some of my veg and found it quite effective to keep the soil damp. When it gets soaked by the rain, it stays intact and so far, after 3 years, it hasn't broken down. One disadvantage I have found tho is that the birds tend to pick it for use in their nests.
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
The conclusion I've come to is that I'm no where near clever enough to answer your question. For instance if the crystals were buried in soil, they could biodegrade in several years, but as far as I understand, if they were put in landfill which is probably where many disposable nappies end up, they might take 150 years to breakdown. Considering each child could use 5k of them, the mind boggles.
My searches used 'super absorbent polymer gels' which is what I understand nappies are made of. Sorry but I'm copping out here and asking that people should do their own research.
I'm not intending to replant fields with it, just two hanging baskets, my third one will be the controller. Hope to plant them up this weekend.
BTW, I'm not intending to line the baskets with the stuff, but to mix it in with the compost.
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.