Polymers are the soil less way to grow plants. They are those crystals that you add water to and they turn into a squishy medium for plants to grow their roots into.Here is what they look like
The advantage of polymers is that they can water your plants very slowly and yet keep them not too moist that they develop root rot. Bamboo orchids can be started off in polymers. The trick is not to have the polymers too wet. A great way to tell if they are moist but not too wet is to stick your finger into the moistened medium, your finger should come out dry not wet and yet you should be able to feel the moisture with your finger when it was in the polymers. I recently bought a 1 pound container of Soil Moist
and I do believe that I have only used 3 tablespoons full on 3 pots full of polymer. I have planted 4 orchids (phalaenopsis) and a group of bamboo plants in the polymers. So far they are doing great.
