Patio Fruit Trees

Question

I’m not a gardener, just a total novice with a very small garden wanting to grow something. My question: Can I put water retaining gel in the bottom of the containers when planting, or would it affect drainage or be detrimental to the root system of the trees?

Answer 1

You can do this, and many people do (the filling in diapers is commonly used for this, though official water retaining gels are used as well). There is some concern from some people about how these chemically created gels can affect plants that are used as edibles. You may want to take this into account when growing edibles with these gels, but in terms of does it work, yes it does and helps keep water in the soil for the plant without danger of root rot.