Here's where I suggest reading more, since there are research papers there as well, with miraculous results. They sell the crystals too (Hydrosource brand name), at prices WAY below any competitor (that I could find) -- and they really aren't that expensive. Prices here.
Castle International Resources
http://hydrosource.com/
From their web page:
Cross-linked polymer looks like rock salt when dry and captures up to 400 times its weight in rainwater. Used in agriculture, this material makes water and nutrients available to plants at all times, producing outstanding crop yields. CLP-raised plants mature faster, are more disease resistant, and can be effectively grown in areas of the world which are too low in annual rainfall to support cost-effective 'traditional' farming.
And, the crystals are supposed to last for 15-20 years -- they eventually break down to nitrogen, so they're reportedly safe for the environment.
Click on the Library link at the site for some of the research reports.
Here's an example:
DEMONSTRATION OF SPEED AND EASE OF NO--TILL GARDEN CONSTRUCTION
(1995, Jay, Oklahoma)
We constructed this 15' X 33' (4.5m X 9.9m) no-till Hydrosource/Sunbelt bed in June 1995 in one hour and 25 minutes, leaving it with 35 zuchini, yellow crookneck squash and cucumber seedlings planted in the Booth Planting Tubes. There was no ground preparation except to mow the weeds and buck brush. Prior to installation of the Sunbelt, we spread one pickup load of cow manure on the garden, plus added 15 lbs. (6.8 kgs.) of Hydrosource Standard (2-4mm).
The site is heavily shaded and we always lose 2-3 plants per year from limbs falling from the 150-year old chinquapin oak tree (Quercus muehlenbergii) which overhangs the garden. Aside from these two problems, the cucurbit/tomato production from the bed over the past two years has been relatively good. The Hydrosource rate of 30 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. (13.6 kgs. per 91 m2) appears too low at this site to support truly high yields during 50-day or longer drought periods, and 50 lbs. (22.7 kgs.) would likely be more appropriate.
The use of Booth Planting Tubes minimizes Sunbelt damage for future years, thus eliminating virtually all possibility of weeds. Labor each new year is dramatically reduced. For example, it took only about 15 minutes to replant the 35 plants for the second year (1996). With use of a water soluble fertilizer spread over the permeable Sunbelt for rain to leach into the Hydrosource CLP and the untilled ground, annual maintenance for the 10-year projected life of the garden is basically limited to the usual disease/insect control and harvesting issues.
