Cross‐linked, Water‐Storing Polymers as Aids to Drought Tolerance of Tomatoes in Growing Media

Synthetic polymers with high water‐absorbing abilities and most of their stored moisture available to plants have been shown to benefit growth and production of tomato in drought‐stressed, organic‐based growing media and also coarse, sandy soils. Additions of polymers to organic and sand growing media had beneficial effects on shoot dry weight and fruit production. The quality of tomato yield was also improved by the application of polymer to the growing medium due to the reduced impact of water stress during the growing cycle. Cost‐effective use of gel‐forming polymers could be made within certain tomato production systems.