How long have super absorbents been used in horticulture?
Super absorbents were first introduced by Union Carbide back in the mid 60’s. They were introduced into the retail gardening market. In the 70s the products could be found in only a handful of garden centers and were used very little by the commercial grower due to their low swell ability (about 30 times) and consequently high cost. In the early 80s super absorbents began to be developed with an eye towards the baby diaper market. The baby diaper market represented a potential of hundreds of millions of pounds. Soon newer, higher swell, super absorbents were developed for this market which lead to refinements in products suitable for agriculture, which were also long lasting. The commercial market for super absorbents today in the US market alone exceeds $10,000,000. All attempts at the retail market have resulted in little because no company will invest the necessary millions for promotion when there is little barriers to entry into these markets.
