Some examples include biochar,[3] bone meal, blood meal, coffee grounds, compost, compost tea, coir, manure,[4] straw, peat, sphagnum moss, vermiculite, sulfur, lime, hydroabsorbant polymers,[5] biosolids,[6] and rock flour.
The original formulation of polyacrylamide soil conditioners was difficult to use because it contained calcium which cross-linked the linear polymer under field conditions.
Water-soluble soil conditioners offer the following benefits:[10] Consequently, these translate into The cross-linked forms of polyacrylamide, which strongly retain water, are often used for horticultural and agricultural under trade names such as Broadleaf P4 and Swell-Gel.
In addition to use on farm lands, these polymers are used at construction sites for erosion control, in order to protect the water quality of nearby rivers and streams.
Soil compaction impedes root growth, decreasing the ability of plants to take up nutrients and water.
[14] For centuries people have been adding things to poor soils to improve their ability to support healthy plant growth.
Although manufacturing advances later brought the monomer concentration down below the toxic level, scientific literature shows few successes in utilizing these polymers for increasing plant quality or survival.
The appearance of a new generation of potentially effective tools in the early 1980s, including hydroabsorbent polymers and copolymers from the propenamide and propenamide-propenoate families, opened new perspectives.
Pressure grouting can be difficult to apply correctly at sites with waste materials or heterogeneous and coarse soils.
[22] While adding a soil conditioner to crops or a garden can seem like a great way to get healthier plants, over-application of some amendments can cause ecological problems.
For example, salts, nitrogen, metals and other nutrients that are present in many soil amendments are not productive when added in excess, and can actually be detrimental to plant health.