A new water-retaining hanging basket liner fabric designed to make caring for plants less time consuming and reduce overall water usage is available as a retail product this summer.

The Super Absorbent Fibre (SAF) technology of UK-based Technical Absorbents Ltd (TAL), is a unique fibrous technology and creates new possibilities for the development of fabrics that can be used as both temporary and long-term plant root watering systems, even in areas of low water availability. They aim to achieve highly controlled delivery of water to root systems, whilst significantly reducing evaporative loss and water seepage. SAF can also be applied directly to the soil.

Agrotas basket liner fabric can be cut to shape and used to line the base of potted plants and hanging baskets,  and can even be used in vertical gardens. It works by absorbing and holding enough water to provide an optimum moisture environment for plant growth. Overall water usage can be cut by up to 50% over the growing season, and re-watering frequency is significantly reduced. Fertilizer can also be added to the water.

The 2.5mm-thick fabric has an absorbent capacity of 24 to 33g per gram.

The launch packs contain three 34cms diameter liners, which can be cut to size for smaller baskets. TAL aim to supply linear metres in due course.

TAL is excited about the potential for this technology and hoping that it is received well by gardeners in the UK and overseas.”