it's really important to give this time and let it soak. the different types soak for different lengths of time. some of them will say that they can soak in 10 minutes, and i believe that they can, but i still like to soak my oasis overnight whenever possible just so that they are really full of as much water as possible, especially if i'm going out on a warm day to do my, do my work. so, that is that. you can also use oasis in containers as well. so, rather than putting this chicken wire in here i could cut a brick that fits perfectly into my container. 