Lack of enough precipitation and water shortage in arid and semi-arid regions prevent the establishment of seedlings in vegetation rehabilitation projects. The use of new techniques can provide more water, thereby solving the problem of establishing the seedlings in drylands. The goal of the present research was to investigate the germination and establishment of three indigenous species, namely, Artemisia sieberi , Amygdalus scoparia and Avena fatua, using superabsorbent polymers in the reclamation of arid lands. The campus of Isfahan University of Technology was considered as a study site covering arid rangelands in Irano-Turanian region; to this aim, two sites with the sandy loam and loamy texture were selected. The research was conducted in three phases: laboratory, green house and field experiments. The three applied super absorbent polymers were Aquasorb, Boloorab A and Stockosorb. In the laboratory, the hydrogels were used in zero (control), 0.2 and 0.5 g per petri dish with different levels of irrigation water, depending on plant species requirements. In the green house and field experiments, 0, 5 and 10 g of hydrogels per kg of soil were applied. Irrigation levels were estimated according to the mean precipitation of Isfahan during the growth season (p ave ), from January to May. Three applied irrigation levels to the green house and field experiments were: “75, 100 and 150% of p ave ” and “100, 150 and 200% of p ave ”, respectively. Numbers of replications were 3 in the laboratory and 5 in the green house and field experiments. It was found that using the hydrogels as the direct seeding media in the laboratory research conducted on A. sieberi and A . fatua seeds had a negative effect on the germination percentage and rate, or it could be without any effect, depending on the hydrogel type. In the case of the green house or the field, the effect of different hydrogel treatments on germination start, germination and establishment percent, growth parameters, root characteristics, stomatal conductance, physico-chemical properties of the soils and some chemical decomposition of the aerial parts of the plant was investigated, proving the positive effects of the superabsorbent polymers on the parameters mentioned. In general, plant species and soil texture were found to contribute to the better performance of one polymer type, as compared with the others. In the green house and the field, 5 g kg ?1 Aquasorb with 100% irrigation level in the sandy loam texture, and 10 g kg ?1 Boloorab A with 100% irrigation level in the loamy texture had the best performance in the case of A. Sieberi . In both soil textures, in the green house and field experiments, 5 g kg ?1 Stockosorb with 100% Irrigation level was the best treatment for A. scoparia . In the case of the sandy loam texture, 10 g kg ?1 Aquasorb with 100% irrigation in the green house, and 5 g kg ?1 Boloorab A with 100% irrigation in the field showed the best results for A . fatua. However, with regard to the loamy texture, 5 g kg ?1 Stockosorb with 100% Irrigation and 10 g kg ?1 Aquasorb with 75% irrigation in the green house, and 5 g kg ?1 Boloorab A with 100% irrigation and 10 g kg ?1 Aquasorb with 100% irrigation in the field were identified as the best treatments for A . fatua. The maximum level of irrigation did not include the ideal treatments in the green house and the field; therefore, it could be concluded that the effect of superabsorbent polymers was more than just providing water for the plants. Comparing the results obtained from laboratory, green house and field experiments demonstrated that the super absorbent polymers had a positive and different effect on plant growth when used as soil ameliorating materials, as compared to the direct media made by polymers.