Potting mix not absorbing water

[GrowInTheDark]

Like the title says, the potting mix for my plants wont absorb water properly, i let the soil dry out because i overwatered them at one point, and when i went to water them it just pooled above the soil for a bit and then ran down the side and drained without soaking the soil properly. what do i do, they are only 4 weeks into veg.

 

[GrowInTheDark]

can someone please help me here?

 

[Papageno]

I looked for this an hour ago and couldn't find it so I thought it got removed...

This is a common issue and there is a treatment for it but before I explain dunking you probably just need to keep adding water. Since you should not be adding nutes with every watering it should be a simple thing to just dump water in there to break it up. I would assume you are using a decent soil mix so it should not happen so you should just be able to keep adding water and eventually it is fine.

Okay Dunking. I learned of this from a Horticulturalist. It specifically deals with this issue and he always did it at about the time he was switching nute regimen. I never use it because I have a highly aerated soil so I never have this problem.

What can happen is exactly as you describe. An un-aerated soil that doesn't dry evenly will tend to develop little paths through it and water will just run through. This happens over a long period and in a dense soil so it should not be happening to you. If it does it probably wont happen more than once in a grow unless there are some serious soil problems. So he would take and fill a bucket if the pot was small enough or the bath tub with water. Place the pot in there and let is sit for 15 minutes to completely saturate the soil. Then empty the bath tub and let it sit until no more water is coming out. This is not a flush and will not remove nutes. After the tub is empty you can bang the sides a bit. Doesn't matter if the pot has drained yet. This was a technique he learned in college.

When we worked together we experimented on soil combinations and found that a well aerated soil will prevent this from happening in the short term grows we do. It still happens but enough perlite and it self corrects almost immediately. House plants that live in the same pot for years will eventually do this and dunking them once a year is a good idea. That is where he learned it was for nurseries that have tress potted and root bound for years.

Most Cannabis growers don't know about this because the soil they are using makes it unnecessary to know about this. So many people on here might have read this and thought it was just too obvious...just add water.

 

[Serpent]

ya nice read !!!!!! i thought it was bad soil maybe not enough perlite to drin

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Just sounds like it has dried out a little to much...

Sit the pot in a bowl or saucer of water for a few hours may be longer & let the soil/compost rehydrate.

 

[MassMedMan]

Drench it:

Hold the plant in a container/bucket that's larger then the plant container,, filled with whatever you're feeding,, water/nutes,, hold the plant in the container, below the water and let it start to bubble,, that's the medium "eating" the water. (More than likely unless you're in a soft pot, you'll have to hold down the plant in the water,, the container it's in Will try to rise) Once the bubbles stop the plant should stay partially sunk. Let it get a drink for a few minutes, at least five. Pull it out, let it drain. Wait till it's dry again in a few days and repeat. That is perfect wet dry watering conditions for veg. What you are seeing is mostly normally,, maybe some soil compaction but it's ok.

Soak it, dry it, soak it.

Good luck

 

[GrowInTheDark]

thanks guys, my mix is great it's just very peaty so if it drys out too much it gets Hydrophobic(repels water), I was afraid of the whole bathtub thing, because i started my plants in 3 gallon pots and am worried that if i do that it will be too much water in the pot and drown them, i ended up making a homemade watering can out of a waterbottle with holes in the lid that made a bunch of streams that penetrated the dirt along with 2 drops of dish saop in my water to act as a surfactant. It seems better, but all in all, I have never heard of this happening and might use something with more soil in it next time.
Again thx for the comments.

 

[Papageno]

For soil there is a ton of videos out there for what is commonly refereed to as "Super Soil". Web search it. The base I use before adding the smaller amendments is 1/3 perlite. That is a bit high but I would never go below 1/4. I have done lots of experiments on this ratio. I really like 1/3 perlite for lots of reasons and it turns your sold grow into such an aerated grow that it almost keeps up with Hydro.

Best of Luck.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Ye it does happen & quite well be royal pain to sort out, i assist in looking after some big green house's at work it is more so a problem in summer months when soil can get dry very quickly with the heat !

I liked the bottle trick with small holes in the lid & the use of a surfactant, that is pretty cool.

 

[GrowInTheDark]

I liked the bottle trick with small holes in the lid & the use of a surfactant, that is pretty cool.

Ya i never thought dish soap would be good but i looked it up, and i guess it makes sense as it helps water penetrate oils.(Only a few drops tho)

 

[Papageno]

Yeah surfactants are used a lot and is in multiple brand name bottles out there. I have contemplated for over a year about adding it to my tea. But I haven't had an issue with the things it helps with. So I just leave that one in the tool box. It is good stuff to do for sure when done right.