I found a few very noticeable problems today out in the garden. I saw some dead worms on the ground, so I knew something was up in the soil. I lift the mulch layer and the soil was pretty hard, even dry in some places. I water every 2 days religiously, and follow MOFO's watering schedule minus the coconut water. The plants are in 15 gallon smart pots, the mix is malibu bus, rice hulls. pumice(1.5 gallons extra per pot), bio char, and canadian sphagnum peat moss(that I didn't hydrate with yucca or aloe initially, but was watered). I top dress every other week MBP, Kelp, and Neem watered in with aloe. My plants this morning weren't taking in water even, they'd pretty much just dump most of it out on the ground. You can see all the runoff in the second picture I posted. Any help would be much appreciated!
Do you know how to use the "lift method" to know when to water? Sounds like your pots dried out some. Water them in w/aloe. Slowly. Water about half of what you usually do and then the other half 4-8hrs later. RD
If thw worms tried to escape, its because the medium was too wet. They dont like to be drenched all the time and will try to escape. If you have a soil you made and arent usint bottled nutes then when you water, you shouldnt be doing it until it runs out the bottom. Only enough to give her a good drink. You can remedy this next time by adding 30 percent pearlite to the mix. This will allow water through and let the medium dry fast enough to keep the worms from leaving. If your soil isnt taking in water in the first place then pearlite is still the answer.
I actually just posted that same response in the no till gardening thread. I was freaked out so I posted this twice haha. Thank you so much Rancho, much appreciated!
Yeah I haven't used any bottled nutes at all. That's probably part of my mistakes honestly, I have been watering until theres a slight runoff. What was I thinking? And yeah it has plenty of aeration so that shouldn't be a problem. I set them up for long term. Thanks for your input man!
Worms enjoy being in material that is damn close to field capacity. They most likely left because your soil was too dry. When you get runoff almost immediately it's another indication your soil is dry. Bottled nutes are completely unnecessary. You're almost there...nice job. Next year bump your pot size up to 30g or more and life will be even easier. RD
Yeah I'm honestly happy this happened to me, put me in my place to be honest. I was getting a bit complacent! Sorry you might've misenterpreted me when I said "That's probably part of my mistakes honestly". When I said that I was refferring about me watering until I saw slight runoff every time, not about the bottled nutrients part. I will NEVER use bottled nutrients ever again. No till is the only way. Thanks again Rancho, very much appreciated.
I actually forgot to mention to you that I have 3 15 gallon smart pots with no plants in them currently. I did the lift method on the ones with the plants in them, and they were significantly lighter than the pots without the plants. I thought that doesn't make any sense. I know the ones with the plants in them are sorta dried out at the current moment but I'm definitely going to keep my eye on them.
It's something I could show you in about a minute but hard to really explain! Lol. You'll figure it out. Plants look good anyways. RD