I have a big pile of soil that failed me miserably last grow. It had some good components but not in proper amounts, and it had extra like a bag of cow crap. I am in the process of trying to fix this soil. So.. I Added a bunch of spm and a bunch of lime. I'm watering it to get it to start cooking but noticed that water was only penetrating a very shallow distance. I can move soil by hand and underneath is bone dry soil. So... What would cause this? I have minimal perlite but seems I shouldn't need to add a ton to make water move through it. Any ideas here what may be wrong? Too much spm holding water? ??? The base is essentially several coast of Maine bags and the big bag of cow crap. I don't recall exactly what it was, lobster blend was one. I never added spm or lime to it and that was at least part of the issue. I also need ewc here soon. Thanks for any ideas..
Get bigger aeration. Perlite has only ever let me down exactly how you describe. Lava rock or nothing.
It's important to wet the sphagnum peat moss before mixing with the other ingredients. It can be hard to get it to accept any hydration at first when it is dry. I would dump your soil into a tote and add water with a watering can, meanwhile mixing with a small spade shovel.. something to that effect. Some aloe vera juice would help to make the water 'wetter'.
Yep! On the need for aeration/more aeration, anyways. COM products are very dense, and always need more aeration added to them for indoor potting soils. They are marketed and built for outdoor use. I have recently steered clear of using perlite myself, but we are still on good terms. Along with lava rock, pumice and rice/buckwheat hulls also serve as excellent replacements for perlite. ... and yep!
Did you use too much worm castings? That shit acts like a sponge and hogs water...you pour it on top, it sucks it up where it's hit, doesn't release and all your moisture is stuck on top.
What's up 'Boog'! No EWC in the OP's mix yet... I have at least an inch of pure castings on top of all of my pots, and do not experience what you describe. It sucks up water quite readily and conveys it all the way through to the soil underneath. I will have to say that I have to water a little more now to realize the same soil penetration depth as I did prior to top dressing with the castings.
Ditto on the wetting agent. Dawn or Ivory liquid work quite well. Especially if it's hard to snag the aloe. Agree with TJ, that sounds like a good bit of the problem. Cd
[quote name="waktoo" post="21323614" timestamp="1424137405"]What's up 'Boog'! No EWC in the OP's mix yet... I have at least an inch of pure castings on top of all of my pots, and do not experience what you describe. It sucks up water quite readily and conveys it all the way through to the soil underneath. I will have to say that I have to water a little more now to realize the same soil penetration depth as I did prior to top dressing with the castings. [/quote an INCH of castings ain't gonna hurt a thing, I'm talking 6 to 8 inches of castings, I even once tried growing in 100% castings, lmao....what a fool I was....I as warned not to, but that shit was SO BLACK, ....anyway, disaster.....lol.....
Hmmm. I guess some lava rock is in order. Didn't know about wetting the spm first. Whups. Moving by hand got things wet but I am concerned for future use. I hate to give up all this material. Thanks for the advice.