How do you deal with hydrophobic soil?

[Sokofofat]

New grower here!

Got my ladies in FFOF super soil in 3 gal fabric pots and water them every 3-4 days. My problem is that as the top layer of soil drys it then becomes hydrophobic which leads to lots of run off. I try not to water too quickly and even when I'm patience i will stick my finger in 2 inches and feel dry soil underneath where I have just watered. The fabric pots also let water that has pooled on the edges filter through and run off the sides which wastes my nutes when I feed.

Is this an issue anyone has had with fabric pots?

Any advice/solutions are welcome!

 

[hotrodharley]

Use a surfactant. A drop or two of NON SUDSING laundry detergent in a gallon of water.

 

[hotrodharley]

It has absolutely nothing to do with the fabric bags.

 

[Sokofofat]

Use a surfactant. A drop or two of NON SUDSING laundry detergent in a gallon of water.

Thanks I'll try that out!

 

[Sokofofat]

It has absolutely nothing to do with the fabric bags.

Yeah I know its not the bags, the run off through the bags is just a side effect of the pooling due to soil being hydrophobic. Love fabric pots in general

 

[cardgenius]

I have a weed sprayer I use and it works great cause I can adjust the nozzle so it’ll spray a high pressure mist. Let it soak for a few and it should take in water a lot faster.

A cover crop like White Clover or just covering it with straw will help keep the top layer from completely drying out.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Yucca extract. Works awesome.

 

[maranibbana]

Yucca extract. Works awesome.

what they said ^^

 

[PadawanWarrior]

what they said ^^

Sometimes it might seem like there's more than one of me, but it's just me, lol.

 

[maranibbana]

Sometimes it might seem like there's more than one of me, but it's just me, lol.

well im not sure if your a boy or a girl so I went with the next best thing haha

 

[PadawanWarrior]

well im not sure if your a boy or a girl so I went with the next best thing haha

Well let's just say I was assigned male at birth.

 

[maranibbana]

Well let's just say I was assigned male at birth.

thats what I tell folk too haha

 

[Wastei]

Water the top and let it soak in that water. I water half of the volume and then the rest to water evenly. Cheers!

 

[whisperer57]

i use dollar store trays under my pots, they soak the runoff up pretty quick. if theres water in the tray 20 minutes later i can dump that...

 

[maranibbana]

Yucca treatment, get soil saturated, then water daily with less water, cover crop and mulch, take 1 day breaks between watering if needed, but not more. In the whole super soil living soil deal you don’t want to go under 50% soil saturation at the MAX try to stay around a constant 60-75% moisture.

 

[Dank Bongula]

You can also water them slowly in a larger container that can collect the runoff and slowly pour that back in to your pot...then just keep repeating until you can feel the full weight of your saturated soil in the pot.

 

[maranibbana]

You can also water them slowly in a larger container that can collect the runoff and slowly pour that back in to your pot...then just keep repeating until you can feel the full weight of your saturated soil in the pot.

In organics this will work very well, as well as if they sit in run off and soak it up. But I like your thinking.

All the salt/coco growers would have a fit if we told them this heheheh

 

[Dank Bongula]

In organics this will work very well, as well as if they sit in run off and soak it up. But I like your thinking.

All the salt/coco growers would have a fit if we told them this heheheh

Definitely haha I try to stay out of coco threads, I like soil.

 

[maranibbana]

Definitely haha I try to stay out of coco threads, I like soil.

Yeah me too, very different worlds haha

 

[Frankly Dankly]

In organics this will work very well, as well as if they sit in run off and soak it up. But I like your thinking.

All the salt/coco growers would have a fit if we told them this heheheh

I’ve never put much stock in the whining of chem growers, lol.