a couple of hours ago i bought a moisture meter which has a long probe.When i inserted the probe into the soil i found that most of it had clumped together into wet and dry patches.I've carefully pushed the probe into the soil around the plant being careful not to damage the roots and airiated the soil and it seems to have helped,the plants are back to their old flourishing selves apart from the three droopies which i shall persivere with and hopefully they'll pick up again when i put them into the 18 litre pots.
Would still appreciate some feedback and advice