How do you deal with hydrophobic soil?

S

Sokofofat

Active Member
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!
 
cardgenius

cardgenius

Active Member
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.
 
whisperer57

whisperer57

Well-Known Member
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

maranibbana

Well-Known Member
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

Dank Bongula

Well-Known Member
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

maranibbana

Well-Known Member
Dank Bongula said:
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.
Click to expand...
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
 
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