soil drys up fast! Normal?

Hanatar · #1 06-23-2008, 02:22 PM

using scotts premium potting soil, under cfl in closet at around 80-85 degrees, just doing old watering everyday, but every night or morning I go to water it, it is dried up bad, like crusty even.... Any suggestions? Any soil better that I can get at like home depot or lowes? Or walmart better.. I hear hyponex potting soil is good... Anything that won't dry up as fast?

panhead · #2 06-23-2008, 02:29 PM

A couple things,first off you want your soil to dry out quickly,it allows you to water more often & that is a good thing for several reasons,it seriously helps stop over watering & the more frequent waterings bring fresh oxygen to the roots much faster over constantly damp soil.

Second if your soil is crusty its likely you did not amend the soil with anything to keep it loose & fluffy,things like sand,perlite or vermiculite,if you had the soil would not get crusty,only dry.

There is nothing wrong with your soil,scotts is just fine it just needs to be amended to keep it fluffy.

Hanatar · #3 06-23-2008, 02:56 PM

hmmm ok sounds good, any household things i could use to do that?

panhead · #4 06-23-2008, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanatar

hmmm ok sounds good, any household things i could use to do that?

C'mon man,you've got to spend some cash,perlite costs $5 & a ph test kit costs $20,pretty cheap to get a steady ph.

Dirtyboy · #5 06-23-2008, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by panhead

A couple things,first off you want your soil to dry out quickly,it allows you to water more often & that is a good thing for several reasons,it seriously helps stop over watering & the more frequent waterings bring fresh oxygen to the roots much faster over constantly damp soil.

Second if your soil is crusty its likely you did not amend the soil with anything to keep it loose & fluffy,things like sand,perlite or vermiculite,if you had the soil would not get crusty,only dry.

There is nothing wrong with your soil,scotts is just fine it just needs to be amended to keep it fluffy.

Panhead on the Mic! Good info!

Twistyman · #6 06-23-2008, 04:20 PM

Perlite or my fav. pro-mix 50-50% ratio....imo. luck..

SlowGrow. · #7 06-23-2008, 04:42 PM

-Yea, PanHead, good stuff. Also you want to let your soil dry out every once in a while. You want to let it dry to the point of where your leaves start to droop. This allows your roots to "breathe" and will help develop a strong root system.

Hanatar · #8 06-23-2008, 05:02 PM

alright cool, promix?? What company?