Soil aeration - How much is too much?

gangjababy said:

If you use over 50% perlite then I would consider it a hydroponic mix. You will just have to water more frequently with increased aeration. I use 30 to 40% perlite in my mix.

Click to expand...

LoVeSeNsI said:

I was thinking more along the lines of a physical air injection into the soil? is there any such method?

Click to expand...

T.H.Cammo said:

Yeah! It's called "Occasional Watering". It works like this:

1. Wait untill the soil is almost completly dry. You have to acquire the knack for this, you can judge it something like this: wait till the pot feels "very light" (but not so light that the plant starts to wilt). Go ahead and let it wilt "a little" the first time - so you will know how dry is too dry! Get to know the "heft" of your pots - as long as they are carrying some "weight" they are not dried out!

2. Then slowly add water, a little bit at a time (let it soak in, in between squirts) untill it wont take any more and a small amount has leaked out of the drain holes. I usually "mist" the soil surface first with water to get a more even penetration. The whole idea is to get all the water soaking down though the soil evenly, without any "channeling" or dry spots.

3. This way, the water acts like a piston. It fills up all the airspaces in the soil and pushes the old air out through the drain holes. As the water soaks it's way down, it pulls fresh "new" air in behind it. This is where the Oxygen comes from. As the water evaporates and is absorbed, it is replaced by more "fresh" air untill the whole process repeats itself.

Click to expand...

T.H.Cammo said:

Yeah! It's called "Occasional Watering". It works like this:

1. Wait untill the soil is almost completly dry. You have to acquire the knack for this, you can judge it something like this: wait till the pot feels "very light" (but not so light that the plant starts to wilt). Go ahead and let it wilt "a little" the first time - so you will know how dry is too dry! Get to know the "heft" of your pots - as long as they are carrying some "weight" they are not dried out!

2. Then slowly add water, a little bit at a time (let it soak in, in between squirts) untill it wont take any more and a small amount has leaked out of the drain holes. I usually "mist" the soil surface first with water to get a more even penetration. The whole idea is to get all the water soaking down though the soil evenly, without any "channeling" or dry spots.

3. This way, the water acts like a piston. It fills up all the airspaces in the soil and pushes the old air out through the drain holes. As the water soaks it's way down, it pulls fresh "new" air in behind it. This is where the Oxygen comes from. As the water evaporates and is absorbed, it is replaced by more "fresh" air untill the whole process repeats itself.

Click to expand...