Possible Hydrophobic Soil?

[Newbgrower16]

Hey guys ive started to notice couple of my plants that have been sad for last week or so. Ive noticed my potting soil is become very tight and hard to stick my finger into to test moisture. I do have roots already have reached to the edge of the pots. Aswell as drying out very fast

Upon doing sime research ive saw an article on Hydrophobic soil meaning it starts to repel water rather than slowly adsorbing. From what ive saw online ive found conflicting information

If anyone has any isight on the subject id love to hear what i can do to treat it and what might have caused it?

 

[Roy Growin]

This why it's best not to let any medium totally dry out - it becomes hydrophobic and water runs straight through
Stand it in a bucket of water until no more air bubbles come up [you may have to hold it down at first] and it sinks, then let it drain
Wet/dry cycle is fine, just not that dry

 

[Newbgrower16]

This why it's best not to let any medium totally dry out - it becomes hydrophobic and water runs straight through
Stand it in a bucket of water until no more air bubbles come up [you may have to hold it down at first] and it sinks, then let it drain
Wet/dry cycle is fine, just not that dry

Hey roy appreciate the quick reply.

My pots are 65 gallon smart pots on skids so the bottom watering method i dont think is possible with my pot setup.

And yea at first i thought maybe over watering since my baseline was 5 gallons per watering but they started drying out very fast within every other day they would dry out. Now i am thinking it just has dried right out similar to what you said

 

[Roy Growin]

In that case, water several times over the course of a day and the soil will slowly rehydrate

 

[Newbgrower16]

In that case, water several times over the course of a day and the soil will slowly rehydrate

Hi roy

I wouldnt want to feed any nutrients until its been rehydrated i can assume right?

 

[SmokingWings]

I wouldnt want to feed any nutrients until its been rehydrated i can assume right?

You could have nutrients mixed in and just collect the water that ran through and pour it back over the top. Or wait until near complete saturation and add the nutrients for last pour or two of the day.

Is your soil a store bought mix or one you made yourself? And, what stage are the plants at? Still vegetating or already started flowering?

This is posted in the Outdoor Growing forum on the message board. Are the plants outside?

 

[Newbgrower16]

You could have nutrients mixed in and just collect the water that ran through and pour it back over the top. Or wait until near complete saturation and add the nutrients for last pour or two of the day.

Is your soil a store bought mix or one you made yourself? And, what stage are the plants at? Still vegetating or already started flowering?

This is posted in the Outdoor Growing forum on the message board. Are the plants outside?

hi smokingwings

Appreciate taking your time to stop by this thread

Yea they are grown outside currently still in veg and yup they were store bought potting mix ended up using for these two plants have BM1 i got 2 others with FFOF and have symptoms arent nearly as bad or nonexistent.

 

[Roy Growin]

Hi roy

I wouldnt want to feed any nutrients until its been rehydrated i can assume right?

Yes

 

[SmokingWings]

Yea they are grown outside currently still in veg and yup they were store bought potting mix ended up using for these two plants have BM1 i got 2 others with FFOF and have symptoms arent nearly as bad or nonexistent.

OK, got it.

The BM1 is a mix of approximately 80% peat moss, some Perlite,some Vermiculite, and some fertilizer. That is it, just those ingredients from all the on-line sources I checked. Peat Moss is a great material for holding water once it gets wet but when it is dry it can take a lot of gentle and slow watering before it soaks up enough water to be what we would consider to be wet. Though, once wet, the peat moss is great for holding that water.

Ordinary or typical garden soil will soak up water sooner than the peat but does not hold it as long. That is why the containers with the FoxFarm Ocean Forest do not seem to be in as bad a situation as the BM1.

Once the plants start flowering they can really go through water and the pots can dry out faster. Best I can recommend is to be ready to water more often, maybe even once a day though a lot does depend on how large the plants are.

 

[Newbgrower16]

OK, got it.

The BM1 is a mix of approximately 80% peat moss, some Perlite,some Vermiculite, and some fertilizer. That is it, just those ingredients from all the on-line sources I checked. Peat Moss is a great material for holding water once it gets wet but when it is dry it can take a lot of gentle and slow watering before it soaks up enough water to be what we would consider to be wet. Though, once wet, the peat moss is great for holding that water.

Ordinary or typical garden soil will soak up water sooner than the peat but does not hold it as long. That is why the containers with the FoxFarm Ocean Forest do not seem to be in as bad a situation as the BM1.

Once the plants start flowering they can really go through water and the pots can dry out faster. Best I can recommend is to be ready to water more often, maybe even once a day though a lot does depend on how large the plants are.

Hi smoking yup thats bang on whats in the bm1 i am watering roughly right now 6.5 gallons per plant in those 65 gallon pots. So maybe i should try and spread that out throughout a couple hours rather than all at once.

I have also noticed with the ones that have bm1 that they are more root bound than the other plants with FFOF in them.

Heres a couple photos of the soil for ya

The soil is very tight and cant even get my finger down to the knuckle. Aswell as roots coming through the soil.

I also have a journal currently for this season if you want to check it out for some context/ information

 

[SmokingWings]

... thats bang on whats in the bm1 i am watering roughly right now 6.5 gallons per plant in those 65 gallon pots. So maybe i should try and spread that out throughout a couple hours rather than all at once.

Definitely works better by spreading it out over several sessions instead of hoping to go it all with one pouring. As the soil or medium starts to get wet the watered soil starts to slowly let water soak into any dry particles. The next watering and the damp material is able to soak up the water better and before long the soil will be back to normal.

I have also noticed with the ones that have bm1 that they are more root bound than the other plants with FFOF in them.

A big promotion point about the BM1 is that the company says it is great for increasing roots. I did not see any info on what the fertilizer ingredients were or the ratios so no idea of how this grow medium promotes the regular vegetating or flowering stages.

The soil is very tight and cant even get my finger down to the knuckle. Aswell as roots coming through the soil.

Many indoor growers have written that they notice what seems like a mat of very fine roots growing at the soil surface and just below it in the area under the plant. It is as if this mat is there to soak up any water as soon as it hits the soil instead of letting it move further down.

There have been times when I can tap on that soil & root mat and it feels like tapping on a board. And, it is really hard to push a finger through it. Often enough some extra effort is needed to push a bamboo stake through.

I often use a regular kitchen spoon as a trowel and dig up the soil around the very edge and move it back towards the center. Then when I water much of it will move to the edge and soak into the soil faster. The mat still gets wet but the whole process of re-saturating the soil seems to go faster.

I also have a journal currently for this season if you want to check it out for some context/ information

I took a look and have a better idea of what you are doing. Plants look good.

 

[Newbgrower16]

Definitely works better by spreading it out over several sessions instead of hoping to go it all with one pouring. As the soil or medium starts to get wet the watered soil starts to slowly let water soak into any dry particles. The next watering and the damp material is able to soak up the water better and before long the soil will be back to normal.


A big promotion point about the BM1 is that the company says it is great for increasing roots. I did not see any info on what the fertilizer ingredients were or the ratios so no idea of how this grow medium promotes the regular vegetating or flowering stages.


Many indoor growers have written that they notice what seems like a mat of very fine roots growing at the soil surface and just below it in the area under the plant. It is as if this mat is there to soak up any water as soon as it hits the soil instead of letting it move further down.

There have been times when I can tap on that soil & root mat and it feels like tapping on a board. And, it is really hard to push a finger through it. Often enough some extra effort is needed to push a bamboo stake through.

I often use a regular kitchen spoon as a trowel and dig up the soil around the very edge and move it back towards the center. Then when I water much of it will move to the edge and soak into the soil faster. The mat still gets wet but the whole process of re-saturating the soil seems to go faster.


I took a look and have a better idea of what you are doing. Plants look good.

Hi smoking regarding the bm1 yea they only really say it has a starter fertilizer and i spoke with one of the sales reps to get more info at the start of the year and it usually lasts about a week- two weeks before needing to be fed

 

[Newbgrower16]

update on the plants gave them a good soak with feeding them nutrients yesterday afternoon into the evening. fed 24l of greenrush grow to each plant into 3 sessions of 8l each per hour for 3 hours.

Looking back should have gave them a good soak before feeding them their last grow set of nutrients. The two west coasts were real deficient so i wanted to get them their nutes as soon as possible.

Going to monitor them closely for the next couple days and if there still drooping i will give them a real good soak with straight water just really trying to not over water either since there already stressed.

Found this season the 65 gallon pots are alot harder to find a good watering system vs the 100 gallon

 

[Newbgrower16]

Morning pics

 

[Newbgrower16]

Morning pics

 

[Roy Growin]

Looking good

 

[Newbgrower16]

Thanks roy they hope they will bounce back had to update my watering amount

Looking good