had a gnat problem fixed that and ended up with a diff prob

hey guys and gals i had a fungus gnat problem a little while back. so i put some sand on the top of my soil and let it dry out a bit before watering as they like moist damp areas. well thats the problem. i let it dry out to long i believe . the soil cracked due to being dry and now when i water my plants the water seems to drip down in the cracks and go straight to the roots and makes the plants droop for about 2 hours then they recover but i know this is very stressful to them so any ideas what i can do to fix this situation without repotting? 4 weeks into flowering 3 gallon pots


question **** next time i go to water them should i give them a heavier watering to try to SATURATE the soil to make the soil form together?

to re hydrate the soil try watering gently for several minutes. u may have to gently break up the top 1/4'' of the soil to loosen it. keep watering, or put whole pot in a bucket with several inches of water and let the plant soak for a couple of hours. GL

You need a wheeting agent use dawn dish soap 1 drop per gallon.......will keep droplet's seperated and wet the soil throughly! jack

any dawn dish soap work like is there anything on the lable i must look for ? dont wanna kill my plants haha. so watering for several minutes wont drowned the plants? just kindal ike giveing it a really good flush i guess?

Don't use the "antibacterial" one.

When they get to dry you just need to give them a really good saturation. Try watering every 10 min 3 times to let it absorbed the water a little between each one to make sure the soil becomes fully saturated. Make sure not to water again until the plants are back to your normal level of dryness for watering. If you water again to soon it could cause over watering as a result of the stress from under-watering and having less healthy roots to uptake that water then normal.

I have never used soap so I cant attest to that but a wetting agent will act similarly to slowly watering over a longer period of time give the plant time to absorb the water into the soil.

Use the DAWN that say's this is what they use on wildlife in oil spill's!! safe and effective wheeting agent!!Jack..

ok ill giver er a try thanks!

one more question... oncei place a "drop" of dawn dish soap into a gallon container how much would you give each plant as they are in 3 gallon pots

SMOK>>>>when you water a three gallon pot it take's four gallon's!! excess for pulling oxygen to root's and flushing mix...It ensure's that there are no Pocket's in the mix dry (Where root's will suffer and die!) and that your beneficial root fungus are able to access root's! (mycorrihaze=beneficial root fungus) scanmask=beneficial nematode's to aid root system which should be added early on for best result's!