Overwatering or underwatering in pots - top soil question

obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
In past grows my roots ended up on top of the soil eventually. It's weird, just in the past few years have I had the bottom of the pots waterlogged and the top half dry, usually it's evenly damp. Pots have good drainage and I use the same soil for years, Ocean Forest. Have they maybe changed their soil over the past few years?
 
Hollatchaboy

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
obijohn said:
In past grows my roots ended up on top of the soil eventually. It's weird, just in the past few years have I had the bottom of the pots waterlogged and the top half dry, usually it's evenly damp. Pots have good drainage and I use the same soil for years, Ocean Forest. Have they maybe changed their soil over the past few years?
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Feeder roots are gonna where they can find food, and where there's moisture.
 
Kassiopeija

Kassiopeija

Well-Known Member
the earth guys that irrigate once pot is light deliberately don't mulch or keep that part dry to see how dry the pot has become as a whole. like when you always use same potsize witz the same soil you can see from the looks of it and how far it has withdrewn from the side, but still, any roots there dies as well as MO culture gets reduced
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
Kassiopeija said:
the earth guys that irrigate once pot is light deliberately don't mulch or keep that part dry to see how dry the pot has become as a whole. like when you always use same potsize witz the same soil you can see from the looks of it and how far it has withdrewn from the side, but still, any roots there dies as well as MO culture gets reduced
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if you want to keep the topsoil moist, which i think you should because why would you ever wanna omit 10-15% of your medium while growing in said medium, you should mulch. simple as that. you can use coco disks, tree barks or even weed covers just simple plastic sheets with tiny holes.

otherwise that 15% of medium becomes the mulch that keeps the rest of the medium in the happy zone where roots grow and microbes thrive so even when not mulching you actually are and with a more expensive material.

if you try to keep it moist by watering without mulching you’re gonna run into overwatering related issues 9/10 times.
 
Hollatchaboy

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
I
crimsonecho said:
if you want to keep the topsoil moist, which i think you should because why would you ever wanna omit 10-15% of your medium while growing in said medium, you should mulch. simple as that. you can use coco disks, tree barks or even weed covers just simple plastic sheets with tiny holes.

otherwise that 15% of medium becomes the mulch that keeps the rest of the medium in the happy zone where roots grow and microbes thrive so even when not mulching you actually are and with a more expensive material.

if you try to keep it moist by watering without mulching you’re gonna run into overwatering related issues 9/10 times.
Click to expand...
I use malted barley straw.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
Hollatchaboy said:
I

I use malted barley straw.
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great choice options are almost endless, pasteurized hay, rice hulls, perlite, coco discs, fabric, weed cover, barley straw, tree bark, zeolite, pumice whatever. as long as it keeps the topsoil moist and doesnt weighs so much that it compacts the soil in the pots its better than using the soil as the mulch imo.
 
Hollatchaboy

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
crimsonecho said:
great choice options are almost endless, pasteurized hay, rice hulls, perlite, coco discs, fabric, weed cover, barley straw, tree bark, zeolite, pumice whatever. as long as it keeps the topsoil moist and doesnt weighs so much that it compacts the soil in the pots its better than using the soil as the mulch imo.
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I specifically use the mbs because it helps with adding more fungal dominance to the soil.

I should add that I use an earthbox for flower. It comes with a shower cap to use as mulch. Works great for that application.
 
Kassiopeija

Kassiopeija

Well-Known Member
crimsonecho said:
if you want to keep the topsoil moist, which i think you should because why would you ever wanna omit 10-15% of your medium while growing in said medium, you should mulch. simple as that. you can use coco disks, tree barks or even weed covers just simple plastic sheets with tiny holes.

otherwise that 15% of medium becomes the mulch that keeps the rest of the medium in the happy zone where roots grow and microbes thrive so even when not mulching you actually are and with a more expensive material.

if you try to keep it moist by watering without mulching you’re gonna run into overwatering related issues 9/10 times.
Click to expand...
it's entirely possible to water daily in soil, too you just need to meet the oxygen demand of the root zone like having sufficient perlite etc
the small cups in the propagator I actually have to water daily otherwise they'd wilt
so I keep the mulch away to see the dryback
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
Kassiopeija said:
it's entirely possible to water daily in soil, too you just need to meet the oxygen demand of the root zone like having sufficient perlite etc
the small cups in the propagator I actually have to water daily otherwise they'd wilt
so I keep the mulch away to see the dryback
Click to expand...
ok you’re 1/10 then
 
buckaclark

buckaclark

Well-Known Member
Kassiopeija said:
it's entirely possible to water daily in soil, too you just need to meet the oxygen demand of the root zone like having sufficient perlite etc
the small cups in the propagator I actually have to water daily otherwise they'd wilt
so I keep the mulch away to see the dryback
Click to expand...
Perlite lol
 
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