Soil and Watering

Watch Reply
More
Mark unread Print Skip to new
sajwani Dobbs Ferry, NY Jul 20, 2007

if the water moves very quickly through the soil what does that mean? (though no water collects in the drip pan). Also, if the water moves slowly (pools a while at the top) but then goes through and no water collects in the drip pan what does that mean? I was just wondering. My plants are doing well for the most part but they all absorb that water in one of those two different ways (after I finally learned not to overwater)

Post #3759583
Quote
kls_01 Champaign, IL(Zone 5b) Jul 20, 2007

I think if the water moves quickly through the soil and no water collects in the drip pan that just means that the dirt is more "airy" allowing the water to flow freely and the dirt to absorb it. If the water is pooling, I'd imagine the soil is compacted and it takes awhile to break through the dirt. These may need more perlite?

Kristie

Post #3759972
Quote
ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jul 20, 2007

It's hard to draw too many conclusions from how fast the water moves through--sometimes if the soil has dried out too much, it'll seem like it's running through really quickly but in reality, it's just running down around the edge of the pot and out the bottom through little gaps between the edge of the soil and the container, but if you don't keep watering until the soil in the middle gets wet too your plants will suffer. Pooling on the top can also be caused by potting mix that has dried out too much, sometimes (especially if there's peat in the mix) it can be hard to get it to rewet. It could also be compacted, but in my experience if it was a good quality potting mix that was used in the first place, it's more likely that the mix has just dried out to the point where it has a hard time rewetting. Based on your description, my guess is the ones where the water seems to soak in right away are ones where the mix hasn't dried out to the point where it's hard to rewet, but the containers where it seems to pool on top the mix had gotten a little drier, so it takes the water a longer time to wet the potting mix and soak in.

Post #3760072
Quote
sajwani Dobbs Ferry, NY Jul 21, 2007

thanks for the info

Post #3762122
Quote

Post a Reply to this Thread

Please or sign up to post.
Back to Forum Homepage

More Beginner Gardening Threads

Go to all Beginner Gardening threads
BACK TO TOP