I believed I was watering my plant containers properly until my leaves began to turn yellow. I went down the rabbit hole to see what I was doing to my plants and spoke with many experts to see what I was doing wrong. I soon found out that I was watering all wrong and my plants were thirsty and deprived of much needed water.
So what was I doing wrong exactly? First a little about soil when it gets too dry.
When potting soil dries out, it develops a waxy residue between the soil granules making it repel water. This is called HYDROPONIC SOIL.
HOW DO YOU FIX HYDROPONIC SOIL?
- You must saturate your potting soil with water. Submerge pot in tub of water for 15-20 minutes. I didn't have a tub big enough and, instead, used a hose to drench my soil numerous times until I saw water bubbles coming from the bottom of the pot.
- Add half-saturation liquid fertilizer to the soil to bring back all the life in the soil.
- Add compost to help build the organic structure of the soil. {Do not mulch with compost when it is dry because it too will repel water.}
- When the soil is finally watered properly, add mulch to the surface to allow the soil not to dry out.
- Create a consistent watering schedule to keep soil moist.
Watering is one of the three pillars of growing healthy plants. The other is food and sunlight.
HOW DO YOU WATER YOUR CONTAINER PROPERLY?
- Fill your container properly by leaving at least two inches from the top of the container to the soil.
- Be on a consistent watering schedule.
- When watering, fill the container to the top with water. {This is why we left 2 inches in the container.} Do this 3-4 times. Watch for small air bubbles coming out of the bottom of the container. This means the water is filling the air pockets and pushing it out of the container. Once the air bubbles are gone, the container is well watered.
