Soil Drying out probalem

Well the problem is that the soil dry's out very quickly and forms a hard "crust" on the top.
When watering the water just floats on top or runs down the inside and out the drainage holes.
Most frustrating.

I am using a soil that I pick up at the local garden center. Indoor/outdoor potting soil. It's mised with 1/3 small bag of perlite.

I seem to be watering every 2 days which seems like a lot, and it is sure taking a lot of time out of every day....

Is my extraction fan sucking all of the moisture out of the room?

Is the soil/perlite ratio too high?

Should I check a new soil?

I know the problem sounds petty however it is most annoying when the rooms floor is covered in water and the plants are still dry..

Anyone else have this problem?

Hi blink_inc,
Dont know if this is of any help, my mix is 50 50 compost and perlite 2 and a half liter pots and i water every 2 days.:)

if you are just using top soil and perlite, it would be better and have better water holding capabilities, but mix in either compost, composted manure, composted manure & humus, earth worm castings, leaf mold. any of that stuff will help in most departments of growing

use a fork and airiate the soil manually. next time add more perlite. or get better soil.

Hey blink,

To get the soil to hold more water you've got to let the soil soak up the water more slowly. What I do from time to time when the soil gets very dry is fill the bath with a couple inches of water and let the plants sit in it for about 15 mins, then I water them from the top slowly, alternating between plants to give them a minute or two before I water each plant a little more. It takes a while to do it but its the only way of doing it properly and like I said it's only from time to time when the soil gets really dry, not every watering.

Take your time when watering. If you're watering every other day you shouldn't have a problem with drying out. I suspect you let them get too dry and then water too fast. Sometimes I'll have a few pots that want to do that in the last week or two. Give them a little water, wait 5 minutes and repeat. Continue until plants are thoroughly moist. By adding a little at a time the medium will expand and fill those dry gulleys that funnel water out. Water a little slower in the future.