So the dirt just doesn’t absorb like it should.
I’ve heard a few drops of dish soap in the water helps to increase the surface area of the water and make the dirt more absorbent.
Anyone done this before, and is dawn dish soap safe? They (Dawn dishsoap) say it’s safe for plants (small doses).
I’m assuming I would only need to do the soap thing for a couple waterings then as normal.
Anyone tried this? Thanks!
Do you have any amendments around like alfalfa? Or an aloe plant? Can use those to extract the saponins and some other goodies to water in. Also if you have a sprayer with the cone attachment, use that and take your time. Pre wet the surface then come back and apply the full volume.
I need to get one of these ang grow a big one. So useful. I don’t mind taking my time watering, it’ll eventually be saturated I suppose.
ya dish soap or any ‘wetting agent’ will help. is it outdoor soil?
I like to use yucca. Sometimes, if it’s really bad, I’ll remove a bit off the top of the pot and replace it with fresh soil and compost. Works pretty good. I wish I still had my aloe plant 
I lost it this year.
No, just recycled FFOF
Another good reason to sow companion plants.
They keep this from happening because it keeps the fungi alive, which are able to absorb and distribute enormous amounts of water.
No need for soap, only patience.
Sit your pots inside a container and keep adding 2-3 inches (5-8 cm) of water and let it absorb, it may take a few days, but just make sure you keep adding water as it gets absorbed.
I’ve been using stacked pots and ever since I started, my soil stopped becoming hydrostatic because the kitchenscraps are teeming with beneficial fungi and the companioncrops keep the topsoil from drying out because I keep pruning them and dropping the leaves on the topsoil, again slowing down evaporation and feeding the fungi.
The more diverse your kitchenscraps (fruit and veg only) and other mulch (tree leaves, grass clippings, nettles, dandelion, etc.) the more it smells like a forest.
And it also covers all the minerals you need.
it probably has alot of peat which is annoying when itrepels water. roughing/fluffing up the surface with your hand, especially around the edges, helps. then give like 1/3 of what your total watering should be and move onto the next one. by the time the third has ‘sunk in’ you should be able to dump in the rest at once
When peat based media dry out they become hydrophobic and become hard to re absorb. You can try watering them in small doses over and over again until it stops running straight through without absorbing it. I use pro mix and if it dries out too much when I try to feed em it just runs straight through but after a couple smaller shots and giving it a bit of time it will start absorbing it again. I personally wouldn’t use dish soap on it. Like @Oldtimerunderground said yucca is a pretty good wetting agent if you need one. I used to use the NPK raw version was pretty cheap and went quite a long way.
Edit: beacher you beat me to it 
lol youre quick! try fluffing it up sometime…if you fill the cracks around the sides from drying it out it kinda forces the water to sit there and move down through the medium
i switched back to promix after a couple years of coco and forgot how annoying this can be
I use a peat based mix and I build a little crater on top to act as a reservoir while it absorbs.
A drop of dish soap is fine too 
This is what I use also.
GS Plants Yucca extract, 1/8th tsp per gallon… free priority usps shipping if you order from their site direct. If you have a problem they’ll replace it free
No matter where you get your yucca, forget using Amazon, that stuff just sits in warehouses for months!
