Soil compaction please help!!!

First time organic grower. Hommade mix that I have in 2gal pots nursery pot that I drilled a few extra holes in. Just transferred plants into these pots two days ago. After transplant I watered thoroughly. This morning I felt soil and it seems to have really compacted. I have at least 40% perlite in my mix and when I watered it seems a lot of it floated to the top. Plants have a slight droop but not bad and no yellowing yet. Do I have a problem or am I being paranoid?

Look like u over water i just did the same !
Wait till ur pot get light good luck .my first organic grow to .im so use to promix .

I'm sure I overwatered. I thought maybe it would drain better. And I heard that you want to see runoff when watering. I just don't know if I should pull my plants now while young and repot or will my soil fluff back up. Also was thinking about using my air pump and shoving a couple hoses in the holes in the pot to tryn dry it back out.

No just try to bring the rh lower i just leave my turbo fan on until my pot get lighter .
Dont repot her you will shock her more then help .
Keep it green @

BlackBean said:

I'm sure I overwatered. I thought maybe it would drain better. And I heard that you want to see runoff when watering. I just don't know if I should pull my plants now while young and repot or will my soil fluff back up. Also was thinking about using my air pump and shoving a couple hoses in the holes in the pot to tryn dry it back out.

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noooo don't do any of that. If you have 40% aeration in your soil it's NOT really compacted. But take your time watering again. And think of how big the roots of your plant were when you transplanted (i.e. not occupying the whole pot yet)
HTH

When I got home from work today I checked the pots again and the top 1" was dryin up so I kinda dug at it alittle with my finger and it fluffed right up. I think I just got nervous. Never made my own mix before and not knowing how it reacts yet just had me over thinking. The plants look great and are praying. I will be more careful yet confident with waterings here on out.

If it gets really compacted, you can aerate the soil with a wire-- jab the wire into the soil over and over, mostly in the outer ring of pot where there are not so many roots. This is not a fix, but will improve drainage and soil breathing-- do it a bit over several days.

also, you do not want runoff in organic soil because you leach nutrients out of the soil that are not being regularly replaced. you should only water what it needs. minimal to zero run off.

You could add more perlite to your mix before your next run.

Sometimes if the soil was really dry the water tends to kinda float before that dry soil can absorb it all not sure if this is your case but just thought I would mention it, it will probably be OK unless there is a high clay content.

Perlite floats, get used to it. Water settles new mixes, always. At 40% perlite any excess water will drain through. Do not panic and do not water until container feels light. It will take a little while as the plant needs first to grow the roots into the new soil to begin to use that water.

The perlite that floated to the top was only from the top 1/2 inch or so of the soil. You're fine.

In the future though, don't DOWSE your plants. Water them. I use a very small 2 quart watering jug with a narrow spout for that reason.