Mid level/ center level of pot not absorbing water

So I went to water and the bottom and top soil is wet but the center/ mid level is staying dry or not really absorbing the water I ended up watering with 5 liters in 7 gallon pot and still seems dry ..and some spots where it reads dry(2)

I used a moisture probe to check .. when I get mid level down when inserting it it feels like I’m pushing it through dry/or compacted soil.
I think it might be due to compaction or letting the it dry too much ?

But so far I haven’t really ran into any defiance’s really YET and hopefully I don’t How can I go about fixing this ? Maybe it’ll even out ? Just water more slowly and not let it get to dry?

What kind of media (soil) are you using?

I recommend that you water 1q at a time with 5 to 10min between rounds. After the first 3 rounds I would slow even more. Water this way once or twice to see what is going on. You can aerate the center a bit by poking some holes first if you like. That may help deliver it where you want.

I havent seen this before ime but would guess you are watering evenly but too fast. After the first 3 quarts go real slow and focus the water towards the center of the pot more to push water through the dense center.

Milky Weed said:

What kind of media (soil) are you using?

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Peat moss ewc and pumice is what I mixed up

ComfortCreator said:

I recommend that you water 1q at a time with 5 to 10min between rounds. After the first 3 rounds I would slow even more. Water this way once or twice to see what is going on. You can aerate the center a bit by poking some holes first if you like. That may help deliver it where you want.

I havent seen this before ime but would guess you are watering evenly but too fast. After the first 3 quarts go real slow and focus the water towards the center of the pot more to push water through the dense center.

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Sometimes I'll feed them just a little to let the top layer absorb the water, then come back and do it again until the pot is drinking instead of trying to shed it.

ComfortCreator said:

I recommend that you water 1q at a time with 5 to 10min between rounds. After the first 3 rounds I would slow even more. Water this way once or twice to see what is going on. You can aerate the center a bit by poking some holes first if you like. That may help deliver it where you want.

I havent seen this before ime but would guess you are watering evenly but too fast. After the first 3 quarts go real slow and focus the water towards the center of the pot more to push water through the dense center.

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yeah totally makes sense I’ll do tht, yeah I’m probably watering to fast thanks !

A tiny bit of soap can help, so can submerging the pot in water to force the dry spots to soak.

Soil likes to become water repellent when it gets really dry. It's science.
Get it wet once and it's fine.

2. Grove Co. Ultimate Dish Soap

Use 1/2 tblsp per gallon of water to use as a surfactant. Dont use soap that has fragrances, triclosan, parabens, phthalates, phosphates, or dyes.

I usually notice compaction when I haven't allowed dryback between waterings, dryback is not letting the pot go DRY but almost dry then watering again until runoff. Probably over watered early off and it caused the medium to cake up.

jimihendrix1 said:

2. Grove Co. Ultimate Dish Soap
Use 1/2 tblsp per gallon of water to use as a surfactant. Dont use soap that has fragrances, triclosan, parabens, phthalates, phosphates, or dyes.

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Peat tends to dry up in the middle that's why I personally only use coco anymore start to finish.. @jimihendrix1 soap suggestion should help the water fully saturate the medium, why it works is it's a surfactant.