Soil too compact possibly causing lockout.

So I have been having a ton of issues with nutrients deficiencies last couple weeks. That looked like they were getting better and now suddenly look worse.

while watering today I noticed that the water wasn’t really draining as fast as usual. So stuck my fingers in and after about 1/2” the soil (fox farms happy frog) is super hard and compact. Almost like sand.

my ph I am double checking with 2 ph pens. Have cut back nitrogen and increased calmag like I was suggested. And nothing is working. The plants are 3.5 weeks into flower so I can’t transplant. I used a skewer and poked holes away from the main stem and attempted to squeeze the pots to break it up. This didn’t seem to help much.

My current plan is to use a 16” screwdriver to wiggle around and make some holes. And perlite into the holes before watering

Pics?

Renfro said:

Pics?

Click to expand...

This is what I have. The rusting towards top has increased since these pictures. I’ll get new pictures when I get home. The soil holds water on top almost like a loose mud before it goes down. And is taking a lot more water to get any out the bottom. If any even comes out.

Compacted soil generally causes a lack of oxygen at the roots resulting in poor root health.

Poking holes can help in extreme situations but it does damage roots causing death of some root tissue so I would add an enzyme like cannazyme to break down dead roots and help with the compaction.