Hydrophobic soil occurs when a waxy residue builds up on the soil particles resulting in it repelling water rather than absorbing it. It is most common in sandy soils, dried out potting mix and soils containing unrotted organic matter. You can identify hydrophobic soil by watering it.
Dry soil can be easily improved by adding organic matter, such as well-rotted manure or garden compost. This will improve the soil structure and will help to retain moisture.
Too much water can be just as damaging to plants as too little water. Before watering, check your garden's soil moisture with your finger. Push it into the ground around your plants. You want the top 2 or 3 inches of the soil to be dry, and the soil below that to be moist.
Air bubbles will form as air escapes from the soil and is displaced by water. Once the bubbling stops, remove the pot from the bucket of water. Set the pot in a shallow container of water, allowing the soil to absorb the water slowly. It may take an hour or more to thoroughly re-wet the soil.
When a plant is first becoming overwatered, leaves turn yellow. If soil doesn't have a chance to dry out before you water again, leaves start to wilt. When overwatering is the problem, wilted leaves are soft and limp. (If too little water is the issue, wilted leaves are dry and crispy.)
Mix water-absorbing materials into your soil.
Organic material, such as coconut coir, peat moss, or even compost, will absorb water, retaining moisture that plants can use during dry spells.
If you still have concerns, it's easy to make your own soil wetter from agar-agar, a naturally occurring gelling agent derived from various seaweeds and algae. You can buy it in powder form from health food shops.
Natural Wet is a wetting agent, designed to alleviate plants suffering from stress in unfavorable conditions. By harnessing the resilience of yucca plant extracts, Natural Wet aids plants by regulating water usage while facilitating nutrient absorption in times of heat and moisture stress.
Wetting agents and washing detergents work the same way. The addition of ordinary washing detergent can improve the penetration of water in soil, but the effect does not last very long. Also many of these detergents contain compounds that are harmful to growing plants.
Adding lots of organic matter such as compost, farm manure, or shredded leaves to clayey soil will allow it to drain more easily and hold the right amounts of water and air for better plant growth and increased biological activity.
A layer of organic mulch helps the soil retain water so it can stay moist. Apply a 2-4 inch (5 – 10 cm) layer of organic mulch, like straw, compost, or leaves, on top of the garden soil to reduce evaporation.
Signs of root rot are slow growth, mushy stems, and wilting, yellow, distorted leaves (especially when the plant has been well watered, as wilting leaves can also be a sign of a dry plant).
Leaves Turn Brown and Wilt
This also occurs when plants have too much water. The biggest difference between the two is that too little water will result in your plant's leaves feeling dry and crispy to the touch while too much water results in soft and limp leaves.
Cyperus. If your houseplants repeatedly succumb to root rot, get yourself a cyperus. Cyperus plants have tall grass-like shoots topped with slender bracts that droop downward in an umbrella shape. Cyperus are natives of tropical swamps, so it's virtually impossible to overwater them.
Another way to determine the texture of your soil is to check how fast water drains through it. Dig a hole 1 foot deep by 1 foot wide. Fill the hole with water and record how long it takes for the water to completely drain. The ideal time is between 10 and 30 minutes.
Quick take: Clay soils drain slowly, and sandy soils drain quickly. For this reason, the thinking often goes that adding or tilling sand into a clay soil will improve the drainage characteristics. Unfortunately, this generally won't work and there are better ways to improve the drainage and quality of the soil.
Once spread on your lawn, the chemicals are activated by rain or irrigation and the carrier gradually breaks down over time. Unlike fertiliser, which can become toxic in large quantities, soil wetting agents are usually harmless. But once the soil has recovered, repeatedly applying them is a waste of time and money.
When should I apply wetting agents? The best time to apply a soil improver with a wetting agent is at the start of winter, in early summer and as recommended by the manufacturer. Always water in wetting agents until they foam. This means they are activated and doing their job.
Application of wetting agent should be carried out 2-3 times per watering season. A sound strategy is to get your 1st application down early in the watering season (late Oct) long before the Winter moisture is gone from your soil profile.
Dawn dish soap can save your plants from pest infestation, but it can damage them as well — this may sound contradictory, but it's true! Too much of it dissolved in water can burn the leaves of your sensitive plants. If you want to make this work, do these things: For a gallon of water, 1 teaspoon of it is fine.