If you're indoors, a dehumidifier can work wonders by pulling moisture from the air, helping your soil dry out quicker.
Increase Air Circulation: Move your plants to a well-ventilated area or use a fan to improve air circulation around the soil. This helps speed up the drying process. Use a Dehumidifier: If your environment is humid, using a dehumidifier can help lower the moisture in the air and promote faster drying of the soil.
The most common size is a 5/8″ opening, which will fit most standard garden hoses. Use this to drain away the collected moisture by taking the end of a standard garden hose and attaching it to the drain fitting of your dehumidifier. Run the hose down to your drain, sump pump, condensate pump, or HVAC drainage line.
If the soil is really, really wet, you can try tipping the root mass out of the pot and rolling it up in newspaper or paper towels for several hours, to absorb extra water. Replace the root ball into the pot, put the plant into the highest light you have, and set up a small fan to blow over the soil.
Dehumidifiers are primarily used to combat moisture related problems such as mould and mildew growth, but now have several other applications - including being used in place of a tumble dryer to dry your laundry.
Keep Your Dehumidifier Away from the Walls
It's easy to assume the best place to put your dehumidifier is against the wall. But it's not! Dehumidifiers suck in and expel air using vents. Blocking any of these vents can reduce your dehumidifier's effectiveness.
Once temperatures drop to around 65 degrees, it's best to turn the dehumidifier off. Doing so will help prevent moisture from freezing on the dehumidifier's coils, which could damage your unit.
Set the pot in a shallow container of water (if size allows), allowing the soil to slowly absorb the water. This technique is known as bottom watering. It may take an hour or more to thoroughly re-wet the soil. Be careful not to leave pots soaking in standing water continuously.
Hard-packed clay and silty garden soils can also become crusted and resist wetting, allowing water to run off instead of absorbing it. To re-wet, repeatedly sprinkle the surface lightly, making sure there is no run off. Eventually the soil will become moist enough to break up the crust.
Overwatered plants can sometimes recover on their own, but it depends on the plant and the extent of the overwatering. If the roots have rotted, the plant will likely not recover. However, if the overwatering has only caused the leaves to wilt, the plant may be able to bounce back.
Dehumidifier water can be a valuable resource for non-edible indoor and outdoor plants, similar in composition to rainwater. However, it is advisable to avoid using dehumidifier water on edible plants, particularly those consumed raw, to prevent the risk of contamination and severe health issues.
The water is drained by gravity alone so for effective continuous drainage the dehumidifier needs to be raised a foot or two above the floor and the hose run to a floor level drain.
Use your dehumidifier water in your mop bucket or with soap for your walls, countertops or even your car. Just be sure to avoid using this water to wash your dishes or cooking tools, as contaminants in the water may find their way into your next meal. Another great use for your dehumidifier water is your steam iron.
Simply add organic debris to the soil surface and let your “underground herd” break it down. As it does, it will improve your soil's texture and make nutrients available to your plants. So don't be shy about applying copious amounts of organic residue to your soil.
Use soil wetting products and organic matter
These products, available in granular, liquid concentrate or hose-on form, can dramatically improve water penetration. “Soil wetting agents help by penetrating through the waxy layer, enabling water to be absorbed throughout the soil,” she explains.
No matter what your soil is composed of, putting sand on top can actually cause drainage problems and dry pockets in the soil. And there's more.
If the soil is still wet for more than a week, without outside contributing factors like rain or flooding, there might be a waterlogging or drainage problem. Watering clay soil is especially difficult, as poor drainage makes it especially prone to waterlogging.
There is no truly quick fix to wet, soggy soil. To help speed the process, break up and turn the soil to expose more of the water to the air. Mix in some dry compost or other organic material.
A potting mix also must have ingredients that help it retain moisture. This is where organic materials—usually peat moss, sphagnum moss, or coir—come in. They cling to some of the water that the aggregates are helping to drain.
Should a Dehumidifier Run Constantly? No, your dehumidifier should not have to run constantly to regulate the air humidity. An optimal humidity level to shoot for is between 30 and 50 percent. Your dehumidifier should reach this in 8 to 12 hours.
Firstly, it's worth noting that the most effective place to position a dehumidifier is in the centre of a room. This allows the air to circulate properly around the unit. The only time when this positioning can be disregarded is if the unit has a top-mounted air discharge.
Cons of Dehumidifiers
Dehumidifiers collect water meaning they need to be regularly emptied. They also need to be regularly cleaned otherwise black mould can start to grow on the machine , which can induce a wide range of health problems including allergic reactions, lung problems and irritation.