Using Soil of 2 different consistencies

[Gurtgurt]

Hello,

This is really just a search for any thoughts on the matter. It's already done and the plants are for sure rooted by now.

I started my seedlings in 1.6 L hard pots with FFOF right out of the bag. Meanwhile, I added an additional 20% perlite to the remaining soil. After they were rooted in the smaller pots I transplanted to 5 gal fabric pots, surrounding the root ball with this soil + perlite.

So now my plants sit with the centermost chunk of soil being the thick consistency, and surrounded on all sides by a couple inches of lightened soil.

I assume this may not be ideal. But what do you think? What kind of effects might you expect?

Thank you for your input

 

[freezeland2]

You may find it harder to water properly. Poke some holes down through the soil in the more compacted soil around the root ball. Otherwise water will tend to run off and down the edges and out the fabric.

 

[mancorn]

“gravitational water will not move from a finely soil texture into a coarser material until the finer soil is saturated.”

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/container-drainage.pdf

 

[mysticepipedon]

In this case it's not that big a deal. Once those roots come out of the "chunk," and the lighter soil is nice and moist after a watering, you should be fine.

It's worse when you have two different layers, and the top one has to be totally saturated before water enters the bottom layer.