Sounds pretty normal to me. Don't know anything about the Ladybug mix but if it has soil (dirt) in it then yeah could have draining problems with it as it compacts. But 5-1-1 drains well so if it is holding moisture well then that is fine. Watering is never done on a fixed schedule anyway.

Dave

Not completely sure what the problem is. You water when it's getting dry at depth. How fast the bed dries will depend on its drainage and permeability to the air. If the plants are no longer seedlings, their roots are down where your finger won't even be able to probe. You could poke in one of the holes at the bottom of the container and see if a load of water comes out. If not, you probably don't have any drainage problems.

I make my own version of 5-1-1. I think it is the best. You can never go wrong with over watering. It has a very low Perched Water Table. But you have to keep adding water soluble fert to the water to compensate for leaching nutrients.

It works perfectly in our cool climate. At higher temperatures need to water more often than you would with peat moss based mixes.

Sey