Your best bet would be to get it out of that soil. I agree, adding watering to the bottom would just make things worse. The bottom is usually the last area to dry.

This mix is so deceiving it always has some moisture but I've learned to judge by the weight of the container. This mix works more like a sponge but retains water in the same area instead of working it's way downward. So once the water is used/dried in one area it stays dry while others are still damp.

I believe the bottom dries out first because the poor aeration forces all the roots to drainage holes at the bottom being it's their only source of oxygen. Roots + fresh air end up drying the bottom out faster and the mix doesn't transfer moisture well to compensate. I hope that makes sense....

I'm thinking drilling more holes in the center might help a lot, but once they get bigger I don't want to have to water 2+ times a day

How do you know for sure the bottom is dry and how have you checked besides how much the container weighs?

I have a hard time believing the bottom is drying out first. It just doesn't work that way. Water travels downward and will dry from the top down to the bottom. The only way the bottom will stay dry is if you're watering in sips and never thoroughly drenching and flushing the soil. That also poses issues with salt build ups.

MG moisture control is terrible stuff. You and your plants would be much better off simply switching to a fast draining mix than to deal with watering issues and root issues the plants will eventually, if not already have.

you could drill 500 holes all along the side. It won't help much and will just make watering difficult. Water will run down the sides of the container and exit the holes before ever reaching the center of the container. Trust me, I tried that with regular MG. Switching almost everything I grow to the 5:1:1 mix was the best thing I ever did for my plants.

I took 2 chop sticks and stuck one into the top/bottom. While they both showed some moisture the bottom chop stick was noticeably lighter, barley damp, dried out in a few minutes.
I would repot them or at least add perlite but my growing season is short and I already had a late start on my tomatoes and peppers. I fear they might not recover in time or if they do my yield will be drastically reduced. Next year I will know better then to use this garbage.

Try it. Use your judgement.

Jane

I did and it out worked well! Provided enough water to the bottom to wait a day for the top half to dry out a bit more. However it did not eliminate top watering. I do need a longer/taller tray as doing this to all my buckets becomes hugely time consuming. Its a bandaid but not practical.

For bottom watering here's what I'm using. I go to Walmart and buy the Sterilite 12 Quart (15 3/4" x 12 1/2" x 6" deep) rectangular dish pans. This size works well with a 5 gallon black plastic container. They cost $1.75 a Walmart, I'm sure you can find them anywhere since Sterilite is a common brand for plastic goods. I use the next size up for 15 gallon black plastic containers.

I've been filling them with about 3"-4" of water, and in hot weather they will go dry within a week if the plant is large. Then I let them stay dry for a while, watching the wetness of the potting soil. Depending on the plant's water needs, I try to give the roots a chance to dry a bit and get some oxygen. I use 12" wooden dowels stuck in the potting soil to keep track of the potting soil's wetness. So far this is working well and really cuts down on the time spent watering.

I'm also experimenting with wicking containers, putting a reservoir of water at the bottom of the container (similar to the Earth Box concept). For tomatoes at least, this really works well...the tomatoes love having the water below and grow like crazy.

Another inexpensive way is to use those corrugated tinfoil(?) baking/basting pans, like the ones used for turkeys but smaller sizes (with high sides). They are more fragile and can be a pain to use if your ground is uneven. And they don't cost much less than the Sterilite dish pans (which will last for a long time compared to the tinfoil pans).

Thanks for the tip on the trays, I'm definitely going to look for those! For this year at least its the best way to go