hi there, Basic question.

I recently repotted some trees into better soil. they had been in compost type stuff which i got from the store. with earthy, small particle soil it was alays easy to dig my finger in a little bit, and I could easy feel if the soil was dry down there. with Lava rock and perlite and a little organic, its much harder for me to tell... is the rule the same? do you look at the color of the rocks? digging in with my finger is sort of harder with lava rock, so i was wondering if anyone had a thought about this. forgive the silly question please.

Kleenex4u wrote:

with earthy, small particle soil it was alays easy to dig my finger in a little bit, and I could easy feel if the soil was dry down there. with Lava rock and perlite and a little organic, its much harder for me to tell...

Use the chopstick method.

(I just look at the sky )

With Akadama or crushed brick I go for the color.
Lighter=dry

pick the pot up and feel the weight

Get a piece chunk of Lava and leave it to dry. Then compare the color with what you have in the pot. If they match, here you go.