Massive Rain storm

[Tarragon2017]

They are drying out but the force of the rain caused the soil to be caked and solid

[Jungle Jane]

Pots dry out faster than the earth. We had the same storm pass through here & I haven't watered anything out there yet. Nothing needs water today,my little plastic cups of marigold seedlings are still a bit heavy like its wet enough & it looks like it might rain again with those grey clouds.

[Tarragon2017]

Thanks would you advise not watering for a while

Does the soil improve in time as it seems very dense.

More rain to come monday evening

[Jungle Jane]

I don't know the future but there's a bit of rain in parts of London at the moment if you look at the live rainfall weather radar on the internet. Don't worry for today,it's not sunny enough for the ground to dry out. It is sunny here but cloudy too probably the same as there

[Tarragon2017]

Ill prob water tomorrow then keep them inside monday evening

[veggiechicken]

I've merged your threads about the rain.
Are the pots that have "caked" soil the ones you put in the "very hot conservatory" to dry out?

[Tarragon2017]

Yes Veggie Chicken , but they also seemed to have caked and got quite dense outside 2

[veggiechicken]

Could it be that the surface of the compost has dried out but underneath its still moist - like baking a loaf with a crust from the oven.

[Tarragon2017]

yes how does one rectify this

[veggiechicken]

If underneath is still moist, there's nothing to rectify - and they won't need watering tomorrow. Just don't bake your pots in a hot conservatory again

[johnjohn]

Snoop puss this was like a rain storm. Anyway I did put some seeds of asian herbs in Grape plastic fruit containers , this morning the sol was ultra soggy so I have now put it in the very hot conservatory , will the soil come back to what it was , as it feels kinda sludgy at the moment.

Just to add my two-peneth worth, I may have missed this and it may be obvious but have the pots (grape containers) got holes in the bottom? The ones in our fridge don't, so if not have you added any? If there are holes for drainage I don't see this as a problem.

[Tarragon2017]

John they came with holes , will the soil come back to normal soon

[johnjohn]

Yes, as others have indicated it should return to normal. You may be able to gently loosen the the crusty top.

[BUFFS]

Just seen the weeks weather on countryfile, oh dear, never mind, its usual summer for us then, summer is definitely here as the rain has got quite warm (that's how we tell summer) so we are now looking forward to July..

[Tarragon2017]

Buffs it seems that way , I am a new Gardener so I am worried that Fridays stormed has ruined my chances of getting any germination. If I do have success I am more likely to continue with gardening as I do enjoy it , but I do need some sort of results