Over watered living soil

[Sour D]

This is my first grow in a pot with soil. Previous grows have been in coco and sips. It is living soil with all the with all the the usual suspects worms, soil, compost, top dress etc. I believe when I was prepping the pot-18 gal Grass Roots-I may have over watered it. I forgot to add yucca to the water and probably has something to do with the water going straight to the bottom. Bottom 3" of pot is dark from moisture, my old skinny butt can't even lift it. It was pretty heavy b4 the water. Plant has got a case of leaf curl up. I did find an article on BuildaSoil about how to figure the amount of water for different size pots. Let the pot dry for a week then started back with1/2 (1 litre) the recommended amount. Judging by the weight and the curl, I'm thinking it needs to dry some more. I have a layer of stones under the pot to get some air circulation
???????????
Will the leaves uncurl to tell me its dry enough?
The top of the pot gets dry and I'm afraid of killing off all the biology going on up there. Should I just mist the top while trying to get the bottom dried out?
Would it be better to foliar feed?
Should I just leave it alone?
Thanks

 

[namvet25]

Your plant looks great so I would just leave it dry out normally before you water again.

 

[WildBill]

They look fine.
You need more top cover to keep the moisture levels higher and shade for your worms. Shade is important for your worms to come up to the surface to eat your top dressings. Feed those worms. Check them often. They can eat quite a lot and that can add up depending on how many you put in. With worms in your pot, you will want to keep the top moist. Misting the top won't hurt, but really shouldn't be needed if you have a good layer of cover. I can't get the straw I want, so I just went to the pet store and picked up some Timothy hay. It works well.
18 gal is a big pot...............heavy pot! Good for a living soil grow!

 

[Sour D]

I put some "real kelp" in there to do just that. I think I need to add a 2nd layer to add more shade and keep top damp. the one layer dries out although I noticed the underside had some moisture. Becomes kind of a sip cover. The big pot was more to see if I can grow a Christmas tree.

 

[WildBill]

You want to be able to lift up your cover and see your worms running for cover.