Sphagnum peat moss perlite mix

what kind of sphagnum peat moss did you use? the 'raw' kind that comes with a whacky-low pH and no wetting agent? Or, did you buy some that has been treated with a wetting agent and ph-balanced? This makes a huge difference. Assuming the substrate isnt something uninhabitable for a potted plant, sphagnum peat moss should be treated like a soilless medium. no different than coco or other alternatives. fertilize every irrgation with 10% runoff or more. the runoff is key to avoiding buildup and maintaining a consistent level of nutrients in the substrate. This makes diagnosing problems much easier. Perlite or similar should be 50% of the total volume. this makes 'overwatering' impossible unless you do something super crazy that no one in their right mind would do. If less this time, don't worry it'll still grow okay, it's just not as ideal as roughly 50%. Vermiculite #3 is a better option if available as it also adds some available silica. I'd wager it's 'raw' and ph is your real problem. Flushing isn't going to correct it if that's the case, unfortunately. Slowly over time it'll get better. IF it is repelling water, that is also a bright flashing neon sign telling you it was unprocessed sphagnum peat moss with no wetting agent applied. if the pH is super low, adds some garden lime or some other soil conditioner that raises pH. This can also impact your feeding regimen. whats garden lime add beside Ca? check label and possibly adjsut fertilizer formula too. if you stick to the 1:1 ratio of sphagnum peat moss to "perlite" type amendment, it will have the similar water holding capacity of 70/30 coco+perlite... and all the magic people associate with it, lol. You can constitute it any way you want relative to need. There is no environment out there that you 'shouldn't' use peat moss. total figment of someone's imagination. Don't try to adjust RH to fix this problem. Stick to a healthy VPD range for your stage of life. Stressing the shit out of the plant with high vpd rates to make it drink more is going to cause as many problems/drawbacks as it solves. constitute your substrate better next time.. better drainage qualities will also reduce water retention a bit as perlite absorbs nothing and vermiculite absorbs very little water per volume by comparison. Use a ph-balanced sphagnum peat moss and if it comes with a small pre-charge of nutes that's okay too. BX and HP but come with about a 1EC pre-charge. If you look at their analysis sheet for those products, it's got an awesome ratio, too.. neeeds a bit more K but that's irrelevant for young plants and you'll be fertilizing with a similar but better formula from day 1 anyway with that religious 10% or more runoff.

Create a warmer and dry growing environment that promotes evaporation and transpiration keeping rh just below 50%. Water will evaporate wickimg from medium to the drier atmospheric change of dry air. There is no overwatering, all watering should be to 10% run off, how well your medium retains moisture should be a direct reflection of growing conditions. Don't add spaghetti peat moss when your growing in a jungle. Would be useful in a arid conditions. Lol spaghetti. Good luck.