I’m about to start my outdoor tomatoes and am going to try it using my beloved SG3; I have high hopes. But the experimental pod I bought (not from C&G) has a small (very!) hole in it and I’m concerned that the innards and the nutrients might have dried out. Have a look if you please. You know I’ll appreciate your wisdom and advice. 
Be safe.
Hi @HappyME
Suspicious as it is - this little hole is meant to be there 
The pods you receive should be dry, it does not affect how the pod performs in any ways.
What kind of tomatoes are you planning to grow?
Thanks so much, @Margam. I wondered if the hole was part of manufacturing. Good to know and very good to know they’re meant to start out dry. There’d have been another “new topic” on that!
I’m going to start seedlings of Big Beef. They’re what I’ve been buying seedlings for and I’m looking forward to giving them an excellent start by way of my SG3. They can go into the ground when (if?) it warms up enough. They can go into the ground at 6-10 inches; it will depend on the roots as to whether I’ll need an intermediate transplant. No problem if I do though. I would anticipate just plopping my pod into an appropriately sized peat pot and composted peat mix.
Makes my mouth water!
Thanks as usual for the help and encouragement.
Be safe.
I had to pick the only one in the shop which was without hole inside out of twenty soil packs. so i chose the wrong one.
@Mirjam I don’t know if I can revive this topic but I’ll try. I’ve started my experimental pods and all is well except that they’re all still dry. I filled the tank about 18 hours ago and I’m wondering how long it takes for the pods to become moist/wet. I don’t remember from before. I think I may have watered the basil (my first “crop”) from above to get them going. Maybe not and I’m pretty sure the tomatoes were at least not bone dry 
to start with. Can you give me an idea of what I should expect? Thanks.
Hi @HappyME
The pods should become fully moist in less than an hour.
Most probably wicks are clogged and can no longer supply enough water to your freshly planted soils. You should replace the wicks and get new ones online. It is quite easy to change.
A quick fix is to take the wicks out, soaks them in diluted vinegar for at least 10 minutes, rinse and place it back to the cup and try again. Vinegar should break any minerals build up and clog the wick and hopefully, those wicks can last a little longer until you get new ones.
I’ll try the quick fix. I ordered new wicks yesterday after “biting the bullet” and paying the shipping. I bought a couple of other things I didn’t really need to sort of justify paying $10 for a $3 order. Sigh.
A couple of other relevant questions. First, I’m assuming I can gently lift the pods out of the cups, change the wicks and replace the pods. The order is for 9 wicks; how should I store the spares? Second, I think I read but would like to confirm that I shouldn’t cover the holes into which I dropped the seeds. Yes?
Thanks as usual for being very helpful and for offering support for our endeavors. It matters quite a lot!
Sure, you should be able to lift the pods, replace the wicks and click the pods back in. Once you are changing the wicks, make sure that the wick is a few mm above the bottom of the cup, so it could have good firm contact with the soil.
As you are growing tomatoes, you may cover the seeds slightly, but as the soil is entirely moist you may just place the seeds in the little hole and leave them as they are.
And the spare wicks can be stored for quite a long time, just keep it in the package in a dry place.
Happy to help! 