solution should feel sort of “silky” and tepid—neither
warm nor cold.
Andrew Taylor is the Chief Chemist at FloraMax.
You can visit their website at Floramax.com.
Water Thoroughly
When hand watering or top feeding, do so
slowly, evenly and gradually. Aim for around twenty
percent of the nutrient solution to run out of the bot-
tom of the pots. Run-off helps to keep the root zone
cleaner with less salt build-up.
Dry Patches from Automated Top-Feeding
Water the surface of the medium at as many
points as possible otherwise areas of the root-zone
will risk being left un-watered. Devices such as
water-rings or spray nozzles are a good alternative to
single point drippers.
Check Run-Off
For run-to-waste coco coir or soil systems, pe-
riodically collect some of the run-off and check its
EC. If it measures more than 0.5mS (500 µS or cF
5.0) above the EC of the input nutrient solution then
consider fl ushing through with a milder solution (or
even pure water) to help clear the root zone of ex-
cess salts. For example, if the nutrient solution has
EC 1.7mS but your run-off measures 2.3mS (or more)
then it is time to fl ush.
Hard Water Problems
Hard water is typically alkaline—and so are many
nutrient additives. “Alkalinity” is what typically drives
nutrient pH above and beyond 6.5. This is the point
at which many trace elements (e.g. iron) begin to de-
stabilize. GG
April 2018
www.GardenandGreenhouse.net
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