keeping with the flow
in total dissolved solids (TDS) and some
tap water is high in chorine residual,
neither of which is good for the health
of the plant. There are a number of ways
to neutralize the amount of chlorine
residual in the water. One is simply to
expose it to the air for 24 to 48 hours. If
you want something faster, you can apply
a beneficial bioburden to the water. This
bacteriological presence in the water will
be killed by the chlorine present, which
neutralizes the chlorine. (As a bonus, any
of the beneficial bacteria that survive
will only help improve the quality of the
water-nutrient solution. Still, be careful which products you use to remove
chlorine as you do not want to introduce
anything that would be harmful to your
crop.) To protect your plants from high
TDS, I would recommend not using the
tap water at all; instead,
use processed water,
such as that created
through reverse osmosis.
Keeping waste to
a minimum
So, if we are going to
use a drain-to-waste
system, how can we
keep the waste to a
minimum? A welldesigned drip system
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130
Maximum Yield USA | September 2012
with a timer-controller that can be programmed to run for three to four short
cycles on any given day is going to be essential. Slow drip irrigation is a key here
because the faster we apply the waternutrient solution, the more of it drains
“Different growing
mediums, as well as
growing conditions,
will greatly affect
the time between
waterings for your
drain-to-waste
system.”