EC for pot and watering management

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Just thinking here......

Would it be better to soak the pot/media overnight by running water through it, then collect a measured amount after the media has time to release salt form the media?

My thinking is that if you collect the water from the first pour, your just testing the fertilizer buildup on the outside or shell of the media and not what the media is holding on too inside.

Also, Why pour a measured amount through the media instead of collecting a measured amount?
 
Would it be better to soak the pot/media overnight by running water through it, then collect a measured amount after the media has time to release salt form the media?

My thinking is that if you collect the water from the first pour, your just testing the fertilizer buildup on the outside or shell of the media and not what the media is holding on too inside.

Also, Why pour a measured amount through the media instead of collecting a measured amount?


Yes if you test just after fertilizing then all you are doing is just testing the immediate hold up from that event. All the measurements I did were based on pots that hadn't been fed and recieved normal watering for a week.

As Mike pointed out, the amount of water your pour in (and rate) is what is going to melt out and dilute what comes off in the first place. The amount you end up sticking your meter into is irrelivant so long as it represents 90 or so percent of what you pour in. The amount going in is doing the work. But if your media is real dry, and you see a huge difference in what goes in versus what comes out, then you may need to run additional water through to make sure the mix is fullly saturated to start with.

I think you'll get more realistic values if you cork up the pot and fill it up and let it sit for a while, then stick the probe in or dig a little hole to fit the end of your meter into. The dynamics of salt transfer from flowing water from different media, pot volumes, volume/surface area......... is to complicated to make hard and fast rules for pour through testing. The main thing is to standardize your own system so you can develop a good baseline for comparison of your own way of doing things, and not trying to standardize across all the other growers.
 

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