Well, it's happened. The drain on site one is to a point of nearly completely clogged with roots. So, I'm going to need to do some root trimming. I don't have a choice at this point. Site one isn't draining fast enough during fertigation, so the bucket is filling up with water nearly to the top, and it's only a matter of days before it can no longer drain at all.
That being said, is there a right/wrong method for doing this? Should I anticipate the plant showing any kind of stress or other adverse symptoms post-trimming?
It's going to require some creativity given the drains are so small. If I run this system again, I for sure am upgrading the drain sizes. The 3/4" (I think) fittings I used are just not big enough. 2" should suffice I think. If I had an easy way of getting the plant out of the bucket I'd do the revision now but I cannot think of a way to get both plants out of the buckets without causing significant stress or damage this close to flipping to flower (flipping on the 1st).
@Lynch_Ironside I've determined what was causing the pH swings. It wasn't the buffer, it was the
hydroguard. The bacteria would go on a reproduction spree after adding, and cause the pH to skyrocket over that 24hr period. Then, it'd taper back down to where I initially set it over the next 24hr period. Going forward, I won't be adding
hydroguard as I'm sure there is enough cultural mass at this point to not require continued inoculation.
@Aqua Man your input would be very much appreciated! If you have ideas of how to safely get the plants out of the buckets or potential risks of root trimming, I'd love to hear em.