23.08 The Drainmaster moved into the tent to control the drain. Defoliated and lollipopped them. 25.08 First run with the drain system. Nutrient Solution (Tank): Volume: 8.5 L EC: 3.05 pH: 5.5 Nutrients: Advanced Nutrients Micro/Grow/Bloom + CalMag Irrigation Run: Pump time: 30 minutes Total Drain: 5.0 L (≈ 60%) Drain EC: 2.6 Drain pH: 6.0 🔎 Observations Drain volume was far too high (target is ~20%). Drain EC lower than input EC → medium was relatively “empty”, plants absorbed nutrients quickly. pH drift from 5.5 → 6.0 shows some buffering effect left in the reused substrate, but limited. Substrate behaves more like coco than soil now (low buffer, fast response). 💡 Insight / Lesson Learned 30 minutes pump time is way too long → resulted in 60% runoff instead of 20%. For 8 × 1 L pots, a single irrigation event should be ~1.0–1.2 L total, with ~200–250 ml runoff. Solution: shorten pump time to ~5 minutes and re-test runoff. Better approach: run shorter, more frequent irrigations (daily) with a lower EC (2.0–2.2), instead of heavy feedings (EC 3.0) only 3× per week. This will keep EC more stable in the root zone and prevent salt buildup in the tiny 1 L pots.