Preparing Your Grow Room for Spring: The Ultimate Grow Room Maintenance Guide

Why Pre-Spring Grow Room Maintenance is Essential:

Spring is the best time of year; it is, in my opinion, the best season for growing here in Queensland, Australia (and probably everywhere else too)! It starts to get warmer in Spring, the sun is out more, the weather is nice, new life of all kinds emerges and to me it just feels like the nice half-way refresh point of the year!

Often associated with Spring is the timeless tradition of Spring Cleaning, which I’m sure you’re quite familiar with, and in our world of Hydroponics/Indoor Growing, we have our own Spring Cleaning tradition as well for our setups!

Just before, or at the very start of Spring is the time to take a good look at your setup and get some much needed re-organisation, cleaning and grow room maintenance done to prepare yourself for the next 6 months of warmer weather. In just a few short months, the humidity, heat and pest-friendly conditions of Australia’s late-Spring and Summer are going to put your Grow Room to the test, so making sure everything is in working order will ensure you can get the most out Spring and be ready for Summer!

I’ll be covering all of the Grow Room Maintenance you need to perform below in order to get ready for Spring and Summer:

• Cleaning/Checking your grow room or tent and equipment
• Cleaning/Checking reservoirs and irrigation lines and equipment.
• Calibrating pH & EC meters.
• Organising nutrients and grow tools.
• Preventing pests and disease before the season begins. 

The Ultimate Guide to Grow Room Maintenance: Cleaning

Starting with a clean space where all the growing is going to be happening is key for ensuring that there are minimal levels of contaminants, and less potential places for pests, mould or anything else to comfortably establish.

1.      Take everything out of the room that you have your grow tent in can and give the room itself a good clean.
Clear out the room of all your equipment, remove any rubbish, sweep/vacuum the floors to remove any old plant matter and dust. Wipe down the walls and clear out the cobwebs! The goal here is to start with the cleanest space imaginable for your grow equipment. Any permanently installed equipment can be wiped down with Isopropyl Alcohol as it sanitises surfaces and then evaporates away, leaving an ultra-clean surface. I recommend Growth Technologies’ IPA as it is 99% Isopropyl Alcohol and you can use it for every step of this guide! 

NOTE: If you don’t use a grow tent and instead have a grow room, remove everything you can that isn’t permanently installed and give whatever remains the same treatment!

2.     Clean and Sanitise Your Grow Tent (If you have one):
Vacuum out all the built-up dead leaves and plant matter, this is all stuff that pests and mould can hide in and accumulate so it’s important to remove it! You should also clean the outside, especially the top and bottom of the tent as these areas are often forgotten about!

Wipe off any remaining stubborn residue remaining on the inside and outside and then give the whole thing a once over with some Isopropyl Alcohol in a spray bottle to sanitise everything. Let that evaporate off and then put your grow tent back into your room! Now is also a great time to check for tears or light leaks, which can be repaired with good, strong tape if only small.

3.    Clean and Sanitise Your Ventilation, Lighting and Check Everything is Working!
Wipe all your fans, lights and any other environmental control equipment free of dust and use alcohol wipes or spray some Isopropyl on a cloth to sanitise everything. This all helps to remove any potential clogs of dust in your fans which reduce airflow, and removes any plant resin from your lights, which will increase lighting efficiency. Don’t forget to give all the cords a wipe too! NOTE: Don’t do this while anything is plugged in!

Check that everything is working well before reinstalling into your grow tent. Make sure your fans are spinning and blowing air, oscillating fans still oscillate, all diodes are lit up when you turn your light on, and that your dimming still works if your light has a dimmer etc. Another important step is making sure whatever you use to control your lighting’s on/off period does so correctly. Replace anything that isn’t working correctly if you can!

If anything you use has a filter in it or on it, such as in dehumidifiers and carbon filters etc. replace those if old, and replace your carbon filters if they’re older than 18 months or you noticed smell last time you used it!

It’s important to make sure everything’s working and clean because you’ll need your environmental control working its best in the warmer months to keep humidity and temperature in check – Especially here in Australia, Summer is when your equipment will work its hardest!

Jake’s Bonus Tip: When reinstalling all your equipment, take some extra time with some zip ties or hook and loop ties to do some neat cable management, it makes for a cleaner workspace. It really helps keep an organised space and can make the environment feel a lot easier to work with, as well as keeping easier track of wiring for easier future access!

4.     Check and Clean your Reservoir, Pots, Irrigation Line, and Pumps:

Check for cracks and splits, and make sure your pump is still working and looking good! Disassemble your pump and give it a good scrub to remove accumulated gunk and scrub out your reservoir and pots to do the same.

Once you’ve checked everything and made sure it’s all in working order. I would highly recommend connecting all your irrigation together, filling your reservoir with a solution of diluted Hydrogen Peroxide and running your pump to flush all your irrigation lines, fittings and drippers. The Hydrogen Peroxide solution will eat through build up and clear any blockages as well as cleaning everything. I would recommend setting up your irrigation as a loop that returns to the reservoir so you can just cycle it a few times and then flush with clean water at the end. This can be as simple as submersing all your feed lines in your reservoir. Growth Technologies’ Oxy Plus is 50% Concentrated Hydrogen Peroxide and has been a staple of our store for this purpose and so I highly recommend it!

Put it all Back Together and Do One Final Check!

Now that everything's cleaned, re-assemble your setup and test to see if everything is still working as it normally should. If everything passes inspection, congratulations! Your setup is clean, re-organised and ready to grow!

Why Maintaining your Hydroponic Measuring Equipment is Essential for Grow Room Maintenance:

Hydroponic equipment such as pH pens, EC Pens, or combo meters are invaluable pieces of kit that allow you monitor the exact parameters of your nutrient solution, and will allow you to make necessary adjustments accurately, allowing you to ensure your pH is in that 5.5 – 6.5 sweet spot, and your EC levels are where they are supposed to be (this is very plant dependent so ensure to do your research to find out exactly what value your EC should be at). Most pens also will read the temperature of your reservoir when you take a pH/EC reading and can be useful for quick spot-checks.

However, their usefulness quickly goes out the window if your equipment isn’t cleaned, maintained or calibrated! Lack of maintenance means dodgy readings, and dodgy readings means you might be out of your required sweet spots which could lead to burning, or deficiencies! We see growers all the time that come into our store wondering why their plants are struggling or why their equipment doesn’t seem to be performing correctly and often its related to not properly calibrating/maintaining their pH/EC measuring equipment.

 pH Pens have probes that need to be calibrated every 10 uses on average using two-part calibration. This keeps the pen reading accurately! Most pens will use Buffer Solutions of pH 4 and 7 to calibrate the pen with, and it’s good to have a healthy supply of both to ensure you can always keep your pen measuring it’s best!

Additionally, if your pen requires the cap to be filled with KCI solution, which submerges the probe in a protective layer between uses, making sure to never let the cap dry out will ensure the probe doesn’t become unusable. This is the number 1 killer of pH pens and it’s always important to check the cap regularly and top up as needed - otherwise you might be up for a new pH Pen! 

 EC Pens need to be calibrated too but far less often and use Conductivity Solution to calibrate, usually either 2.76 or 1.413 depending on your model of EC Pen (The manual will tell you!)  

Finally, something you should do is get yourself a probe care or cleaning kit and give your pen(s)’ probe a good clean. This will remove any matter that may have built up over the last few months of use and ensure that the probe is only reading the nutrient solution you put it in and not any residual gunk left on the probe from the last use.

If you have a pen that has a replaceable probe, if it’s older than a couple years it may be worth replacing the probe as they eventually cannot be re calibrated or hold calibration for very long due to how the probes work.

Going over your equipment and giving it the proper maintenance it deserves ensures you can be growing your best all the time, not just in Spring!

Grow Room Maintenance: Organising Nutrients for Spring and Preparing for Pests

Nutrients:

Nutrients are obviously a very important part of growing plants hydroponically, and ensuring you have what you need to grow what you want to grow before the season starts keeps you ready for anything.

If you follow a feed chart, be sure to read over it and check what you already have and what you need. If any of your Nutrients are old, especially organic nutrients, they can destabilise and lose their effectiveness. It’s always good practice to buy only what you’ll need so that you run out of everything by the time you’ve harvested, this ensures your Nutrients are always fresh and at their peak potency!

If you do like to bulk buy nutrients to last you for a long time that’s also fine, but sticking to Mineral based nutrients will give you better results and always storing in a cool dark place once opened will prolong their shelf-life.

Pests:

Pests are always a threat no matter how clean, secure and diligent you may be with your growing practices and Grow Room Maintenance. They sometimes truly do seem to pop up out of nowhere. That being said, everything you’ve done so far if you’ve been following along with this guide should mean that you have the best chance against pest showing up uninvited!

There’s three final steps you can take to both prevent pest infestations and eradicate them if they do show up.

1)      Shower if possible, and wear fresh clothes and different shoes before entering your grow space. This prevents you from accidentally bringing any stowaways from outside into your grow environment.

2)      Use systemic protection with your plants when you start growing. There are a variety of organic Pesticides you can apply either as a root drench or a foliage application (in vegetative growth stages preferably) that will deter or kill any bugs that somehow manage to get onto your plants when they attempt to eat the plant. No More Bugs is a good general preventative, or if you’re aware of the types of pests that usually show up, one of the Smart Garden pesticides for specific varieties may be the better choice.

3)      Have some Pesticides for immediate treatment on-hand in case of infestation. Generally, Fungus Gnats, Spider-Mites, Thrips, Whitefly and Aphids are the most common and can all be treated easily if detected early. Having Smart Garden 209 on-hand for Spider Mites and some T-Drops for Fungus Gnats ready to go especially allows you get on top of an infestation as soon as you spot them. If you’re already using No More Bugs then Whitefly, Thrips and Aphids should not be an issue.

You Are Now Prepared for Spring!

Following all the above Grow Room Maintenance guide now means you have a squeaky-clean grow environment, with all your tools, equipment and irrigation ready to perform their best, and you are prepared for the climate changes and ready for any potential pests that might dare to invade your growing fortress!

Q: When’s the best time to perform Grow Room Maintenance?

A: Just before, or at the very start of any major seasonal change. The end of  our Winter/Start of Spring or the end of Summer/Start of Autumn are good times to gear up for the Australian climate shifting towards either being very cold or very hot. These in-between seasons like Autumn and Spring give you time to prepare and gradually shift your grow environment to accommodate for the conditions. We focused on prepping for the our warmer months in this article but a lot of the process is similar for the going from hot weather to cold weather, and we’ll cover the specifics of that in another article.

Q: Why do I need to clean my grow setup at all?

A:  Routine Grow Room Maintenance is good for preventing pests and problems from arising as you go through each growth cycle. Paying close attention to the state of your equipment and things like your irrigation lines prevent hard to diagnose problems causing you a headache down the track.

Q: How often should I calibrate my pH pen and what do I need for it?

A: Every 10 uses is the average amount that most pens officially require in their manuals, but you can be safe and do it once a week as part of your weekly Grow Room Maintenance routine to always ensure you’re calibrated. You need pH 4 and 7 Buffer solutions, which are liquids set at those pH levels and that’s what you’ll stick your pen into when it’s in calibration mode to give your pen the required data to read your nutrient solution accurately!

Q: How do I clean my irrigation lines, when should I replace them?

A: Flushing them through with Hydrogen Peroxide solution will eat away any build-up and kill any bacteria living in the feed/return lines. Most Nutrient brands also have some sort of flushing product that you can add to your regular feed schedule which will reduce build-up in the first place which prolongs the life of your feed lines and helps prevent salt build-up.

You should endeavour to replace your irrigation lines and fittings every 12 Months as the plastic will begin to leech things out of your solution and fittings may begin to split or leak after heavy use.

Q: What’s the best way to treat pest infestations?

A: The best way to treat a pest is to prevent it establishing in the first place. Performing Grow Room Maintenance and practising good grow hygiene such as showering/changing clothes before entering your grow area will prevent bringing anything into your environment and using systemic protection pesticides kill or deter pests before they can establish.

About the Author:

Jake works with growers every day at Fran's Hydroponics, helping customers achieve better results through practical advice on propagation, environmental control, hydroponic systems and indoor growing. His goal is to make growing easier and more successful for growers of all experience levels.

We’re Here to Help You Grow:

This Grow Room Maintenance guide should keep you out of trouble and ensure you’re as ready as you can be for the coming warmer season, but if you’re unsure of anything I’ve covered here, or not sure which maintenance products are right for your setup, our team is always happy to help. Feel free to get in touch or visit us in-store for friendly advice and answers to any concerns or queries you may have.