Start at the plants, not the controller. The tank can hold the right CropSalt mix and the controller can say the irrigation ran, but neither tells you what reached the pots. Find the dry pots, then trace back: one pot points to its outlet or tube, one row or zone points to that line, and the whole room points to the schedule, reservoir or pump.
Find the pattern
| What's dry | Check first |
|---|---|
| One pot | Its outlet: displaced, blocked or disconnected tube |
| One row or zone | That zone's valve, filter, line and pressure |
| Far end of a line | Pressure and flow: too many outlets running at once, undersized line, dirty filter |
| Whole room | Schedule, reservoir level, pump and main valves |
Look at the pot surface too. A dry patch on one side means water is coming out but not covering the pot.
Prove it with a catch test
Catch solution from the suspect outlet and a working one for the same amount of time. When a whole zone is weak, compare near, middle and far outlets. The rating printed on an emitter doesn't replace this check.
Repair the delivery problem
- One weak outlet: clean or replace it, reconnect the tube, and repeat the catch test.
- Weak zone: check the filter screen and seals, and whether water is bypassing the screen. Material can also form in the lines past the filter.
- Pressure but no flow: check the path after the pump before you call the pump dead. Is the valve actually opening?
- Too many outlets: adding lines can spread the available flow too thin. Fix the zoning or supply before adding runtime.
Don't just lengthen the timer. It won't clear a blocked outlet and it overwaters the pots that were already getting the right amount.
Handle the pots that went dry
Get them back on the system first. Dry coco rewets unevenly, so make sure the next feed wets the whole pot, not just a channel down one side. Keep those pots' readings separate from the rest of the room: a pot that missed feeds can read very differently, and a runoff reading stuck at the meter's maximum is the meter's limit, not the real EC. Once they're back on normal feeds, compare feed and last-10% runoff EC and pH.
Use the room history as an early warning
We use Govee H5179 sensors to watch temperature and humidity trends. In our rooms, watering often produces a recognizable humidity spike. If that spike is missing, we check the schedule, reservoir, pump and valves. More in How we use Govee sensors.
The spike is a room-level clue. A partial failure can still happen while the rest of the room produces its normal spike, so walk the room and check for dry pots too.
Confirm the repair at the plants
Repeat the timed outlet comparison and watch the affected pots through a full irrigation. They should wet evenly and drain like their neighbors. If plants still look different, test their feed and runoff individually instead of relying on pooled bench drainage.
Room changes can shift water use even when the hardware works. If heat or humidity changed, run the numbers through our VPD calculator.
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