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Flex Acre Maintenance Schedule

How often to clean, dose, and deep clean your Flex Acre

Follow the instructions in this article to plan every recurring task on your Flex Acre, from the weekly circuit through the deep clean. Each row below links to its full procedure.

Your Flex Acre Maintenance Schedule

We recommend the schedule below as your starting point.

NOTE: EVERY INTERVAL HERE IS A RECOMMENDATION. YOUR CROP AND YOUR WATER MAY PULL A TASK EARLIER.

Every Week

We recommend one weekly pass through all 5 tasks, in the order listed above.

  • Start at your Primary Pump and your timer, as a pump that is not humming makes every reading after it meaningless.
  • Rinse your Disc Filter.
  • Check your water level before you dose.
  • Dose Nutrient A.
  • Dose Nutrient B.
  • Wait 60 minutes at minimum after dosing before you read your pH, as your water needs that time to pass the chemical buffer zone.
  • Wipe your 40 Light Bars while your nutrients stabilize.
  • Prune your oldest leaves while your nutrients stabilize.

Keep your Tank (the water reservoir) at about 3 inches below the top, roughly 80 gallons, as letting the water fall below the top of the pump voids your warranty. Spray your towel and never your Light Bars, as letting water reach them voids your warranty. Use only the nutrients, pH Up and pH Down supplied by Fork Farms, as solutions from any other source void your warranty.

Every Grow Cycle

A grow cycle runs from your rockwool to your harvest knife.

  • Sanitize your rockwool sheets.
  • Soak your sheets to a pH of 6.0.
  • Sow your seeds at the density your crop asks for.
  • Label the tray before you move it.
  • Hold the tray in your Flex Micro for typically 14 to 21 days.
  • Prepare your Flex Acre, your cart and your ladder before transplant day.
  • Seat 1 rockwool cube per planting space.
  • Cut your crop when it is ready.
  • Weigh each cambro before you store it.

We recommend holding your leafy greens in your Flex Micro for typically 2 weeks from the planting date, and your herbs for typically 3 to 4 weeks. Your humidity domes come off inside that window rather than at the end of it, once about 90 percent of your seeds have germinated, which is roughly 5 to 7 days in for lettuce. Lettuce and herbs run the same loop, and each one carries its own seeding density, its own transplant spacing, and its own storage. Follow the crop headings in the linked articles rather than reading across them.

Between Crops

A finished harvest opens the between crops window, and we recommend closing it before your next transplant.

  • Pull the rockwool plugs from your Panel wall.
  • Clean your Panel wall while it is empty.
  • Sanitize your Panel wall once it is clean.
  • Clean your Tank Lid.
  • Sweep the plant matter off the floor.
  • Split that plant matter between compost and trash.
  • Set your doors in or out.
  • Pull only the Panel Plugs your next crop needs.

Clean your Panel wall before you sanitize it, as sanitizer cannot reach through what the scrubbing left behind. The gaps between Panels and the planting holes are reachable only with the rockwool plugs out, which is why this window closes before your next transplant. Plant matter, stems and roots go in the red compost bin, and used rockwool cubes go in the garbage.

Every Six Months

A deep clean is recommended every 6 months, or when there is significant build-up of plant matter in the Flex Acre.

  • Drain your Tank.
  • Clean your Tank.
  • Sanitize your Tank.
  • Scrub both Drip Lines at the sink.
  • Take apart your irrigation pipes.
  • Hand wash all 128 Panels.
  • Scrub all 16 Root Chambers on a clean and sanitized surface.
  • Refill your Tank.
  • Walk your Flex Acre for leaks.

Your Panels finish in the dishwasher, which is our preferred way to sanitize all 128 of them. Every disc comes out of your Disc Filter for its own scrub, and your pipes and fittings come apart for the same treatment. Your irrigation goes back together as your Tank refills, and both Drip Lines go back on last. Plan the deep clean for a between crops window, as nothing stays on the wall.

Your Flex Acre calendar is now set—well done! Continue to Keeping your Flex Acre Clean for next steps.