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Washing your Panels, Root Chambers & Frame (Part 5 of 7)

Part 5 of 7: How to wash all 128 Panels, all 16 Root Chambers, and the Frame of your Flex Acre

After Taking Apart & Cleaning your Irrigation Pipes (Part 4 of 7), you can begin washing your Panels, your Root Chambers and your Frame. All three jobs share one precondition: the parts are off your Flex Acre and the Frame is bare. Your Panels and Root Chambers travel to the sink and the dishwashing station rather than being washed in place. This deep clean exists to prevent food-borne illness, so the soil you lift off belongs out of the production area. Follow the steps in Keeping your Flex Acre Clean before you begin.

Gather Tools:

  • Hot Water
  • Scrub Pad
  • Brushes
  • 3% Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Clean Towels
  • Dishwasher Trays
  • Ladder

Step 1: Wash your Panels by Hand

  1. Remove the Panel Plugs from a Panel.
  2. Soak the Panel with hot water.
  3. Scrub the front of the Panel.
  4. Scrub the back of the Panel.
  5. Brush every planting hole.
  6. Rinse the Panel.
  7. Confirm the Panel is clean and almost all white.
  8. Set the Panel aside to air dry.

Almost all white is the finish line for the hand wash. A Panel still carrying a green film or a white salt ring goes back under the hot water. Panels can be washed by hand, and a dishwasher is preferred for sanitizing the 128 Panels in a Flex Acre. Your hands do the cleaning here, and the dishwasher does the sanitizing.

Step 2: Run your Panels Through the Dishwasher

  1. Carry your air-dried Panels to the dishwashing station.
  2. Place Panels on a dishwasher tray until the tray is full.
  3. Run the tray through the dishwasher.
  4. Pull the tray out once the cycle is complete.
  5. Start the next tray to keep the process flowing.
  6. Repeat until all 128 Panels have gone through.

CAUTION: THE MAX DISHWASHER TEMPERATURE IS 181 DEGREES. DO NOT EXCEED THIS TEMPERATURE. IT IS RECOMMENDED THE TEMPERATURE TO BE AT EXACTLY 181 DEGREES TO MEET FOOD SAFETY SANITATION REQUIREMENTS.

Your Panels are dishwasher safe, so keep one tray running at all times.

Step 3: Clean & Sanitize your Root Chambers

  1. Lay an empty Root Chamber on a clean and sanitized surface.
  2. Spray the Root Chamber with 3% hydrogen peroxide.
  3. Scrub the algae and plant matter off the front with a scrub pad.
  4. Scrub the back of the Root Chamber the same way.
  5. Scrub inside the Panel track.
  6. Wipe the Root Chamber with a clean towel.
  7. Spray the clean Root Chamber with 3% hydrogen peroxide a second time to sanitize it.
  8. Move the Root Chamber to a different clean and sanitized area for storage.
  9. Repeat until all 16 Root Chambers are done.

    Step video coming soon.

Your Flex Acre carries 16 Root Chambers, 8 per side, and you work one side at a time. The Flex Acre Tank Lid Support Upgrade Guide numbers the chambers 1 through 8 for the side you are standing on. Wash those 8 before you cross to the other side. The Panel track is the spot most often missed, as the algae settles into the groove where a towel does not reach. A clean chamber set back down beside the dirty ones is a chamber you clean twice.

Step 4: Clean & Sanitize your Frame

  1. Wipe your 4 Corner Posts with 3% hydrogen peroxide, working from the top down.
  2. Spray the entire Frame with 3% hydrogen peroxide.
  3. Wipe the Frame with a clean towel.
  4. Wipe all 4 Corner Posts at their base.
  5. Spray the whole Frame with 3% hydrogen peroxide a second time once the entire Frame is cleaned.

Your Flex Acre stands 9.5 feet tall, so start each Corner Post from a ladder that reaches 10 feet and wipe downward, which carries the loosened soil toward the floor. The base of each Corner Post is a good collection point for dirt and plant matter, so give all 4 of them a second pass. Your 4 doors hang on this same Frame, and each one carries 10 Light Bars.

CAUTION: SPRAY THE FRAME, NOT YOUR LIGHT BARS. THE LIGHT BARS ARE NOT WATERPROOF.

Your Panels, Root Chambers and Frame are washed, sanitized and ready to go back on—well done!

Next: Refilling your Tank & Rebuilding the Irrigation (Part 6 of 7)