Source water & baseline chemistry
Water-quality information and the starting chemistry that influence nutrient formulation, pH management, salinity, and long-term system performance.
AGS Service
Irrigation & Nutrient Management
Solve root-zone, irrigation, and nutrient problems that can reduce crop consistency and input efficiency.
Talk to AGS
The Problem
The crop may be receiving water and fertilizer without the root zone being truly optimized.
Small mismatches in irrigation timing, volume, nutrient concentration, drainage, water quality, or root-zone conditions can gradually reduce crop consistency. Symptoms may appear in the canopy or fruit even when the underlying issue begins below the surface.
Why It Matters
Irrigation and nutrient imbalances can affect root health, yield, fruit quality, crop uniformity, and water and fertilizer efficiency. Because these problems can accumulate gradually, losses may develop before the cause is obvious.
How AGS Can Help
Use root-zone and crop information to improve irrigation and fertigation decisions.
AGS reviews irrigation practices, fertigation targets, water quality, pH and EC trends, drainage information, tissue or solution results when available, and the way the root zone responds over time. Recommendations are built around crop stage, production system, seasonal conditions, and what can realistically be monitored and implemented.
Typical Deliverables
Depending on the project scope, deliverables may include:
- Irrigation and fertigation review
- pH, EC, drainage, and water-quality interpretation
- Root-zone and substrate assessment
- Nutrient-management recommendations
- Irrigation scheduling guidance
- Technical summary and follow-up plan
What AGS Evaluates
Connect what is supplied to what the root zone and crop are actually experiencing.
Good fertigation management is more than a feed recipe. AGS can review the water source, nutrient solution, irrigation strategy, drainage, root-zone trends, and crop response together.
Nutrient solution & fertigation
Feed targets, fertilizer strategy, nutrient balance, injector or mixing approach, and practical consistency of nutrient delivery.
EC & pH management
Feed, drain, and root-zone EC and pH trends used to understand concentration, uptake, accumulation, and the need for management adjustments.
Irrigation timing & volume
Frequency, event size, start and stop timing, crop stage, light conditions, substrate characteristics, and how irrigation strategy changes through the day and season.
Drainage & root-zone conditions
Drain percentage, root-zone moisture and salinity patterns, substrate behaviour, and signs that water or nutrients are accumulating unevenly.
Tissue & solution interpretation
Plant tissue or solution data used with crop observations and production records to distinguish supply problems from uptake or root-zone problems.
Common Questions
Questions clients often ask before starting.
These answers are general guidance. The right recommendation depends on the crop, facility, data available, and the decision you need to make.
Why can drain EC rise even when feed EC stays the same?
Root-zone concentration can increase when water uptake exceeds nutrient uptake, irrigation frequency or volume is mismatched to crop demand, drainage is insufficient, or salts accumulate within the substrate. The pattern should be interpreted with crop stage and environmental conditions.
What can feed EC and drain EC tell me?
Together they help show whether salts are concentrating or being flushed through the root zone. The difference is useful, but it should be interpreted with drainage volume, substrate moisture, crop demand, and time of day rather than used as a single threshold.
How should irrigation frequency change through the crop cycle?
Frequency normally needs to respond to crop size, rooting volume, substrate, radiation, temperature, humidity, and water demand. A fixed schedule that works early in the crop may become unsuitable later.
When is plant tissue analysis useful?
Tissue analysis can help when visible symptoms, solution data, and crop performance do not clearly explain nutrient status. It is most useful when sampling is consistent and the results are interpreted alongside what was supplied and what was happening in the root zone.
Can AGS support recirculating hydroponic nutrient management?
Yes. A recirculating system can be reviewed for water quality, EC and pH trends, nutrient balance, make-up water, drainage or return solution, monitoring points, and the way recirculation affects crop and root-zone conditions.
Who This Service Is For
Support matched to the decision you need to make.
- Hydroponic greenhouse growers
- Substrate-based production systems
- Facilities experiencing inconsistent crop growth
- Teams reviewing water and nutrient efficiency
Next Step
Have a similar challenge?
Share the question, system change, or project you are considering. A finished scope is not required.