Meyer Lemon Tree - GH Eco Power Grower

So, every 7-14 days I've been draining (using the drain tube on the side) and refilling.

The thing is, the drain tube doesn't drain the pot completely.  It leaves maybe an inch of water in the bottom.  Sometimes, I try tipping the bucket to get more out.  Unfortunately, it is not easy to remove the lid of this thing, so siphoning isn't really in the cards, either.

Since I was spending the day moving things around in the living room, hanging a new LED panel and starting another PowerGrower pot, I decided it was time to take this thing apart for a really good cleaning.

Skank City.

So, what had collected in the bottom of this thing can best be described as sludge.  I'm assuming it's mostly dust/dirt from the clay pellets, but there was also a fair amount of algae.  So, I took it to the bathtub and scrubbed.  Also gave the grow media a good flushing, then I ran it on clear water to try to de-scale the drip ring a bit.

After a few hours, I drained and refilled with this week's nutrient solution.  Hoping it improves.

It turned out that none of the root ball, or at least not much that I could see, is actually hanging out of the top grow basket.  It's a 5 gallon bucket, but the top 3 gallons is the removable grow basket.  The grow basket does have slots that would allow roots to grow through, but so far, that hasn't happened.

So, I was actually able to take the grow basket out, put it in the tub, and run the faucet over the edge of the grow media without hitting the plant.  I kept turning it until the water started looking clear coming out of the bottom.

It was a bit unwieldy with the 2.5' pepper cage that I have staked around the tree, and the whole plant and cage kept wanting to tip over, but handing it carefully, it was possible to do the cleaning.

And the bucket itself... I think I would have rather scrubbed a toilet.

Lesson learned.

I'd say a huge cleaning job for an tree you are growing inside.