They can “spring” themselves ridiculously high in the air, perhaps they are popping up like popcorn and dropping in somewhere?
Yea. I duno. They can’t be hopping out of the coco and into the covered res below the table though. So, the only thing I can realistically think that’s possible is that they’re crawling up the drip stake and into the irrigation tubing. Then, after irrigation cycle, when the pump shuts off, some are drawn back down with the water that “falls” back down out of the irrigation tubing and into the feed res.
I’m not sure the majority of people are getting what I’m describing, which maybe is my fault(?). But this is a drain to waste setup. And it’s also not a damp/wet location, nor near any piles of “dirt” or compost, nor outdoors or anything. It’s bizarre.
I cleaned out the empty res., and also gave it a brush with some regular soap - not that I think that’d make a difference, when mixing a new batch earlier. I let it mix up, then I took a sample in a cup and set it aside to watch over the next week. Again, wouldn’t make sense for springtails to just “appear” or “grow” in there. But just to see.
I took enough of this new solution to pour through each plant with runoff, and put it in a 5 gallon bucket. I added some HOCl, and some wettable sulfur. I hand watered that through each plant. I also had let them dry out more than I had been, unplugging the pump timer.
I might undo the irrigation lines (from the drip stakes/plants) and run some hocl/water through the irrigation lines to waste, not to the plants, and see what comes out tomorrow.
In my experience, I would be more worried what they are using as a food source. I propose if you eliminate their food, they will disappear and the plants may be happier too. Just a stoned thought.
Got this photo of springtail larva crawling through your irrigation lines…
Is it 100% coco?? Strange they are always back in you res.
It’s about 50:50 coco perlite.