Best automated nutrient dosing system for these specs?

[HeathBanks]

Im looking to buy an automated drip irrigation nutrient dosing system for drain to waste. Can anyone reccomend one?

Heres the requirements...

-Needs to be able to dose an array of products. At least 8 different bottles. Thicker stuff as well like humics, aminos, liquid seaweed ect...

-Will automatically fill, dose, and ph the reservoirs at the beginning of each "lights on period" every day. Only enough water will be supplied to reservoirs to meet the daily requirements of plants.
(This way you get the most out of your dollar. When mixed reservoirs sit for extended periods they get gunky, some elements fall out, and some combine with other, ph rises, ect... no good imo)

-The system must have the technological ability to create custom feed programs via digital controller, but preferably computer. This way you dont have to manually change dosage rates as plant requirements increase.

- It must have runoff sensors for EC/TDS, PH, and TEMP, that are tracked and logged by the system.

I realize i could design a system that incorporates all of this, but im interested in buying one that already setup. Thanks.

 

[j78z]

Go to growershouse.com the have a doser listed under their coming soon product tab . It will dose 4 products but it is expandable to 8 ( 1 of the products is PH with a built in sensor )

 

[queequeg152]

Im looking to buy an automated drip irrigation nutrient dosing system for drain to waste. Can anyone reccomend one?

Heres the requirements...

-Needs to be able to dose an array of products. At least 8 different bottles. Thicker stuff as well like humics, aminos, liquid seaweed ect...

-Will automatically fill, dose, and ph the reservoirs at the beginning of each "lights on period" every day. Only enough water will be supplied to reservoirs to meet the daily requirements of plants.
(This way you get the most out of your dollar. When mixed reservoirs sit for extended periods they get gunky, some elements fall out, and some combine with other, ph rises, ect... no good imo)

-The system must have the technological ability to create custom feed programs via digital controller, but preferably computer. This way you dont have to manually change dosage rates as plant requirements increase.

- It must have runoff sensors for EC/TDS, PH, and TEMP, that are tracked and logged by the system.

I realize i could design a system that incorporates all of this, but im interested in buying one that already setup. Thanks.

you will not find anybody offering something so specific. There are a number of companies that will build you a fertigation controller, but these are often customized, necessarily, to fit the customers particular needs.

two things.

one, what you are specing is going to cost significant sums.

two, you are not going to find a ready built solution to monitor runoff volumes ec and ph. its just not going to happen. They do exist, but It is not a common feature of any commercial greenhouse horticulture that im aware of. for the most part, setups like that are run for experimentation, not commercial production, hence you are not likely to find any company offering a ready built solution.

i am incredibly suspecious of the equipment proffered to cannabis growers personally. I would suggest you contact a company rep from netafim or a similar company, and speak with them about an 8+ channel fertigation system. if you have the cash, they will happily talk to you for any number of hours.

your spec for reservoirs is unnecessary as you can easily accomplish all of this without one. you may or may not require a static mixer however.

regarding the system to monitor runoff etc. to build one, you would require the following:

a smattering of rotameters, flow switches,etc.

for s flow meter, tipping spoons are typical for small hydroponic production, however for your application you will need a non fouling type, probably a magnetic flow meter.
if your accumulated runoff is very small, you should probably just run a small condensate pump, of a known volume, whose cycles are monitored by an induction type current switch. one could totalize flows somewhat accuratly based on how many times the condensate pump cycles.

PH and conducticity are trivial to monitor. you can get ph and ec analyers for a few hundred bucks on ebay... you will require a reasonably robust non gelled type electrode that is resistant to fouling. you will need a u trap to keep the electrode submerged. almost all of these analyzers will output 4-20ma from the get go. just record this signal, on any DAQ device you like.

honestly, you would be better off just capturing runoff in containers for later scrutiny. this is what they do in the large 100+ acre greenhouse complexes.

 

[catalyte]

Growers House carries the best small unit one for the price.. Genesis Hydroponic Nutrient Doser by Sustainable Microfarms. Haven't used it personally but did some comparisons one day and if i needed one for a small settup i would get the Genesis.....