Auto-dosing for Indoor Growers

Auto-dosing systems monitor EC, pH, temp, and other water variables, then they change those variables in real time. We use IntelliDose systems, which are easy to set up. A pH probe and an EC probe are set inside the mixing tank and send data back to the dosing system computer, which analyzes and makes decisions to turn a specific pump on or off. This means less work and more convenience for both hydroponic and aquaponic growers.
Buy IntelliDose by AutoGrow on our store: shop.zipgrow.c...
Sign up for Upstart University to learn more about starting your own farm: university.ups...
Connect with us:
Website: zipgrow.com
Facebook: / zipgrowtm
LinkedIn: / zipgrow-inc
Twitter: / zipgrowinc
Instagram: / zipgrowinc
Music By: Blue Ducks
Track Title: "Four, Floss, Five, Six"
freemusicarchiv...

[@jeffschmidt8491]

How does it does the fertilizer solution

[@ZipGrowInc]

Hey @harry de Vokone - Looks like KZbin is not giving us the option to reply directly to your comment for some reason, but your question about how often restaurants will want basil is really a question to ask the restaurant owner/chef! If it's a restaurant who values the fresh stuff and is going through a lot of basil, you could be delivering every other day. Again this all depends on volume and because of that, the restaurant will want consistency. You'll need to be able to demonstrate you can consistently provide a high quality basil each and every time they want more. Check out our videos and webinars on selling to restaurants for more info! resources.brightagrotech.com/webinars/

[@harrydevokone9505]

+Bright Agrotech Thanks alot!!!!!!!

[@ZipGrowInc]

+Harry de Vokone Of course!

[@cgoobes]

Do you have a specialized PH probe? Every auto dosing system I have used has failed because the PH probe goes too far out of its calibration range and then the PH dosing goes haywire. If the probe needs to be cleaned and calibrated every 2 days, this system is pointless.

[@daveborchard2019]

I use the Masterblend, Calcium Nitrate, and Epsom Salt dry mix. For greens, 10 grams, 10 grams, 5 grams, and for fruiting plants, 12 grams, 12 grams, 6 grams. Those are the dry mix amounts per 5 gallons of RO water. I use General Hydroponics liquid pH up, I normally never need to General Hydroponics pH down. Usually I pH at about 6. I'm growing with the deep water culture hydroponic method with injected air in 5 gallon buckets or 5 gallon trays. I use a Sun System LEC 315 ceramic metal halide grow light for fruiting plants, and fluorescent lighting for greens. The water is municipal water filtered by a Hydrologic Stealth RO 200. What type of controller and systolic pumps would be needed for automation of a 100 gallon reservoir tank? Would all three dry mix components be mixed in one high concentration tank, or would they be split into two or three separate high concentration tanks for the systolic pumps? How much concentration should be fed into the systolic pumps? Do water chillers make much of a difference in production compared to injecting air in the grow buckets and trays? The indoor environment temperature is in the low 70s.

[@tide7628]

Your dancing lecture is very symbolic.

[@j-s2526]

Does this work with batch feeding.

[@ahmedbouassida9830]

Hi, any commercial addresses for these kind of doser please

[@bringithard6721]

Can you hook it up to a computer, say USB and log the data to see when it dosed,? It would help to know what the levels were and how long it to return to set points etc.

[@cgoobes]

If it can't then it was not very well thought out. The standard for these things should be a user query-able API with adequate security.

[@CBAokay]

@@cgoobes whoa

[@MangEhenNativeChicken]

Hi where I can buy that doser and what is the brand?

[@alfredofoutch450]

PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW ICAN GET THIS ITEM PLEASE

[@mandreko]

The URL in your video description is currently giving a certificate error when browsed.

[@rich53703]

Do you know if this can be hooked up to a hydro-x system?

[@ThingsWhichArentWork]

Hi Dr. Nate - I've been dabbling in hobby hydroponics for a year and a half now. (I learned everything I know from watching KZbin videos, so not all that I've learned is necessarily right :) ... All of the hydroponic nutrients I've seen recommend using the mixed solution within 7-14 days, and hobby growers seem to swap out the reservoir contents every week or two to avoid the possibility of either a nutrient imbalance (i.e either N, P or K being used up at different rates, and a concentration of one of them building up over time) or nutrient salts dropping out of solution. Is it still necessary to swap out the solution when using a dosing system such as this, and if so, how do you decide when it's time to swap? Cheers!!

[@ZipGrowInc]

Hey +Jim Conner - Thanks for the question! Yes, you may have to swap, but it will depend on your system, and your crop. When you start to see deficiencies but you’re running EC in the right range, it’s probably time to start from scratch. Hope that makes sense, Jim. Grow on!

[@ThingsWhichArentWork]

Hi again Nate - A follow-up question if I may.... Having to swap out all of the solution when you see a deficiency, although fine for small to medium scale growers is rather wasteful of water. As far as I'm aware, the only way currently to measure the ratios of NPK in solution is taking a water sample and using a mass spectrometer to get the breakdown of exactly what it contains. Do massive-scale growers (who have many acres of greenhouses) regularly send off water samples to a lab for analysis, or are they likely to be dumping thousands of litres of water and starting from scratch when they see a deficiency too? (As you might gather from these questions, I've been thinking about automatic dosing for a long time already). Cheers!!

[@ZipGrowInc]

+Jim Conner - Yes, larger growers do sampling and testing, and really big ones have their own labs. Many of them have started to mass balance their solutions as well, which reduces water waste, but many of them dump solutions. Mass balance isn’t always possible on a small scale, but for small producers, water waste should be minimal. For example, in our demo system here in Laramie, I’ll let the water drop down to about 25 gallons (turn off the top off function, or stop topping off by hand for about a week), and then dump when necessary. By being thougthful about it, you can reduce your water waste to 15-25 gal. discharged every few months. To be fair, we run super small sump/mixing tank volumes though.

[@ThingsWhichArentWork]

Thanks +Bright Agrotech - Just the answers I needed. Cheers!!

[@ZipGrowInc]

+Jim Conner Happy to help where we can!

[@lloyde73]

Hi where can i buy this?

[@jamesbaxter2812]

Can you system handle lots of tanks, I fill them with a hose

[@ivanatman7359]

Very useful tips from all of Bright Agrotech videos

[@ZipGrowInc]

Thanks for being part of our KZbin community, Ivan!

[@harryhuydoan7431]

I guest this tank contains about 500 liters of solution, but you have only one sensor for each quantity. How do you monitor solution parameter exactly ? Do you have any mixing mechanism in the tank ?

[@clydog1]

What pH dosing system do you recommend for a small simple hydroponic system.Thanks

[@ZipGrowInc]

+clydog1 It depends on what you're willing to spend. For smaller systems, a handheld meter is really all you need. We like the NutriTest by AutoGrow which measures both pH and EC. For single meters, Blue Lab and Hanna Instruments have some great products.

[@norcoatomik1]

The only things that make this unit special is the probes and automatic adjusting due to the probes being hooked up to a computer board inside the unit, a good technician could build one

[@ZipGrowInc]

Yes some people build there own if they have the knowledge to do so. For those looking for a ready built solution, it's a good option.

[@tusharkathuria9]

Can you please tell us what is the pumping rate of these peristaltic pumps?

[@ZipGrowInc]

300 ml/min www.autogrowamerica.com/product-p/aa-9103-006.htm

[@tusharkathuria9]

Bright Agrotech Don't you get algae growing is tubes attached to pumps as they are transparent?

[@mammyat80s21]

Hello guys, please let me know if in this system the sensors stay submersed in the tank 24/7 or if I need to put them in the solution only when the readings and correctionhave to be made. I need to clean up the sensors and store them properly somehow or I can leave it in the solution and not worry about that? Thanks in advance!

[@MrJohnheater]

What one would you recommend for a recirculating waterfarm by GH

[@ZipGrowInc]

Hi John - not sure what you mean exactly. Can you help clarify the question?

[@amigacherished5002]

I use general hydro part a-b-c plus ph down could it run this? thanks

[@speadskater]

It would. Just a comment, products like general hydroponics are primarily water, you'd save a good amount of money by switching to Jack's or Plantex solid fertilizers and mixing your own stock tank.

[@luiseduardogomezdearandaju723]

You're definitely correct about that. The days of shipping liquid fertilizers across the globe are almost over. It may be OK for small hobby gardeners, but any decent commercial hydro grow should switch to solid nutrients. They're cheaper to ship both by weight and volume, and you just add the water yourself at the last step. They're also easier to make custom nutrient mixes with.

[@jeffschmidt8491]

How much is it $

[@sundaravelupurushoth7354]

Sir where I will get this square type water tank . And timer price and capacity

[@robbanks3595]

1000ltr, farm shops

[@MrSergiu-ih2mj]

This tanks they called IBC water tank ..is very nice...also for rain harvesting

[@walterperez3439]

Hi Nat I cannot enter your site very interested in the dosing system do you have another contact I am in Sydney Australia your postings are very much appreciated very grateful that you dedicate time to teach us so many things I wish you had a course or something we can learn more from you 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻thanks

[@kazimir8086]

I would like to buy it, does anyone have a link to this one? Cant find it.

[@ZipGrowInc]

+InnocentPhoto You can find this and other tools here: shop.brightagrotech.com/environmental-water-quality/

[@ravishreyas5310]

Bright Agrotech price?

[@mohamedtayel8625]

hi dr where i can buying this systems

[@ZipGrowInc]

check out our website!

[@krishnathakar3181]

Hi sir I am Krishna where I am getting in India

[@bigdividends5487]

can you tell me where I can find a water tank like that

[@pyromaniac354]

They are called a IBC tank. Most businesses get their products in them.they are around $50 to buy once they have used them

[@richardtaylor410]

I would be interested in a system that monitors PH and iron in my aquaponics setup. PH is easy enough, as there are many systems available. Monitoring iron seems to be much harder to find, unless you want to spend $2K+ range. Any ideas on a possible system to use?

[@ZipGrowInc]

Hey +Richard Taylor! You shouldn't need to monitor iron. You just need to dose appropriately. We cover this a bit in our videos on iron, but you've probably seen these right?

[@richardtaylor410]

+Bright Agrotech Oh yeah, I have. I do the manual dosing now. What I would like though, is a system I can pull levels from. Either through an auto dose type of setup, or possibly something that can 'talk' to my tablet/notebook through wifi or hard wired. I am experimenting with RaspberryPi options at the moment. An off the shelf solution would be nice for trace elements that wasn't designed/priced for a 50K sq ft production facility. I could just use presets and inject my iron on a regular basis, but a solution that would allow for easier monitoring when expanding/reducing plant populations (and for experimentation) could make my life somewhat less insane. ;) It is quite possible I am simply 'over thinking' this as well. I have a tendency to do that at times.

[@remka2000]

Give me the simple Arduino way to do it. Or sell your product maybe your’re right... Why is this better ? Is it easier ? Cheaper ?

[@OsirisNeits]

Their base system is over $2k, so a home built solution would definitely be cheaper.

[@remka2000]

@@OsirisNeits Indeed. Now let’s get into soldering action !

[@amigacherished5002]

good demonstration well explained 😀

[@alejandrofisac4170]

Web¿

[@michaelvangundy226]

I hate computers. Like he said, "right now it is shut off. It's running too much. " Measure by hand, and add how much it needs.

[@luiseduardogomezdearandaju723]

Very good as always!

[@ZipGrowInc]

Thanks Luis!

[@joshuahereth5094]

Super cool!

[@SkandalouzStyle]

Shame they're so expensive.

[@justicematters5447]

Love the videos, but really do you have to say ph up, or ph down. I know basic chemistry and there called acids and bases and you don't have to buy expensive brand ph up/down to fix your ph levels.

[@johncassell251]

So there are systems that monitor it all and dispense doses cheap?

[@johncassell251]

I saw a video that shows how easy it is to get a project box, a meter, and two parastolic pumps, then he even hashed it out to get perfect levels of doses. Costs some money,but worth it

[@ajareti]

That intro music though..

[@laerciocarreiro6422]

top video

[@saeed6811]

Man your wires are over pulled from the controller. Relax the cables please.

[@verdeklaro9051]

i dont trust machines, i got slaves!

[@seanwilliams2781]

Horrible music!

[@obliv10us]

i had an experiance with ETHERDOSE DUO Hydroponic EC PH Nutrient Fertilizer Networked Doser Intellidose, this seems to be an upgrade of it. when i used this system the ec readings were all over the place, and when i finally got to speak to the team, they told me it was becasue i was using this product indoors, near hps lights and that was causing interference with this doser. i asked for my money back, they told me they were going to call the politzi on me... eventually paypal refunded my money after they made me return the product to california. from europe.

[@obliv10us]

update:- i then used a bluelab controller connect, and this seemed to have none of the isses that the intellidose had.

[@richardstuivenberg4618]

🧢🧢🧢

[@norcoatomik1]

How much are these units ?, I'm building my own anyways just curious

[@ZipGrowInc]

They vary in price. We use Atom in our R&D farm and it's what we recommend to our commercial farmers. You can find more information here- shop.zipgrow.com/search?type=product&q=atom

[@norcoatomik1]

Your obviously only showing the cal , mag , and nitrogen , so your using ro is what it tells me , and that your mixing in fertilizer down the line or using granular fert . So no need to fertigate ., if I ran a big set up I'd just simply run a dosatron ,

[@ZipGrowInc]

Thanks for your comments Josh. happy growing.

[@norcoatomik1]

Easier route is to use a dosatron lol

[@ZipGrowInc]

I suppose it depends on the scale of your operation. Auto dosers are commonly used for commercial operations.

[@norcoatomik1]

@@ZipGrowInc in my case for now 4 plant grow as a test operation , doing fertigation I'd only use peristaltic pumps , cheap one , 6 pump unit , on a sprinkler timer , with electronic valves , tees with 1/4" MNPT x 1/4 push fit , one way push fittings aka check valves , which I'd hook inline to my perstaltic pumps . :) , and an inline mixer as well .

[@norcoatomik1]

@@ZipGrowInc in a bigger operation I might consider a dosatron , I'd consider one rite now but its overkill lol one grow wouldnt even pay for a set up like that.

[@norcoatomik1]

Computer lolololol

[@ZipGrowInc]

It works for many commercial farmers, especially when they are managing bigger scale crops.