As a hydroponics farmer, you must be well aware of the time-intensive process of dosing nutrients and making pH adjustments in the system. And if you are a newbie, then you must have faced the issue of over-or under-dosing, thereby accidentally shocking your plants.
Fact 1: An Overdose of nutrients can be seen in the form of symptoms such as nutrient burn, salt build-up, and even plant death in a few cases.
I am sure you don’t want these issues to occur. After all, setting up a hydroponics farm in itself takes a lot of effort, and you don’t want your hard work to get disrupted by a simple human error!!
So, what is the solution?
The answer to this issue is the usage of automated dosing systems. They are here to reduce human errors and the manual workload of nutrient management (measuring, dosing, testing pH, temperature, and EC).
Let us now know how it works and what benefits it can reap for you.
How does it work
The automatic dosing system has a brain box with pH, and conductivity meters dipped in the nutrient reservoir. Start by setting the target TDS and pH, and leave the doser to do the rest. The system uses peristaltic pumps for sucking the nutrient concentrate from each bottle. These nutrients are then dripped into the reservoir. There is also a circulating pump that stirs the solution. The conductivity is then again tested by the doser, and the process can be repeated if required. The nutrient solution’s pH is also checked on a periodic basis, and the pH adjuster liquid is dosed as and when needed.
Benefits
It saves time and money
An average grower spends around 15 to 30 minutes a day for testing and correcting the pH, EC levels, and other nutrients. But when you start using the auto dosing system, you can easily save this time. Want to know how much you save? Just multiply that time with the wages being paid to a system manager and add it to the lifetime of dosing unit. That is your ultimate and saving potential!!
And what’s more! Precise dosing also reduces the waste and excess use of materials. You use only the specific amounts as per requirement and thus save on water and plant nutrients.
All in all, you save MONEY!!!
Reduced human errors
When tasks such as pH, EC, and temperature readings, and nutrient monitoring are done manually, then there is a chance of error. The person may over-dose or even underdose the system. But, Auto-dosing systems can prevent costly events like crop loss caused due to human error. And the result will be increased yield.
Fact: Nitrogen toxicity is one of the major issues in hydroponics. It can easily stress your plants and cause issues such as extremely dark leaves, Burning of leaf tips, and their turning into yellow.
Good quality crop
When you start using the Auto-dosing system, then the crops always have a consistent size, appearance, color, texture as well as flavor. This is sure to enhance the grower’s reputation in the market place. What else can you ask for?
Saves space
By the use of Auto-dosing system you can easily mix water with nutrients directly. It thus saves a lot of space as there is no need to store oversized water tanks. Also, there is no need for you to setup a mixing tank as well.
Parting words
In short, Automatic dosing systems are here to power a new generation of hydroponic growers in India as well as abroad. So, what are you waiting for? Reap its benefits and improve your market reputation.