“ CONTROLL
AR E T HE
ESSENT I AL
ELEMENT
can be programmed to mix up to 20
different fertilizer feeding regiments,
simultaneously, for a single garden.
The ease-of-use for smart irrigation
controllers is tied to both their
technological perks and practical
applications. Generally,
controls are the most
beneficial for outdoor
ER S
cultivators as relating to
timing and consistency,
they can be set on
digital timers or light
sensors for automated
irrigation on a daily
basis. As
many plant
species thrive
on consistent
watering and
environments,
the precision
of controllers makes them a serious
value-add for outdoor commercial
operations. Also, many controllers
feature “cloud-based capabilities,”
in which a grower can monitor and
change irrigation and nutrient levels
from their smart phones or computers.
As such — and if implemented
correctly, outdoor soil growers can alter
irrigation practices from afar — this
perk is particularly notable concerning
changing weather and temperature
patterns. All things considered,
controllers can add efficiency and
stability in outdoor gardening practices
that are notorious for getting off
schedule due to human error.
It’s worth noting outdoor growers
must be diligent in taking care of
controllers, as sun, dirt, and dust can
easily damage these somewhat fragile
pieces of technology. Controllers
should be well-mounted in a protected,
low-traffic area, ideally within a metal
or wooden box.
in transitioning an outdoor soil
garden from a hand watering or drip
system to a smart irrigation program.”
Controllers
Advancements in digital control
technology for controlled environment
agriculture have made controllers, or
“brains,” an essential tool in modern
gardening, both indoors and outdoors.
For indoor growing, controllers have
taken the thinking process out of
mundane, yet easy to forget, chores like
setting lighting timers and regulating
temperatures. Similarly, for tech savvy
outdoor growers, the fluidity and ease-
of-use of these smart-products is too
tough to resist. While most smart indoor
garden technology sets forth to regulate
ambient environments, automated
systems for outdoor growing focus
solely on irrigation.
Controllers are the essential element
in transitioning an outdoor soil garden
from a hand watering or drip system
to a smart irrigation program. Utilizing
cutting-edge computer technology in
conjunction with touch screen displays,
controllers send precisely dictated
electronic signals to components in
the physical figurations of irrigation
infrastructures (see next section). With
electronic integration, these smart
controls regulate valves relating to
both nutrient and water dispersal in
the macro-irrigation system. The more
sophisticated of these controllers
56
Maximum Yield
Fertigation Injectors
For both indoor and outdoor growers,
fertigation injection systems have
become a staple of ease and efficiency.
Traditionally, water-based fertilization
processes have been hinged on the
labor-intensive practice of manually
mixing nutrients in reservoirs or
holding tanks. For commercial sized
operations, this demanding and
tedious chore often involves the
mixing of thousands of gallons of
water at a time, multiple times a day.
However, with some ingenuity and
careful planning, the engineers behind
fertigation injectors have developed
a product which nearly eliminates
the painstaking chore of hand mixing
water-soluble fertilizers.