Tag: Fertigation systems

Argus Controls | Sustaining Cannabis Production With Fertigation

Written by Indoor Ag-Con on October 25, 2021. Posted in Exhibitor News.

Article Sourced From Greenhouse Grower magazine.

By Alex Fermon, Product Marketing Manager with Argus Controls, a founding member of the Sustainable Cannabis Coalition.

The United Nations estimates that by 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed countries. With roughly 70% of the freshwater around the world being used for agriculture — a number that could climb to 90% in developing countries by 2030 — the need for efficient water management and sustainable irrigation is at a critical point.

Sustainable irrigation is defined as, “the rational practice of all activities related with the irrigation of plants, whether in the areas of horticulture, landscape, and ornamentals so that it helps to satisfy the respective survival and welfare needs of the present without compromising those of future generations.”

It considers the impacts of manufacturing and transportation of required equipment and materials, as well as incurred discharges and waste impacts.^[1] For traditional horticulture and commercial agriculture, irrigation is a necessary process for plant growth and, although it can be done manually, automating this process could bring several benefits to growers.

Improving irrigation efficiency can contribute greatly to reducing production costs, making the industry more competitive and ultimately sustainable. Through proper irrigation, average yields can be maintained (or increased) while minimizing environmental impacts caused by excess applied water and subsequent agrichemical leaching.^[2]

Fertigation as a Bridge to Sustainability

Fertigation is the process of delivering nutrients and water to a plant through automated irrigation. The goal is to not only produce a crop with higher yields, but to also run a more streamlined and sustainable operation. An automated system eliminates the need for constant monitoring and watering of plants and therefore will reduce overall workforce demands. Automation will also allow for consistency in quality that hand-watering cannot.

There are two common methods of delivering fertilizers through an irrigation system for sustainable production: dilute tank control and in-line injection.

Whether you select dilute tank feeding or an in-line injection system, there is a range of options for automating the nutrient dosing process. While automated dosing systems offer many management, productivity, and sustainability features (including reduced fertilizer and water runoff and better crop quality), they tend to be more complex and cost-prohibitive.

Consider a dilute tank control system when:

The whole crop can be administered with a single feed solution.
The dilute feed composition and strength (EC) do not change often.
The pH of water does not need frequent adjustment.

Consider an in-line injection system when:

Irrigation scheduling and nutrient dosing are integrated.
Supplying more than one nutrient formulation on the same irrigation system (different crop requirements).
The ability is needed to vary the feeding strength (EC) without having to prepare new stock solutions.

Some automated environmental control systems only manage the nutrient dosing equipment, while other horticulture nutrient systems can integrate irrigation scheduling with nutrient dosing activities. An automated fertigation system can be integrated with the facility’s environmental control system where it can be monitored and managed from a centralized user interface along with all other controlled processes within the grow operation.

Fertigation equipment and systems vary with each application and should be capable of adapting to the design and operation of the overall facility. This may include controls and monitoring for:

Tank levels
EC
pH
Acid/base dosing equipment
Water temperature
Soil moisture levels
Leaching rates (over drain)
Nutrient dosing equipment
Pump controls
Irrigation zone valves
Line purging
Recirculation management
Water treatment equipment (filters, pasteurizers, ozone, UV, etc.)

There are several factors to consider when planning, designing, and automating an irrigation or fertigation solution in a horticultural facility. Planning for sustainability will result in more efficient use of available resources allowing for long-term viability and success.

As the horticulture industry continues to evolve, so do sustainability solutions like greenhouse automation systems. The future of irrigation controls promises more intricate, intuitive systems with advanced sensors to support more sustainable practices.

REFERENCES:

[1] What we understand for sustainable irrigation. “Asociacion del Riego Sostenible”. Available at: http://www.riego.org/asociacion-riego-sostenible/la-asociacion/sustainable-irrigation-definition/ (Accessed: 29 January 2021).

[1] Munoz-Carpena, Dukes (2018) Automatic Irrigation Based on Soil Moisture for Vegetable Crops. University of Florida. Available at: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae354 (Accessed: 21 January 2021).

Neff, Jeff, “Automated Irrigation Techniques”. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwWU9BxVJZ0/ (Accessed: 29 January 2021)

Growers see real results with Evofactor® for nutrient management

Written by Indoor Ag-Con on August 3, 2021. Posted in Blog, Exhibitor News.

Maximizing nutrient efficiency for growers is top of mind for Texas-based start-up and Indoor Ag-Con 2021 Exhibitor Verano365, who has developed a nutrient adjuvant, Evofactor®.

The liquid fertilizer enhancer is formulated with Verano365’s proprietary technology, OpusMAX®, a carrier that creates supramolecular structures of the active ingredients in fertilizers, ultimately delivering highly concentrated nutrients to the plant.

Growers who adopt Evofactor have the flexibility to choose the outcome that’s most valuable to their operation: either a reduction in the amount of applied fertilizer to yield plants of equitable size and health to what they’re producing today; or, increased biomass in crops that receive the same fertilizer rate they’re using currently. Both outcomes are attributed to the nutrient localization that Evofactor facilitates.

Herbert Rabalais, president of Verano365 shared, “We’ve been fortunate to work with a number of growers across the U.S., and we’re seeing positive results with Evofactor regardless of the growing method. We’ve trialed it in seed production, plug production, with cuttings, and in hydroponics, and we see great performance across all techniques.”

What kind of results are growers seeing with Evofactor?

 Enhanced aerial plant mass
 Improved wet and dry weights
 Increased nutrient assimilation
 Healthier root development

One of the most frequent questions growers ask is, “Will this be difficult to incorporate into my current operation?” The answer? Evofactor is designed to be easy-to-use, and it can be added directly into a grower’s fertilizer stock tank at the recommended use rates, applied as part of a regular fertilization program. The product is compatible with almost all fertigation systems, meaning there’s no special equipment necessary or additional labor requirements.

Evofactor is registered in all 50 states across the U.S. Learn more by stopping by the Verano365 booth — 1003 – during the October 4-5, 2021 edition of Indoor Ag-Con at the Hilton Orlando or contacting salessupport@verano365.com

Tour An IGS Vertical Farm

Written by Indoor Ag-Con on August 3, 2021. Posted in Blog, Exhibitor News.

Vertical farming offers a progressive, modern way to complement traditional farming methods so that the planet can sustain an ever-increasing demand for food. As farmers and other growers put greater emphasis on sustainable food security and surety of supply chain, vertical farming is being recognised as an increasingly valuable way to diversify and drive efficiency.

Indoor Ag-Con Exhibitor IGS’ innovative approach has sustainability and environmental consideration at its core. The goal is to reduce the amount of energy required, providing economic and productivity benefits by reducing power and labour costs whilst growing consistently high-quality produce to demand at the point of consumption.

The precision-controlled IGS system has been designed specifically to address some of the core challenges facing the vertical farming sector including economic viability and energy consumption. This is widely considered as a fundamental component in overcoming the global food security challenges we face in a changing climate with a growing population.

At IGS, we have solved the top challenges facing vertical farming:

Power and labour costs: With our patented three-phase power and automation platform, we have significantly reduced energy and labour costs.
Water scarcity: Our closed-loop irrigation system reduces water consumption considerably compared to open field and greenhouse farming. Lettuce for example needs 1L of water in an IGS farm vs 20L in a greenhouse and 250L in a traditional field.
Productivity: Our patented HVAC and modular fertigation systems deliver greater uniformity and is up to 15x more efficient in yield/footprint over glasshouses and polytunnels.

The level of control, depth of data capture and the ongoing software development undertaken by IGS all combine to deliver a system capable of future-proofing global food supplies.

Interested in learning more about vertical farming through IGS? Click here to take a virtual tour of the IGS Crop Research Centre located at the James Hutton Institute – Scotland’s largest scientific research centre and one of the biggest in the United Kingdom.

Ceres GS Presents The SunChamber™

Written by Indoor Ag-Con on October 9, 2020. Posted in Blog, Exhibitor News.

**Ceres GS Presents, The SunChamber™ – a Sealed Geothermal Growhouse, Powered by the Sun, the Earth, and Data**

Indoor Ag-Con Exhibitor News Ceres GS: Ceres Greenhouse Solutions , a company specializing in smart greenhouse design and engineering, has named their new sealed growhouse design, the SunChamber™ – characterized by its sun harvesting and climate control capabilities.

The SunChamber™ is more than a greenhouse, it’s a catalyst to a new way of food production. The SunChamber™ is a holistic system design for farmers looking to achieve maximum climate control in order to consistently yield the highest quality crop. The design includes the following components into one superior growing solution:

The Ceres EcoLoop™ geothermal HVAC system
A Ceres smart controller that monitors greenhouse conditions for continued optimization of the grow environment
QbD (Quality by Design) principles applied throughout both the grow houses and processing facility commonly called the headhouse
Ozone water treatment and water reclamation
Fertigation systems
Customized grow systems, including air purification, CO2 enhancement and clean in place (CIP) sanitation systems

Complete and Precise Climate Control Within Each Grow Environment

The sealed and insulated properties of the SunChamber™ envelope, combined with the full system automation of a Ceres smart controller, allow for complete and precise climate control within each grow environment. Growers can precisely monitor and adapt the growhouse according to the needs of the plants (i.e., genetics, evapotranspiration rates, etc.), while maintaining optimal Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD)—maximizing plant growth and yield while minimizing operating costs. VPD-based climate control significantly reduces energy consumption without compromising plant health. Full growhouse automation also reduces the need for labor and lowers the potential for human error.

The SunChamber™ is designed to be built on a modular scale to grow with your business. As each greenhouse is sealed from the rest of the facility, there is complete biosecurity as well as independent climate control in each greenhouse unit.

SunChamber™ design also integrates seamlessly with Ceres’ innovative and highly energy-efficient ground-coupled heat pump HVAC system called the EcoLoop™. The EcoLoop™ heats, cools and dehumidifies the SunChamber™ by utilizing the steady temperature of the earth. This geothermal HVAC system is up to 60% more efficient than a traditional HVAC system and can be replicated for each greenhouse environment. Additionally, the ground coupling component of the system allows for a 10% federal tax credit. For the time being, the EcoLoop™ functions exclusively with the Ceres SunChamber™, however Ceres may be expanding its use to other products and applications in the near future.

The SunChamber™ includes custom system integrations to align with each client’s individual growing needs. After understanding the client’s site information and growing goals, Ceres designs an optimized facility that combines all the technology and grow systems needed for the cultivator to achieve the highest possible yields for the lowest energy input.

Bringing the Sun Indoors

Ceres applies QbD (quality by design) principles to all SunChamber™ facilities. QbD is a systematic approach to product and product development in order to deliver safe, consistent products while emphasizing manufacturing efficiency. Some QbD design considerations include biosecurity, employee workflow, environmental consistency, measurability and manufacturing efficiency. These principles ensure less crop failure, a more user-friendly workflow, and the ability of the facility to become GMP certified if need be.

The SunChamber™ is bringing the sun indoors by combining controlled environment agriculture with the productivity of sunlight. In a time when crops are more and more vulnerable to changes in the climate, the SunChamber™ provides year-round crop security and consistency. This also means more yield per square foot than traditional agriculture. On top of biosecurity, growing in a SunChamber™ will reduce water, land and energy usage, and will make local food production more accessible.

For more Indoor Ag-Con Exhibitor News Ceres GS like the SunChamber™, email Ceres Greenhouse Solutions at info@ceresgs.com