Reader Response Draft 4

The article “Thinking about an Automatic Nutrient Dosing System for your commercial grow? Here’s what you need to know” (Advanced Nutrients, 2018) introduces an automatic nutrient dosing system in the hydroponics industry. This system is a “mechanized nutrient delivery system” that delivers an accurate amount of nutrient solution to crops. Among its benefits, this system eliminates human error and the reduction of overall workloads (Morr, 2019). It also saves money in the long run as this system can bring about increased yield of higher quality crops while reducing waste of water and nutrients. The smart controller in the automated nutrient dosing system has provided undeniable benefits by working in unison with other features of the system such as the pumps and sensor.

One of the main features of the automated nutrient dosing system is its smart controller. It is the brain of the system where it controls other features of the system such as the pump modules and a variety of sensors that constantly measure parameters such as the pH, conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO) and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of the water (Indoor Ag-Con, 2023). It features cloud connectivity, which allows the user to monitor their plants in real time and control the dosing system remotely. This means that the need for manpower is reduced as all needed adjustments could now be programmed with the smart controller which also eliminates the need to hire someone which in turn, saves labor costs.

One of the system’s main functions is to help maintain a consistent EC and pH level in  the mixing tank constantly (PureHydroponics, 2023). Using the various sensors, it reads and ensures that the solution is always in the most optimal condition for the crops to grow in. With the dosing pumps, it allows for precise dosing of the necessary nutrients needed for the crops to grow favourably (Morr, 2019). The system has helped eliminate human error as the user now does not need to manually test and dose their mixing tanks regularly to ensure its nutrient consistency. 

Manual testing and dosing of EC and pH levels typically takes about 15 to 30 minutes a day and has to be done at different timing of the day (Aggarwal, 2021). With the system, this can be done simultaneously, this in turn helps save time and money as workers would not need to test and adjust the pH and EC levels and salary being paid to the worker would not be needed.

Also, by specifying the exact dose of water and nutrients needed, there would not be any unnecessary resources such as water and nutrients wasted which in turn, leads to increased  efficiency in terms of cost and crop yield. With an accurate amount of nutrients being provided to the crops, the growth rates of the crop is maximised (Morr, 2019). It ultimately ensures that the quality of crops grown are consistent in terms of size, texture, taste and appearance which is beneficial to the market (Aggarwal, 2021).

However, there could be downsides of using an automated nutrient dosing system. Firstly, the initial cost to set up an hydroponic farm with the automated nutrient dosing system could be intimidating to users that do not have a large capital. According to (FinModelsLab, n.d.), it costs approximately USD $ 10,000 to USD $50,000. This does not include other notable miscellaneous costs such as designing and construction of the facility, other systems that work hand in hand with the nutrient dosing system and also the legal and licensing fee. The most prevalent issue with an automated dosing system is the possibility of clogging in the delivery lines. To prevent this issue, the nutrients solution used must be of quality and be fully dissolved. If not done so, nutrients build up can occur inside the nutrient delivery lines and will cause problems in the long run. So regular maintenance needs to be done to ensure that the pipelines do not get clogged with nutrients and also ensure that the whole system is running smoothly so as to ensure that the crop yield is not affected (Morr, 2019). 

With the benefits that the smart controller offers, users should appreciate this technology. Even with the astronomical initial start-up cost and other prevailing issues, it should be undeniable that the benefits have outweighed the downsides of the system. In the long run, there would be return on investment (ROI) as the system has proven to be efficient and profitable with its automation and technology, providing consistent and quality yield to the user.

References

Advanced Nutrients. (2018, December 18). Automatic nutrient dosing systems for commercial growing. Advanced Nutrients. https://www.advancednutrients.com/articles/automatic-nutrient-dosing-systems/

Aggarwal, T. (2021, September 8). 5 reasons you need to invest on automated dosing systems on your farm. Rise Hydroponics. https://risehydroponics.in/5-reasons-you-need-to-invest-on-automated-dosing-systems-on-your-farm/

FinModelsLab. (n.d.). How much does it cost to start an indoor hydroponic farm: Unveiling Capex and startup costs. FinModelsLab. https://finmodelslab.com/blogs/startup-costs/indoor-hydroponic-farm-startup-costs

Indoor Ag-Con. (2023, February 12). Automated nutrient delivery by nuravine. https://indoor.ag/automated-nutrient-delivery-by-nuravine/

MORR Inc. (2019, August 5). Automated Plant Nutrient Delivery Systems. Morr Inc. https://morr.com/news/automated-plant-nutrient-delivery-systems/

PureHydroponics. (n.d.). The importance of automatic nutrient & ph dosing. Pure Hydroponics The Importance of Automatic Nutrient pH Dosing Comments. https://purehydroponics.com/articles/the-importance-of-automatic-nutrient-ph-dosing/

ZipGrow. (2023, May 19). Indoor hydroponic farming: Costs and profits [without the fluff]. ZipGrow Inc. https://zipgrow.com/indoor-hydroponic-farming-costs-profits/