Automatic hydroponic fertilizer system used on a farm

When you hear aboutautomatic fertilizer system for hydroponics, many people imagine a panel with buttons, where everything is watered on its own according to a schedule. But in practice, even the best automation requires constant intervention - either the EC sensor is clogged, or the pH has floated due to a jump in temperature in the greenhouse. We at Shandong Lingyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology Co.,Ltd. have encountered more than once that customers wait for the 'magic button' and then wonder why the leaves turn yellow when the controller settings are ideal.

Why automation is not 'set it and forget it'

Last year, we set up a system for a greenhouse plant in the Rostov region - the customer bought a Dutch controller with a touch screen, but a month later he complained about necrosis of the edges of the leaves of tomatoes. It turned out that the problem was not even in the algorithms, but in the fact that the water from the well gave seasonal fluctuations in carbonate hardness, which were not tracked by sensors. I had to supplement the system with manual tests every three days - the automation simply did not have time to adapt.

The moment is especially critical withfertigationin multi-level installations - where the lower levels receive drainage from the upper ones. Our engineer Mikhail once showed using strawberries as an example: if the EC sensor is only at the entrance, then by the fourth tier the solution thickens by 15-20%, and the plants begin to 'starve' with formally correct indicators. Therefore, now we always install redundant sensors at the output of each circuit.

By the way, about Shandong Lingyao LLC - we initially specialized in the design of hydraulic structures, and this gave us an unexpected advantage: understanding how water will behave in long pipelines in winter. Our systems often include heating cables in the piping of tanks - a trifle, but without it, in the same Moscow region, November frosts disabled entire drip irrigation lines.

Equipment that really works

We are now actively promoting modernized versionsintelligent water and fertilizer integration equipment- those with the ability to calibrate for a specific crop. Not like in standard controllers, where there are average 'tomato/cucumber/salad', but taking into account the growth phase. For example, for basil during the period of green mass growth, we add a correction for ammonium nitrogen, which rarely is included in the basic settings.

Frequency converters are a different story. Many still use relay circuits, but there pressure surges kill droppers within a season. We switched to systems with smooth control, especially for high stacks - when the pump must lift the solution 8-9 meters, pressure stability is critical. Once in the Krasnodar Territory, due to relay surges, 30% of the lettuce harvest was lost - the plant simply did not have time to absorb nutrients.

Filtration is an element where you cannot save money. We install multi-stage systems with disks and meshes, but the main thing is differential pressure sensors before and after the filter. In automatic mode, this allows you to start backwashing exactly when it is needed, and not according to a timer. On the website https://www.lyzhihuinongye.ru there is a case on a greenhouse with strawberries, where such a scheme reduced water consumption by 22% due to the precise determination of the moment of flushing.

Selection of solutions - where mistakes are most often made

I have seen dozens of cases where people buy expensive Israeli fertilizers, but do not take into account the source water. In the Moscow region, for example, there is often a high iron content, which reacts with phosphates - a precipitate forms, which clogs not only the drippers, but also the root zone. Now we always recommend a preliminary chemical analysis of water - it costs a penny compared with losses from system downtime.

Not everything is clear with nitrogen fertilizing either. In automatic mode it is easy to overdo it - the EC sensors show the norm, but the plants receive excess ammonium. Cucumbers in the fruiting phase are especially sensitive to this. Our agronomist Vadim has developed an empirical correction formula: at temperatures above 28°C, we reduce the concentration of ammonia nitrogen by 15%, regardless of sensor readings - otherwise the root system begins to be depressed.

Microelements are a separate matter. In automatic systems they are often fed in the same way as the base form, but the chelated forms may break down if left in the tank for long periods of time. It was necessary to introduce separate dosing tanks with short-term mixing immediately before serving. It would seem like an obvious solution, but 80% of ready-made systems on the market do not provide for this.

Integration with other systems

When we talk aboutsmart agricultural parks, fertilizer automation is only part of the overall scheme. For example, data from a weather station should influence the concentration of the solution: on cloudy days, reduce EC by 10-15%, because transpiration slows down. But not all controllers are able to build such connections—you often have to add the logic yourself.

There are also some nuances with remote control. Theoretically, it is possible to regulate valves in a greenhouse near Voronezh from an office in Moscow, but in practice, communication delays sometimes reach 30-40 seconds. For irrigation systems this is not critical, but for adjusting the pH it is already a problem. Therefore, they left redundant local control - the automation should work even if the communication channel is broken.

We gained interesting experience when integrating with lighting systems. It turned out that when switching to LED supplementary lighting, plants begin to consume 20% more calcium—feeding programs had to be rewritten. Now we are testing a scheme where the lighting spectrum affects the algorithmfertigation— preliminary results show an 8-9% increase in lettuce yield.

Prospects and limitations

Now everyone is interested in AI and machine learning, but in the case of hydroponics, neural networks are still weak in predicting local problems. I saw a system that “learned” from sensor readings for three weeks, and then issued a recommendation to double the magnesium - the plants simply burned. The experience of an agronomist cannot yet be replaced by any automation.

The main direction of development is predictive analytics. Don't just react to changes, but anticipate them. For example, based on the dynamics of solution consumption, predict the onset of mineral starvation 2-3 days before visual manifestations. At Shandong Linyao LLC we are just launching a pilot project with such a system for rose greenhouses - let's see if we can reduce losses from chlorosis.

The main conclusion in recent years: any automation must have an 'emergency exit' - the ability to quickly switch to manual control. And visual control is a must. No matter how good the sensors are, an experienced agronomist will identify the problem faster than any electronics based on one type of leaf. The balance between technology and human experience is what makesautomatic fertilizer system for hydroponicstruly effective.