Customizable multi-channel water and fertilizer

When you hear aboutcustomizable multi-channel water and fertilizer, the first thing that comes to mind is a panel with a bunch of buttons and complex algorithms. But in reality, it often turns out that farmers confuse multichannel with simple stream separation. Last year, at a greenhouse plant near Krasnodar, I saw how a system with six channels was used for three crops, and the remaining channels were idle - because there was no understanding of how to redistribute resources in real time. This is a typical mistake: multichannel is not for beauty, but for flexibility, which you need to be able to apply.

Why standard solutions don't work in multichannel mode

Many suppliers offer ready-made modules, but they often do not take into account the pressure difference between channels. I remember that on a tomato farm in the Rostov region we were faced with the fact that when fertilizers were simultaneously supplied to four lines, the latter received 15% less concentration. I had to manually adjust the valves - and this was after three days of testing. It turned out that the problem was not in the pumps, but in the diameter of the tubes, which were not suitable for long lines.

Another point is sensor compatibility. Cheap pH and EC sensors can have an error of up to 10% if calibrated once a month. And in a multi-channel system, where each channel is responsible for its own culture, this is critical. You have to either install duplicate sensors or use equipment with automatic calibration - likeShandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology Co.,Ltd, whose systems we tested last season. Their controllers themselves adjust the parameters every 12 hours, but this is not a panacea - on hot days it is better to reduce the interval.

Sometimes they try to use multichannel to save money, but it turns out the opposite. One client wanted to power eight greenhouses from one node, but did not take into account that crops with different growing seasons require different watering schedules. As a result, the system was wearing out, and energy consumption increased by 20%. We had to split it into two independent circuits - and only then did we reach the calculated parameters.

How to choose a configuration for specific crops

For greenhouse vegetables, such as cucumbers and peppers, I recommend dividing the channels not by type of fertilizer, but by growth phase. Young seedlings require more nitrogen, and during fruiting - potassium and phosphorus. But if you do it manually, it's easy to get confused. In our experiments with strawberries, we used programmable scenarios: the first channel is the starting solution, the second is for flowering, the third is for filling the berries. But there is a nuance here: when the weather suddenly changed, the scenarios went wrong, and the settings had to be quickly changed.

It is especially difficult with perennial crops such as grapes. There you need to take into account not only the season, but also the age of the vine. On a project in Crimea, we set up six canals for a vineyard: two for young plantings, three for fruit-bearing ones, one for drip irrigation between rows. But the most difficult thing was to synchronize irrigation with the application of plant protection products - we had to integrate weather sensors to avoid waterlogging before treatments.

ExperienceShandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology Co.,Ltdshowed that there are no universal solutions. Their engineers always request a detailed planting plan and disease history - because, for example, if there is a risk of fusarium, it is necessary to reduce the frequency of watering through some channels, even if this contradicts general recommendations. This is real customization, not just choosing from a menu.

Hardware limitations and how to get around them

Problems often start small - for example, when a manufacturer skimps on injector material. Plastic ones quickly become overgrown with salts, and stainless steel is expensive. We tried a compromise - ceramic sprayers, but they do not withstand the vibration from the pumps. In the end, we settled on bronze ones, but they need to be cleaned regularly - especially in hard water.

Another stumbling block is the compatibility of controllers of different generations. Older models do not support dynamic redistribution of resources between channels. You have to either install intermediate modules, as in systems fromhttps://www.lyzhihuinongye.ru, where signal converters are used, or change all automation. But the latter is expensive, and not every farmer is ready for such costs.

It’s especially annoying when the software crashes. Once, during a firmware update, all sensor calibrations were reset - and the system ran idle for a week. Now we always save backup copies of settings on external media. And I advise clients to do the same, even if everything seems stable.

Examples of working configurations for different scales

For small greenhouses up to 0.5 hectares, a three-channel system is sufficient: one channel for basic nutrition, the second for corrections for leaf diagnostics, and the third for stimulants. But it is important not to overload it - for example, do not try to control additional lighting through one controller. I have seen cases where relays burned out because of this.

For industrial complexes over 5 hectares, cascade solutions are already needed. We designed a 12-channel system for a vegetable cluster in the Moscow region: four channels for tomatoes, three for cucumbers, two for greens, the rest are backup and for washing pipes. The key was the separation of the mains - so that if one unit breaks down, the entire irrigation would not stop.

An interesting case is the adaptation of multi-channel systems for vertical farms. There you have to take into account not only the composition of the solutions, but also the feed angle. For example, for tiered installations with salads, we used fan nozzles with an adjustable sector - this allowed us to reduce water consumption by 15% without losing the quality of irrigation.

Common operating errors and their consequences

The most common is ignoring filter prevention. In a multi-channel system, a clogged filter in one filter affects all channels. Once, because of this, the entire drip irrigation line in a potato field failed - 3 km of tapes had to be replaced. Now we always install backup filters and differential pressure sensors.

Another mistake is incorrect interpretation of sensor data. An EC meter may show high conductivity not due to excess fertilizer, but due to the accumulation of salts in the substrate. In such cases, we take the extract from the ground and compare it with the system readings - often the discrepancies reach 25%.

And finally, the human factor. Somehow the technician mixed up the hoses when connecting them and for a week the tomatoes received the cucumber solution. The result is a loss of 30% of the harvest. Now we mark all lines with colored tags and carry out unscheduled inspections. By the way, in the catalogShandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology Co.,LtdThere are ready-made solutions with color coding - a trifle, but it saves nerves.

Prospects for the development of multi-channel systems

Nowadays they are increasingly talking about AI integration, but in practice it is still more marketing. The real improvements come in the direction of simplifying interfaces. For example, in new controllers you can set not absolute values, but relative ones - “increase nitrogen by 10%?”, and the system itself will recalculate the proportions for all channels.

An interesting direction is modular systems, where you can expand channels as your farm expands. We tested this oneShandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology Co.,Ltd— to the base unit with 4 channels, you can add three more modules with 2 channels each. But there are still problems with synchronization with a large number of modules - delays of up to 2 seconds, which is critical for some crops.

I think the next step is predictive analytics, when the system not only reacts to changes, but predicts them. For example, according to the weather forecast, automatically reduce watering before rain. But this requires more accurate models than those that exist now. So far, I have only seen such functionality in experimental installations.