Coco Grow 2.0 - Full Automation

[illmatik]

Hey all, going to use this thread to document my second attempt at growing w/ coco. My goal with this grow is high-tech automation.

My plans:

1x 4x8 Veg Tent
1x 5x12 Flower Tent

2x 50 gallon reservoirs

Reservoirs will automatically fill with RO water and calculate and dose nutrients appropriately.

Fertigation will be timed multiple times a day to each tent.

I'm curious to hear from anyone else who is running an auto dosing reservoir on what approach would work best for me. I'm also trying to figure out what nutrients to go with. My experience is strictly with Advanced Nutrients Coco. I'm trying to figure out if I would need two separate dosing controller/pumps for the veg and flower reservoir. If I'm using the same nutrients for flower/veg with just different potency levels, I should be able to get away with only one controller/pumps.

Anyways, kind of just talking out loud as I finalize this design, but also looking for your guys input.

 

[figgie]

So this is a high level plan...

How will you calculate nutrient addition based on RO water addition (I can see it possible if reading EC, Ph and temps of the water and feeding that to the "doser")?
What type of irrigation? High frequency fertigation until run off? Ebb and Flow?
Nutrients, stick with what you have if it worked for you before (Keep it simple).

 

[illmatik]

So this is a high level plan...

How will you calculate nutrient addition based on RO water addition (I can see it possible if reading EC, Ph and temps of the water and feeding that to the "doser")?
What type of irrigation? High frequency fertigation until run off? Ebb and Flow?
Nutrients, stick with what you have if it worked for you before (Keep it simple).

Very high level, but I'm starting to put the pieces together to make it a reality.

I will definitely have sensors on both reservoirs to measure EC, pH and temps.

I have a few different paths I could take:

1. Fill and mix the nutrients on the reservoirs weekly (or as long as the reservoir allows): Once reservoir goes empty, fill with fresh RO. Calculate the desired nutrient solution, fill and mix. As reservoir depletes, use the sensors to top off nutrients and pH up/down to regulate EC & pH.

Pros: Less "moving parts" and things to go wrong on a daily basis.
Cons: Larger reservoirs needed, monitoring and maintenance of reservoirs needed to keep nutrient solution within parameters, potential for bad leaks with 50 gallons of water being stored per reservoir

2. Fill and mix the reservoirs daily. Use smaller sized reservoirs, fill with RO each morning and mix the needed nutrients for the day.
Pros: No need to monitor and maintain nutrients solution as long as initial mix is done right, smaller reservoirs, less overall water being stored
Cons: Daily filling and nutrient mixing process needs to be on point, more potential for failure on a daily basis.

I will be doing high frequency fertigation with run off. Will be using a standard irrigation manifold with lines going to each pot that I can adjust. I'll run these on a timer multiple times throughout the day. Both tents will have a flood table that I will use as a drain.

 

[sonnyexotics]

Dosatrons are good for mixing nutrients. A lot of people run athena with dosatrons. Trolmaster from mangotech for the automation, and craft farmer for all the irrigation tech

 

[illmatik]

Dosatrons are good for mixing nutrients. A lot of people run athena with dosatrons. Trolmaster from mangotech for the automation, and craft farmer for all the irrigation tech

Dosatron looks very cool, but might be overkill for my application.

I will be using peristaltic pumps to mix my concentrated nutrient mixture into my RO water. I've decided to go with Bill Farthing's Jack's 3-2-1 recipe as my nutrient lineup.

I am going to try controlling all of this automation using an open source software called Mycodo. It will run off of a Raspberry Pi and will control all of my inputs (sensors) as well as outputs (dosing pumps, mixing pumps, irrigation pumps, etc).

There are a ton of turn-key solutions but they cost a lot. Budget isn't really a limiting factor for me though. I would rather take the opportunity to build my own solution as a learning experience and to have more control later on down the road