Grodan Grosens Multisensor System

Eli Bloom · Feb 27, 2017

Is anybody using one of these?

I love the idea of taking guesswork out of a watering schedule and knowing exactly what's going on in my medium at all times, doubly so because my lights are on at night and I don't have a good feel for what's going on between 12am-6am.

This system has a series of sensors you can place in your medium and it will tell you the water content, ec, PH, and temperature of your medium.

I can't find any pricing for this setup. If anyone has any insight as to cost I would love to hear it.

I've also taken a look at the SmartBee system but it seems like you have to go all in with them and I already have a CO2 controller and Bluelab for my rez. And the smartbee system is upwards of $3k, but I think you can also use it to automate watering to keep your medium's WC where you want it, which is appealing. so rather than adjusting the timing of your watering schedule it will allow you to set ranges and water automatically.

EventHorizan · Feb 27, 2017

Eli Bloom said:
Is anybody using one of these?

I love the idea of taking guesswork out of a watering schedule and knowing exactly what's going on in my medium at all times, doubly so because my lights are on at night and I don't have a good feel for what's going on between 12am-6am.

This system has a series of sensors you can place in your medium and it will tell you the water content, ec, PH, and temperature of your medium.

I can't find any pricing for this setup. If anyone has any insight as to cost I would love to hear it.

I've also taken a look at the SmartBee system but it seems like you have to go all in with them and I already have a CO2 controller and Bluelab for my rez. And the smartbee system is upwards of $3k, but I think you can also use it to automate watering to keep your medium's WC where you want it, which is appealing. so rather than adjusting the timing of your watering schedule it will allow you to set ranges and water automatically.

Why don't u just get a hydro set up?

Eli Bloom · Feb 27, 2017

EventHorizan said:
Why don't u just get a hydro set up?

i'm currently growing in a 80% hydroton 20% coco. i think this is considered a hydro setup.

next round will either be 100% coco or rockwool (which i've done a number of times in the past). rockwool is certainly considered hydro but it's still helpful to know the water content of the rockwool to dial in your irrigation schedule.

i've considered doing waterfarm buckets but it seems like there's a lot that could go wrong with clogs.

My issue is that i travel for work and am only home on the weekends and:
1) the fewer things that can go wrong the better since i don't want to try to troubleshoot over facetime with my wife
2) more automation = better (for me given my situation)

The ability to remotely monitor and control my environment, including root zone/medium/irrigation would be invaluable.

Eli Bloom · Feb 27, 2017

i've also been thinking of tropf blumats as a potential solution but have read about clogged lines and pressure issues with those.

visajoe1 · Feb 28, 2017

How about a timed drip system with 2 or 3 drippers per coco pot so you have insurance against clogs?

Or, just run DWC/waterfarm. There is no clogging issues unless you are using wrong ferts or putting coco in the pot. Use hydroton and you're golden. You'll wish you did it a long time ago. You gotta be able to control bucket water temps tho, 65-69.

Eli Bloom · Feb 28, 2017

visajoe1 said:
How about a timed drip system with 2 or 3 drippers per coco pot so you have insurance against clogs?

Or, just run DWC/waterfarm. There is no clogging issues unless you are using wrong ferts or putting coco in the pot. Use hydroton and you're golden. You'll wish you did it a long time ago. You gotta be able to control bucket water temps tho, 65-69.

I use timed drippers now but can't measure / ensure appropriate WC.

What do you do to keep bucket water temps in that range? I love the idea of water farm buckets. Do you leave them on 24/7?

visajoe1 · Feb 28, 2017

Eli Bloom said:
I use timed drippers now but can't measure / ensure appropriate WC.

What do you do to keep bucket water temps in that range? I love the idea of water farm buckets. Do you leave them on 24/7?

I run a small 2 bucket system with different strains, both buckets placed in a waterbath, running 24/7. I chill the waterbath with a chiller to 65.5 and my buckets stay at 66.5ish. Check ph every other day, and change bucket nutes every week. Also change the waterbath water weekly.

For larger setups you need some sort of recirculating setup with large a reservoir. Under current is popular, but you must run one strain at a time or you may have problems due to differences in needs between genetics. Or, you could do some sort of recirculating waterbath so you can run different strains.

Eli Bloom · Feb 28, 2017

visajoe1 said:
I run a small 2 bucket system with different strains, both buckets placed in a waterbath, running 24/7. I chill the waterbath with a chiller to 65.5 and my buckets stay at 66.5ish. Check ph every other day, and change bucket nutes every week. Also change the waterbath water weekly.

For larger setups you need some sort of recirculating setup with large a reservoir. Under current is popular, but you must run one strain at a time or you may have problems due to differences in needs between genetics. Or, you could do some sort of recirculating waterbath so you can run different strains.

Yeah the only issue here is with my travel schedule. I was seriously considering a recirculating water farm system but then my wife would have to manage all the dosin and PHing. I like how right now I can mix up a res for the week.

I'll just have to call grodan and ask about pricing on the grosens. I really like the smartbee system and the IoT solution is a great value proposition for me given my schedule but there's a pretty big barrier to entry that might not be justifiable for my little home grow.

visajoe1 · Feb 28, 2017

Ya, cost is major hurdle for many automated systems. Maybe look into what people are doing with raspberry pi's. @AvidLerner has a crazy thread you should check out if you're interested. He's building and coding one, and sharing it all here

Eli Bloom · Feb 28, 2017

visajoe1 said:
Ya, cost is major hurdle for many automated systems. Maybe look into what people are doing with raspberry pi's. @AvidLerner has a crazy thread you should check out if you're interested. He's building and coding one, and sharing it all here

Wow! Awesome thread - subscribed!

This is exactly what I need!!

I think he's got a great product here and there's a huge market for it. Everyone growing in their home that wants plug and play automation but doesn't want to shell out thousands of dollars for commercial solutions.

Hope he brings it to market quickly!

visajoe1 · Feb 28, 2017

Eli Bloom said:
Wow! Awesome thread - subscribed!

This is exactly what I need!!

I think he's got a great product here and there's a huge market for it. Everyone growing in their home that wants plug and play automation but doesn't want to shell out thousands of dollars for commercial solutions.

Hope he brings it to market quickly!

Ya, he is skilled for sure. Eventually, I'll have a need for that, when I have more space, get lazier, and have more money. Until then, I'll have to mix my nutes and ph like normal. Although, that is super easy too.

It would be a complete dream to have a fully automated hydro system, including res changes/flushing cycles. Basically, a programmed growth cycle that only needs access to supplies: water, nutes, ph balancers. Turn it on veg mode, for example, and switch to bloom as needed. You could literally touch the controls twice assuming it wouldnt run out of nutes, etc.
Crazy!! Or I'm just really lit, lol

sdgrower · Mar 3, 2017

Grosens is designed for rockwool. Better off with the Smart Bee system for coco mixes. Hand held Grosens is about $3k wireless starts around $5k.

yousefian · Nov 9, 2017

Eli Bloom said:
Is anybody using one of these?

I love the idea of taking guesswork out of a watering schedule and knowing exactly what's going on in my medium at all times, doubly so because my lights are on at night and I don't have a good feel for what's going on between 12am-6am.

This system has a series of sensors you can place in your medium and it will tell you the water content, ec, PH, and temperature of your medium.

I can't find any pricing for this setup. If anyone has any insight as to cost I would love to hear it.

I've also taken a look at the SmartBee system but it seems like you have to go all in with them and I already have a CO2 controller and Bluelab for my rez. And the smartbee system is upwards of $3k, but I think you can also use it to automate watering to keep your medium's WC where you want it, which is appealing. so rather than adjusting the timing of your watering schedule it will allow you to set ranges and water automatically.

Hey just saw this post, so bit late I know but maybe we can help. https://www.30mhz.com/industry/agriculture/ . We have developed our toolkit for greenhouse growers. Its all plug and play, install in minutes. We use the same sensor that Grodan using (decagon), hopefully at a much more affordable price point. Take a look at the dewpoint sensor too, we can also give VPD (Vapour pressure deficit, plant stress). Really good for optimising your growing conditions. Message me if I can help out or any more questions.

Grodan Grosens Multisensor System

Grodan Grosens Multisensor System

Eli Bloom

EventHorizan

Eli Bloom

Eli Bloom

visajoe1

Eli Bloom

visajoe1

Eli Bloom

visajoe1

Eli Bloom

visajoe1

sdgrower

yousefian

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