Curious to see how many @growopowners @mastergrowers currently use some form of automation and if not what is the reason.
0 voters
Hi
Would you please let me know your purpose for this question?
You have some automation model wants to introduce to us or??
Thanks
Bill
Bill,
We are looking to bring to market a cost effective automation and remote monitoring solution, and we are interested in finding out what the general uptake around automation is.
We got into this because what was on the market was really expensive for what was offered with little to no future proofing or customisation available. The smaller grow operation really is not catered for on the whole and is usually priced out of the automation market, something we intend to address through our approach.
Pete
Hi Pete,
Great! So can you call me 917-526-9810 so that we can talk about more on potential cooperation . Or you can give me your phone number, and I can call you
Thanks
Bill
Bill,
Where abouts are you based, I am south of London so there is likely a time difference we need to take into consideration. I’ll send you direct message with my contact number, I’ve found WhatsApp to be very handy (free international calls and decent enough quality), or Google Hangouts is another good option.
Pete
Hi Pete
I am in New York City. USA. You can try to connect with whatsup first. if there is problem, I can try Google Hangouts
Bill
Sorry. My phone link to whatsup is 001 917 9913017
We are set up with a fully automated watering system, however I do not use it. I hand water 350 plants every other day. The reason for doing it by hand is simple. While watering I spend time with each plant in the garden. This allows my to check for problems, pests, etc. Plants enjoy our company and I see automation as a further disconnect from the plant.
I use Link4 systems. Excellent products. For more info, hit up @Link4Dean or @Link4Controls!
I totally agree with your handwatering reasoning, @Dendro . For the same exact reasons, I always have the apprentices that learn from me study plants’ needs by doing a “systems check” every day while hand-watering. It’s an opportunity to understand what is happening with that individual plant and her individual needs/wants/desires. In a very real way, I feel it is an opportunity to “commune”, if you will, with a fellow biological in a very symbiotic fashion.
I totally agree with you on the keeping in touch with the plants and a great time for doing that is when walking around watering them. Automated/remote controlled watering is nice though for when you are away for a few days or couple of weeks to ensure everything keeping ticking along. I was personally running out of favours to call in from friends to check on my greenhouse and water if required while I was away on holiday, you also have the trust factor coming into play (will they or will they not over/under water).
Automation should be the next step in the growers evolution, no point in jumping straight into an automated system if you have no idea how to do it manually. Having the experience of doing it manually and making the mistakes, seeing the results of those mistakes and learning from them is an absolute must. An automated system will only operate within the parameters you define, if you have no idea what those should be then no amount of automation is going to help you and you will have no idea why or how to go about fixing it.
Well so far the results show that the majority of people are using automation in one form or another, with a high portion looking to expand on their existing implementations.
Pete
Love this topic, I’m a vendor (smart nutrient control systems with data collection and analytics) and it’s fascinating to watch an industry that has prioritized labor (can vacate the premises in 5 minutes if law enforcement is coming) over capital investment, which typically can’t be broken down and evacuate quite so quickly. Reminds me of the joke about trying to get financing, “what bankers call financials we call evidence.” Watering schedules and nutrient recipes are fascinating and it’s amazing how many different approaches there are, other than broad agreement that N, P and K are all important and that veg and flower need different recipes, there’s very little agreement on nutrient recipe “best practices” and even less data and rigorous A/B testing.
Interested to hear from growers and other automation vendors about their experiences, practices, and what their crystal ball tells them about the future. Mine is pretty murky but broadly, quality is going to continue to improve, there will be ongoing downward price pressure, and the long-term winners will be the growers who creatively apply smart technology and automation. Hobbyists can always grow a couple of plants in an extra bedroom, but the future belongs to grower-technologists who are as comfortable with a smart phone and a spreadsheet as they are in a flower room about to harvest. Let me know if you agree or think I’m just another carpet bagging tech guy from Silicon Valley who has no soul. 
Sounds like me! And therefore I must agree with you. Being technology forward is going to be the only way to survive 20 years out.
Crystal ball says to keep an eye on:
Computer vision
Dynamic control
Very interesting reading this thread as someone who is not a grower but serving the grower’s market. I appreciate the desire to be more hands-on with the plants but I wonder how realistic that is when your operation expands?
Our odor control systems rely on a significant amount of automation that effectively relieves the grower of one more “thing” to have to babysit. Having an odor control system that is automated to increase odor mitigation output when a vent is opened for instance is significantly more efficient than reacting to an odor complaint after the fact.
@Growernick couldn’t agree with you more! System checks are an awesome way to learn each individual detail.
Pete from P&L will be joining GNET for tomorrow’s AMA. I think it’ll be a great opportunity to continue this conversation with the creator of some very interesting hardware/software for the cannabis industry.
We’re interested in how growers think about automation, is it a godsend to help streamline operations and reduce labor costs, or a terrible thing being imposed by soulless “hedge fund cannabis” suits who don’t appreciate the beauty of big buds with colorful trichomes?
All indoor growers need equipment to manipulate the light, temperature, and humidity of their facilities. No lights, no flowers, no flowers, no money. After lighting and HVAC, what’s your next priority? What are the most expensive and time consuming tasks that require labor expense? Nutrient mixing, watering, pest eradication, trimming/pruning? How do you allocated your capital between labor and automation? Thanks for sharing, growers are the foundation of the industry, we want to make their lives easier, better and more rewarding!
