Computerized grow op?

Discussion in 'Do It Yourself' started by mushroomsatsuji, Oct 30, 2010.

  1. I dont usually come here and I dont have a grow of my own, but I do think I will one day.

    My question is has anyone automated their grow op? I see many in computer cases, but what about using computers to regulate everything you need so that you never really need to check on it?

    I think it would be a great idea to set somewhere remotely and go collect it when its done. Experienced growers, is this plausible?
     
  2. #2 reznkk, Oct 30, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 30, 2010
    I do. I go and look at my grow once a week to mix nutrients, I get bored so I go and look but there is no need to, everything is monitored and it emails me if anything gets to high/low. I use Growtronix.
     
  3. is there a guide you followed to set that up? Honestly that could be the coolest thing i have ever seen, i would love to see how it is set up.
     
  4. as long as you know what youre doing its extremely effective in regulating food/water with very little attention. a friend of mine works in the irrigation business has shown me a little about that stuff when we were setting up a little grow in our old house. we didnt end up using it because ours was pretty small and not worth the effort to set it up. you can regulate when, how often and how much nutrient/water is given to the plant. typically the nutrient solution has its own seperate reservoir and is only added when programmed to. he said theres some way to hook that up to your laptop or something which could make it alot easier for commercial growers or growers on vacation to take care of their crops. its not fool proof but it buys you a little more time and convenience.
     
  5. thats a dope concept :smoking:
     
  6. #6 Loki7, Nov 8, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 8, 2010


    I'm working on automating a 4 cab micro grow... There's a link in my sig...

    -Loki
     

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  7. Loki,

    Looks great!!! I was wondering if anyone automated the grow. Can you monitor temperature / humidity and set alarms?

    Weed
     
  8. An automated grow is 1000% plausible. Water sensors determining the moisture of the soil (assuming you didn't go hydroponic... which would be more effective in this case I imagine), release some water when needed. If you had the means, you could have your water supply directly linked to your home's water source. Temperature and humidity sensors. Fans that kick on to reduce heat just like with a computer, speeding up and slowing down based on temperature. Humidifier device turns on when the humidity gets too low. Sensors to determine the height of the plant. When the plant is too close to the lights, the lights could be raised via a motor and pulley system, or whatever used.

    With the right kind of money and resources, a completely automated grow is 100% possible.
     
  9. Right now, I'm just monitoring the temperature and controlling the speed of the blowers to keep a set temperature. It's possible to do humidity too, but the sensors are a little pricey and changing the humidity of just one cab would impossible.

    I don't have any alarms built into the software, but I could add them at some point.

    -Loki
     

  10. I like what you have going there its really cool. The only thing I would say to you is don't use duct tape. Use a bigger box to tuck your PCB and components inside and get plates to cover the whole thing up. If you have to use tape use proper electrical tape.
     
  11. OMFG
    I can't believe I've never stumbled upon Growtronix before!
    I've been looking for this since I was 16. (alot older now)
    Thank you for the post.

    I've been trying to get my smarter friends to mickey mouse something like this together for years.
    The closest I got was power switches. (no brains)
    It's pricey, but exactly what I want.

    A few questions about the software:


    How is the logic?
    Can I say set a target PH for my res, an acceptable variance, and have 2 dosing pumps manage the PHup PHdown?
    Automate Feed, Water Change, set PPM and let dosing pump manage?
    Logic for CO2/Exhaust Managment/efficiency?
    Is there any historical data?
    Integrated Calendar?
    Save Completed Grow history for Archive?
    Automate pictures?
    What kind of DB?
    Web GUI. (lol how about my iPhone!)

    Now you got me going.
    I won't be able to sleep tonight!
    :hello:
     
  12. Oh yeah,
    Tracking KW/hr patterns//totals for entire grow.
    Costing, price per KW, cost per 11/53 ml of nutes/additives?
    Oh it could be great!
     
  13. Many people including me, are always on the look out to make life easy//easier
    in our grow ops.
    my grow room that gets a lot of light can and does over heat daily, so I've plugged in a 6inch fan on a timer.
    In my clone machine, here it gets complicated, it started life as a 486 computer
    great steel case, scraped the guts out, then I've inserted a 40 watt build, this kept the surface way to hot for the clones, so I dropped a honeywell home thermostat to the light bulb, and built a plywood case around the 486 pc base
    with the thermostat inside at about 82f, using the heated base it keeps the clones warm, and they take about 1-2 weeks for the roots to come thru,
    cause I can't be here to tend to them, I installed a light sensitive switch that goes on when the thermost turns that 40w bulb off,
    connected to the light sensitive switch is a auto car window washer pump that mists the clones every 6 hours but only when the 40w bulb is off
    the winder washer pump runs for about 2-3 minutes each time, after that another timer turns on the 2x pc fans installed each side of the plywood box, or clone cabinet, cools the clones down, the box cools down 2-3 minutes the 40w bulb is activated again by the thermostat set to turn on once tempsfall below 82f....wow thats long!!!!
    my attempt at automation, but otherwize I do like to visit my plants daily, it's FUN, unlike others they do RESPOND to my bad breath....lol


    good luck
    "V"


    I put in a timer, that misted them with water every 6 hours, but only when the 40w bulb was actually turned off by the thermostat
     

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