This is taking things too far. Lol. Sigh.

How are you getting on with your sensors? Useful? Just fun? Or BS? I'm interested in the light aspect, how it adds up over the day, but also curious about the fertility measurements. How can it vary like that over the day?

Robin

ewwmayo did lots of measuring and posted graphs in the link I provided above in case you didn't check it out. He has few more threads, if interested.

I should think, and nothing more, just a thought, that with the widespread lifting of restrictions on cannabis growers many of these instruments should become more predominantly retailed and prices should drop.

Rina, yes I did see those graphs in the link (was distracted by all the pretty plant pictures for a while first..) but they were running over a year, which made more sense to me. Above it's 24 hours, and the fertility drops after 6am. Why? What's being measured? Not planning on measuring my own, just curious!

Albert, I think you'll be right about that! Actually decent market pressure should "weed" out any useless devices, as these boys I mean people have it down to a science and a business and I doubt they use things that don't work :)

That would just be way too much information for me. I could easily start to obsess about the numbers and do crazy things to make them look 'perfect' (the data, not the plants). I'm just a little home hobbyist, so I'll stick with my sharpened dowels and a short of rough sense of how my plants are doing.

Update.... so far ive compared the sensors to a digital moisture meter, PH tester, and a good soil test kit. It seems to be doing a great job!

The light current light measurements are in Lux and mmol in cumulative.

And yes the available levels of nutrients available vary as a function of soil temperature as per FGCU.

Oh, now I see! Thanks for the explanation, that makes sense.

I am using Parrot Flower Powers extensively and find them very helpful. It's a good way to gain a better understanding of light, moisture, and soil. This kind of thing isn't for everyone... as I see from the comments above.

Many commercial growers are using tools like these to increase their yields. Concepts such as 'watering the day before your plant needs it' becomes trivial along with the knowledge to maximize your growth.

Of course, it still takes quite a bit of effort and learning to get the most out of it (like most things). My focus is more on the measurements rather than automatic recommendations from a tool.

Most important is understanding what exactly is being measured and how. For example, I really don't find the nutrient/EC measurements useful because I prefer to have levels at the very bottom of the sensor's measurement range. For that I use a separate EC meter.

Here are just a few of my graphs over the past year, since I am running multiple sensors. Temperatures over the past year including a cold spell outside in May:

For light, I have been measuring in different places with this sensor throughout the year. Measurements are in PAR DLI:

Overall, I think tools like these are fantastic and getting the data and trends are incredibly useful. I wish they were much cheaper and readily available, but right now it's a step in the right direction. Commercial measurement tools cost hundreds of dollars and close to a thousand if you include multiple sensors and logging capabilities.

Ewwmayo, thank you for your excellent analysis! This is the type of data Id like to see. I think its important to quantify the soil conditions your plants are growing in, especially long term investments such as fruit or citrus trees. Its also important to have software that adjusts for different plants. Heres some screenshots from my Kona Lime...

Wow, that looks pretty cool. I wanted to get one when they first came out years ago, due to the position of my house, and that of the Sun on the horizon. The light changes very much different in Summer vs Spring/Fall.

I didn't get one because they were expensive, and the technology was unproven and somewhat unreliable...might have to rethink that.

The light between seasons changes so much. Angle of the sun, any obstructions, seasonal weather (clouds) and day length all are major factors.

I built my indoor grow setup to match the PAR DLI light output I get in the summer outside so I could move my plants inside and out with no adjustment period.