The smart valve controls the water level in a module (or your own tray) to give your plants the wet-dry cycle. The smart valve has been under development for over 30 years, and won a number of awards including the Inventors Association of Victoria, Australia, First Prize in 1992 and the best Victorian invention at the Royal Melbourne Show of that same year.
Control of over watering and under watering
Look at the various house plants that you have. If you are an average hobbyist many of them will be in poor condition. Usually because of over or under watering through over eagerness to prevent drying out or because you were busy and forgot to water.
Control of over or under feeding
A common problem. And one that is hard to handle. Too little feeding and the plant will not perform. Too much is likely to kill the plant.
Our systems provides an exact dose every time the plant gets water.
A solution to the time problem
Especially in summer when many plants need water two or more times a day to give the best results.
The ability to take a vacation
Every one of our system is designed to give a long period of watering and even the systems with relatively small storage tanks can be switched over to larger tanks for the period that you are away.
Avoidance of the drip problem
Particularly with hanging baskets used indoors, excess watering can be a problem. With our systems, there is no run off, hence you are able to put one pot plant below another.
Water conservation
The cost of purification or supply of good quality water is one that continually increases, our systems are extremely water efficient as the plants only take what they need.
Avoidance of recycling costs
Particularly where legal or financial constraints dictate the elimination of pollution by run off or the cost of water supply is high, our systems excel. No capital cost for pumps, ponds, disposal and treatment. No running costs in fuel or power for pumping.
Avoiding overhead watering problems
Plants that need sub-irrigating to avoid damage to flower or foliage love our system.
Conventional Aquaponics may appear simple. But in reality, it is a lot more difficult to manage than it may seem. However, our version of Aquaponics is a lot easier. It is as simple as letting the water first flow into the fish tank and then pump the fish water to feed the plants via our systems.
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Water Efficiency
Every drop of water that goes via the Smart-valve to the growing container is available to the plant. The single minimal wastage of water is through evaporation from the surface of the container. There is no run-off and no recycling of water.
Watering According To Demand
Our module via the Smart-valve dictates that the amount and frequency of water provided is exactly as the plants require.
Electricity Supply Not Critical
Our systems can be run by gravity with a tank fed system. No electricity or battery driven devices are mandatory.
Inexpensive to buy and maintain
There is no expensive outlay in electrical connection, pumps, computers and piping. All the water connections are by a 4mm and (optionally) 13mm tubing. This small diameter tubing is practical simply because the valves operate independently and seldom will more than one be open at a time. Therefore the demand for water is spread throughout the day. Running the tube over or through walls, under paths, across rafters or wherever it needs to go is very simple compared to the problems and expense of achieving this with polythene, copper or galvanised piping that also normally requires a plumber to install. The thin tubing is normally held in place by simple, inexpensive plastic saddle clamps.
Self-scheduling
Conventional irrigation requires expertise in scheduling an irrigation cycle, relying on human judgement for interpretation of the needs of the plants and at best only satisfying the needs of the average plant. Our system caters exactly for the plant’s ever changing needs throughout the year, come winter or summer.
Many hydroponic systems recognise the fact that nature conditioned most plants to get alternating cycles of moisture so that they start out wet and then gradually dry out before it rains again to supply more moisture. If the water comes too frequently before the plant has had the chance for a drier period then plant growth is inhibited. If the plant dries out completely and stays that way for a period longer than it is conditioned to tolerate, it will either die completely or suffer a severe setback in its growth pattern.
The most common conventional hydroponic systems using media are "drip to waste" and "ebb and flow". In a variety of ways and under a variety of systems of control, a water/nutrient mix is supplied to the plants in the system. The control at its simplest is manual, and at its most complicated, computer controlled. Even in the most comprehensive computer controlled Nutrient Film (NFT) systems, the cycle is normally dictated by the needs of the thirstiest of the plants in the system, so the average plant will get more water/nutrient than it needs which is usually also more than is good for it. This is done on the basis that a bit too much water, while perhaps not the ultimate in supplying the best growth rate, is better than too little water. There’s an old farmers saying that “you can always grow something in mud but you can’t grow anything in dust”.
Another issue with conventional hydroponics is that all systems recirculate nutrient which very often accounts for the nutrient becoming imbalanced and also the spread of disease through the entire system. To alleviate this problem it is standard practice to constantly monitor and balance the pH and CF level of nutrient which requires a significant investment in both equipment and time, or in many professional systems, excess water and nutrient is run to waste.