Fertigation

Created by Aaron Westfall, Modified on Tue, 11 Apr, 2023 at 11:28 AM by Aaron Westfall

The Loftus Labs: EMC Fertigation Solution allows accurate, local and remote (web enabled) injection of fertilizers and/or chemicals into irrigation systems, with measured fertilizer flow, irrigation flow and pressure, and tank levels. There is an auto injection shutoff for flow and pressure setpoints, as well as maximum time-on and maximum flow. Any auto shutoff is an alarm that can be sent out via text or a phone call in English or Spanish.

Remote monitoring and reporting of current and past status, as well as measured injection and timing is available for viewing and reporting.

The Fertigation Panel depending on system specification includes a VFD for accurately controlling the motor and injection. Power input can be single or three phase power. If sized properly, most motor/pump combinations can be controlled, however, the motor must be a 3-Phase Motor. The flow and flowrate range depend on the motor/pump combination, as the solution will scale up and down with the motor and pump utilized.

For lower flowrate solutions, an alternative to the Fertigation Panel is a positive displacement pump with or without variable speed inputs. Without variable speed inputs, the fertigation solution can still turn on and off fertigation based on time and/or measured flowrates and pressures.

The following steps will guide through setup and configuration of an EMC fertigation pump.

Injections can be time based, quantity based, or flow based. They can be triggered ‘on-demand’ with a manual start/stop trigger or scheduled in conjunction with irrigation sets. If scheduled in conjunction with an irrigation set, a ‘Start Delay’ for pipe filling can be specified, as well as a ‘Shutoff Before End’ time to allow for flushing.

Fertigation Tab Overview:

Fertigation Menu:

1: List of all fertigation pumps that have been configured for the Area

2: Status of pump (On = Green, Off = Gray)

3: Event Status (Green and spinning if event is active)

4: Control buttons to push settings and start the manual event

5: Manual Run Settings – Configuration for manual event

6: Ratio – Optional settings for product/water ratio for pump

7: Safety Shutoff – Settings for safety to end the event due to low flow or pressure as read by sensors

8: Tank level – The product level in the monitored tank (%)

9: Graph of sensor data gathered by configured sensors during the event

Type 1 – Manual Fertigation Event

Manual Fertigation events are easy to setup and run in order to add fertigation to existing schedules on a one-at-a-time basis in order to keep close track of the type and quantity of products being applied to crops. The manual settings can be adjusted each time an event is run to fine tune the usages and settings between applications.

To setup a manual fertigation event:

Step 1: Select the correct fertigation pump with which you want to run the event
NOTE: Make sure the parent pump is running and active before starting a fertigation event to prevent damage to pumps and lines
Step 2: Fill out the Manual Run Settings / Ratio / Safety Shutoff options with desired settings for manual event
Step 3: Click on “Push Manual Settings” to send the manual event settings to the controller, verify successful push via popup
Step 4: Click on “Start Event” and verify success with popup message

Type 2 – Fertigation Schedule

A fertigation schedule is similar to an irrigation schedule, but when setup on a fertigation pump it will run the fertigation instead of irrigation.

Step 1: Select “Create Schedule” from the control dropdown list to create a new schedule
Step 2: Select a Fertigation that has been previously configured
Step 3: configure the pump as normal and save/publish as you would an irrigation schedule.

Type 3 – Fertigation event on Irrigation Schedule

This method adds fertigation events to an existing irrigation schedule. This is useful to automate both the irrigation schedules and fertigation to run as a single cohesive unit.

Step 1: Select “Modify Schedule” from the control dropdown
Step 2: Filter down to the schedule you wish to modify using the dropdown selections
Step 3: Select “Edit Fertigation” from the buttons at the bottom to add fertigation to the schedule
Step 4: The Fertigation control window will pop up. Select the fertigation pump that you want to add to the schedule
Step 5: Fill out the event parameters for the fertigation event
NOTES: The Injection Offset will allow the offset at the start/end of the event to flush the lines before or after fertigation
Step 6: One the information is entered, select the “Update” button to add the Fertigation to the schedule
Step 7: Verify that the “Fertigation Active” flag is set on your schedule to verify