The Sentinel uses cloud technology to provide supervised 24/7 remote monitoring of environmental conditions and unattended equipment at commercial greenhouses. It enables operators to access real-time status conditions, change settings, disable alarms, and readjust temperature limits via any device using the Sensaphone iPhone/Android app or at Sensaphone.net. The Sentinel records data points such as temperature, humidity, and CO₂ that can help operators identify trends in environmental conditions that indicate possible equipment problems.

Link4’s new iDoser is an automated dosing and fertigation scheduling system that helps predict plant needs. The iDoser provides accurate nutrient dosing and pH balancing for many different types of grow environments, from large-scale greenhouses to commercial warehouses and vertical farms. Because the LinkConn software is database driven, it can be controlled by an enterprise-grade server or installed right onto a laptop for optimal control and visibility. The iDoser system can also include up to two backup sensors and logs all activity, so if a problem does occur, growers can stay on top of it before it becomes an even bigger problem.

Argus Controls are advanced climate-control systems that are customized to each grower’s requirements and adaptable to their changing needs, enabling them to operate their facilities exactly the way they want. The system is a user-programmable, real-time control system with dedicated hardware and software specifically designed for automated equipment control, monitoring, and data acquisition in commercial and institutional protected horticulture production settings, including greenhouses and indoor operations.

Titan 900 (Argus’ control-system software), together with Titan controllers, provide a powerful, integrated solution for managing an entire horticultural facility from greenhouse and physical plant operations to fertigation systems, grow rooms and growth chambers, nurseries, and propagation zones, all from a central command center, networked PC, or mobile devices. Titan 900 offers an enhanced user experience with innovative visual controls and value-added features, including intuitive visual controls, enhanced graphs, and Argus graphical link view.

Seed from Wadsworth Control Systems allows growers to navigate from an overview of a large range to a single piece of equipment in seconds. The equipment screen shows specific conditions and status for each piece of equipment, telling growers when each level of cooling, irrigation, etc., will change and why. Curtain management is based on light intensity and programmed scheduling, and allows for a variety of responses of degree covered and the pace of covering or uncovering. Advanced sensing capabilities include dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and differential pressure.

The Seed 16 features all of the sophistication and ease of Seed (see above), trimmed down to suit the needs of smaller growers. The Seed 16 has the same cabinet, touch screen, and intuitive interface as Seed, and it has 16 outputs, enough to support standard greenhouse cooling, heating, fans, pad pump, lighting, and irrigation. It can be configured to suit a grower’s individual needs, either in multiple zones or in a single zone. Up to 16 inputs can support temperature and humidity sensors, an exterior weather station, and multiple other sensors, such as soil moisture
and CO₂.

Step Up allows three setpoint temperature periods: day, night, and day/night differential (DIF). It offers six stages (two heating and four cooling) with temperatures that can be easily adjusted at each stage. One central temperature sensor prevents heating and cooling from running simultaneously.

Bartlett Instrument’s two-zone environmental controller is designed to be a low-cost solution to maintaining greenhouse temperatures automatically. The controller is easy to set up and upgrade, provides energy-cost savings, reduces man-hours spent monitoring greenhouse environments, and can be used to collect statistics for graphical tracking.
Technical Details:
• Programmable for one or two zones
• Two thermistors, each with 25 feet of wire
• All-hour settings for each zone
• Four cool and two HAF relay outputs source 24 VAC

Radio Link offers quick and easy programming of up to 50 controllers in one central location, with email and texting alerts available, and a soon-to-be-available phone app for mobile integration. It is easy to use and install.
Technical Details:
• Data collection for easy evaluation
• Wired connection from controller to computer
• Save and load in controller settings for use in growing various crops throughout the year
• Multichannel (hoppers) and encryption for security
• High-gain antennas and repeaters available to extend range

Available soon, Bartlett’s new mobile app will help growers monitor all their controllers from a mobile device from anywhere. Users can make changes to controller settings and set up push notifications when an alarm sounds in the greenhouse. The app is compatible with both Android and Apple devices, and permissions are available to allow view-only mode for certain users.