1. Start with the irrigation decision

Define what action a reading should support. You may want to decide when to begin irrigation, how long to run a zone, whether water reached the root zone, or how conditions differ between parts of a field. A sensor is useful when its reading informs a repeatable decision. It does not replace field observation, weather information, or crop-specific irrigation guidance.

2. Match the sensor to the soil and crop

Soil texture, salinity, bulk density, temperature, and installation contact can affect readings. Check which measurement the device reports and how the manufacturer defines it. A volumetric water-content reading, a soil-water tension reading, and a relative moisture index are different outputs and should not be treated as interchangeable. Confirm that the product is suitable for your soil type and production system.

3. Check measurement depth and placement

Place sensors where they represent the active root zone and the irrigation question you are monitoring. In systems with different soil zones, crop stages, or irrigation patterns, one sensor may not represent the whole operation. Follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions, avoid air gaps around the sensing area, label each location, and record its depth and field position.

4. Ask how calibration and validation work

Ask whether the sensor is factory calibrated, whether soil-specific calibration is recommended, and how to check readings against a trusted reference method. Keep a simple log of sensor readings, rainfall or irrigation events, and manual observations. Consistent placement and a written routine make it easier to spot drift, installation problems, or readings that do not fit field conditions.

5. Compare power, connectivity, and data access

For a handheld instrument, check the supported phone or display interface and whether the device works with the equipment you already use. For a fixed sensor, check battery life, network coverage, data-export options, subscription fees, and what happens when the connection is unavailable. Confirm any gateway, hub, app, or accessory requirements before ordering.

6. Review durability and support

Check the operating temperature range, water and dust protection, probe materials, warranty, replacement parts, and support process. A product page should make these details clear. If it does not, ask the seller to confirm them in writing before buying, especially for equipment used outdoors or in a commercial production environment.

7. Calculate the full cost, not just the unit price

Include installation supplies, gateways, connectivity plans, replacement probes, calibration materials, staff time, shipping, duties, and the cost of maintaining records. A lower upfront price may not be the lower-cost choice if the sensor cannot export data or needs accessories that were not included.

A practical checklist before you buy

• Which measurement does the sensor provide, and in what units?
• Is it suitable for the soil, crop, and production system?
• What installation depth and placement does the manufacturer recommend?
• Does the device require a phone app, gateway, hub, subscription, or separate accessories?
• How can readings be checked, exported, and retained?
• What are the warranty, support, return, and replacement-part terms?
• Does the final checkout price include shipping and any required accessories?

Use readings as part of an irrigation routine

After installation, record the location, depth, date, and initial reading. Compare readings over time with crop conditions and irrigation events. Use the information to improve a consistent decision process, then review whether the sensor is answering the question you started with.

Green Web Institute provides agritech and smart-farming services. Contact the team to discuss a monitoring approach for your operation. Green Web’s current soil monitoring product listing can be reviewed for current specifications, compatibility, included accessories, and availability before purchase.

The post How to Choose a Soil Moisture Sensor for Your Farm: 7 Checks Before You Buy first appeared on Green Web Institute.

 Even if you’re an outstanding gardener — adding a layer of compost before the rainy season, planting cover crops in the fall and tilling them in when spring comes — you’re probably also growing vegetables and fruit that pull nutrients from the soil. To do your part in your life-giving garden you need more information than you can pick up with your eyes, hands and nose. You need to make seasonal checks of your soil with a simple home soil test kit. For the full scan of your soil, it’s important to order a laboratory test of your home garden soil every 3 years (annually if you’re a farmer). The lab test gives you a wealth of detailed data on the state of your soil, with specific advice on the amount of amendments you need to bring it into balance. Once you have amended the soil, check again the next growing season with a home test kit to be sure you have not over-corrected or under-corrected. 

Testing your soil at home takes just over 12 hours. Green Web does a spot check on one of her raised beds. we takes soil samples and dries them outdoors for 12 hours. To collect the soil you can wield a trowel with measuring marks, like the Fiskars Big Grip trowel. If you’ll be taking a lot of soil samples, get greater depth with the Oakfield soil sampler.  

 With the big summer vegetable growing season ahead, it’s crucial to have good soil to produce great vegetables and fruit. Nitrogen will give green leaves. 

 Phosphorus is essential for robust flowers. Potassium supports basic functions of plants, including photosynthesis and protein synthesis. 

Once you have your home results, contact Green Web for directions on how much amendment to add to your soil, calculated by your exact test results. The Garden Guide Booklet has key advice. In the case of the more elaborate lab analysis of your soil, we e-mail you a personalized PDF about how to correct your soil. Curious about the lab soil test? We have anarticle for you. Get to know your soil better. Whether the soil is in a raised bed, a perennial border, or an undisturbed plot you have your eye on for your next vegetable patch — be sure to test your soil with a home test kitbefore each growing season.

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An important but often overlooked mathematical fact about pH is that the values are “logarithmic.” For those of us that no longer remember trigonometry, this means that a pH of 5 is 10 times more acidic than a pH of 6, but 100 times more acidic than 7. Practically speaking, this means that small changes in pH numbers are actually large changes in the soil chemistry. Fortunately, getting the pH exactly right is not essential. All plants have a range of pH in which they can grow, although they do best at a specific pH level. Some plants tolerate a larger range of pH than others, so if your soil is less than perfect you may want to select from these tolerant plants. Good choices include serviceberry, hydrangea, bleeding hearts, ferns, and potatoes. Life in Balance It’s not just plants that need a healthy soil pH. Everything in the soil is affected by the levels of free hydrogen ions, especially microorganisms such as mycorrhizae and bacteria (both beneficial and disease-causing). Microorganisms that benefit plants tend to have the same pH requirements as the plants themselves. For example, both the beneficial bacteria that fix nitrogen in legumes and the legumes themselves prefer a range of 6.0 to 6.8. Many disease-causing organisms thrive in excessively acidic or alkaline soil. Further, the plant’s health is weakened when grown in suboptimal pH, making it even easier for plants grown in such soil to become diseased.

 pH also affects the availability of nutrients in the soil, because the H+ will bind to the other nutrients and thus alter their chemical structure. If your pH is out of balance, your plants may not be able to use the nitrogen in the soil, even if you apply an excessive amount. Hydrangeas, for example, change bloom color at different pH levels, in large part due to the changing availability of aluminum. Alkaline soils tend to be deficient in iron, copper, zinc and boron; acidic soils tend to be deficient in calcium, magnesium, and molybdenum. Naturally Changing Conditions The pH of your soil is constantly changing in response to the environment and the activity in your garden. For example, the decomposition of organic matter, addition of rainwater, and even root respiration result in the release of H+ ions into the soil, naturally decreasing pH and thus making the soil more acidic. Organic matter has a buffering effect on the soil, meaning that it makes the soil resistant to changes in pH. This is typically a good thing for your soil, as buffered soil is less likely to experience unhealthy swings in pH that could damage sensitive plants and microorganisms. However, it can make your job more challenging if you are actively trying to change the pH. Adjusting Your Soil’s pH

To adjust soil that is too acidic, you can add alkaline soil amendments such as limestone, oystershell, or dolomite lime. To adjust soil that is too alkaline, add acidic soil amendments such as cottonseed meal, an “acid-lovers mix,” or soil sulfur. Follow the guidelines on your soil amendment packaging, but be ready to adjust application levels if needed, as some soil types are more resistant to pH change than others. Remember not to overdo it, as it is much easier and healthier for your soil to bring it closer and closer to perfect over time rather than fluctuating between too acidic and too alkaline. Also, quick and large changes in pH can harm the beneficial microorganisms in your soil. For a more in depth look at the chemistry of soil pH, contact Green Amazon

The post Understanding Soil pH first appeared on Green Web Institute.

What happens in composting

The pail full of kitchen scraps you take out to the compost pile is full of nitrogen. When you toss the scraps on the pile you’re giving nutrients to the bacteria there. As the bacteria consume the plant sugars in your kitchen scraps they heat up the pile. Turning the pile weekly with a compost fork or a compost aerator adds oxygen to the pile and encourages the bacteria. If your pile is really active, the bacteria population can double every hour! When your compost bin is really “cooking” check the temperature every day with a compost thermometer and see when it peaks and then declines. To keep your compost pile healthy be sure the critters have nitrogen and carbon, water and oxygen. A lack of any of those will slow down or stop decomposition. So who is causing all this heat? Who keeps breaking the pile into tiny pieces? The cast of characters in your compost:

Act One

microorganisms rule and it’s a hot time Aerobic bacteria (three kinds, the hotter temps boost the hardest workers) Fungi Actinomycetes (they form that cobwebby stuff in a compost pile) Intermission temperature declines 

Act Two

macroorganisms increase Nematodes Fermentation mites Springtails Centipedes Millipedes Sowbugs & pillbugs Beetles Earthworms Enchytraeids (potworms) Flies! (bury your kitchen scraps deep in the pile to keep those fellows away) Snails & slugs Grubs (larvae of fruit beetles) Earwigs (it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet for them: insects at all stages, algae & fungi) Ants (they signal that your pile is too dry)

Act Three

temperature declines and the human returns Human removes compost or “humus” from the pile. Spreads it as top-dressing on beds, amends soil before planting, or adds it to potting mixes. Lots of these “characters” are still in the humus and they’ll enrich the garden soil’s ecosystem . The humus will improve soil quality and structure — increasing drainage in clay soil and moisture retention in sandy soil.

The post What’s Going On in Your Compost Pile? first appeared on Green Web Institute.

How to make high quality compost

To make the best compost you should create a fast, hot compost pile (in a bin or on the ground) and add all the composting ingredients at once. If you manage your compost pile well, you can have finished compost in 2-8 weeks.

How to make high quality compost

To make the best compost you should create a fast, hot compost pile (in a bin or on the ground) and add all the composting ingredients at once. If you manage your compost pile well, you can have finished compost in 2-8 weeks.

• Fill your compost bin, or build the pile by layering equal amounts of brown and green ingredients. The pile should not be bigger than a 3-foot cube, since you will need to be able to turn it often. If you are composting outside a bin, in a windy area, you should go up to a 4-foot cube size, to retain the heat better. With this fast process you will need to watch the balance of brown and green ingredients as the composting goes along, and be prepared to supplement with more brown or green if the pile develops problems.
• Speed up decomposition by using small pieces of ingredients (shredded leaves, not whole leaves, for instance). Don’t use branches in a fast compost pile, because they take longer to break down.
• Spray water on each layer. Keep the pile as moist as a wrung-out sponge at all times. Be careful when you touch the pile because it will be HOT using this composting technique.
• Kick up the speed in the pile by adding compost inoculants to the water you spray on the pile.
• Turn the pile every 3 days with a digging fork or compost aerator tool.
• Monitor the temperature of a fast compost pile. Your friends who are new to gardening will squawk when they hear you own a compost thermometer, but you’ll have the last laugh when you produce superb compost in a few weeks. A speedy pile may go up to 120°F in the first 2 days, and up to 130°F in 3 to 4 days. When the temperature drops to 110°F the compost may be close to finished, if your pile has been performing at the fastest rate — or it may need a boost of additional turning and water to heat up again.
• Compost is “finished” when it is dark, crumbly, and sweet-smelling. You should not be able to identify the original pieces of the ingredients. Let it sit for a few days, then spread it an inch thick in your garden, or use it to make your compost tea!

The post What is high quality compost? first appeared on Green Web Institute.

Scare the Birds with Your Garden Decor

You might be able to scare some visiting humans too. Birds will be frightened by our inflatable predators — we can have a snake (with a forked tongue!) an owl, one that moves its head in an eerie way and and a Peregrine falcon. Alarming balloons with reflecting eyes, and an “octopus” with shiny legs, will spook your neighborhood birds. Move the spooks around every week so the birds don’t get used to them.

Barriers

Bird netting This is an effective way to save fruit for yourself, instead of donating it all to your feathered friends. The black plastic netting becomes almost invisible in your garden and it’s easy to install over berry bushes and small fruit trees. We can use baskets which are designed for protection of a select plant or tree, and the roll can be used around rows, beds, or the entire perimeter of your field, as subterranean fencing. The rolls come in 3′ or 4′ x 100′ (note: gophers have been known to burrow up to 6′ deep in soft soil); the baskets come in several sizes from 1 Gallon to 15 Gallon.

Extermination

 All kinds of traps are intended to be fatal. Bait We will explain you about two types of gopher baits. These baits should be used with an applicator, a metal probe that is inserted into the tunnel and the bait is delivered. The bait is eaten by the gopher and the result is fatal. Gopher Gassers are not considered organic. We offer these for home gardeners who may be extremely frustrated by their gopher situation. Gopher gassers contain potassium nitrate, carbon, sulfur (all components of gunpowder) and dextrin (a polysaccharide) which, when used sparingly, are not harmful to soils. The idea is to activate the gassing unit in a tunnel, and gas spreads through the tunnel system with fatal consequences.

KEEP THEM AWAY

If you have a gopher problem, repellents alone will not shoo the critters away. As part of a coordinated control plan, repellents can deter more gophers from coming into your area, while you get rid of the existing population. The question for the gopher becomes: Is the temptation of the food in your garden stronger than the deterrent of a bad taste/smell (castor oil)?

The post Control Gopher & Birds first appeared on Green Web Institute.

When you apply fish meal, for example, the meal must be broken down and dissolved into the water in the soil into an almost elemental state of NO3-, K+, H2PO4-, H+ and other ions that the plants can absorb. Fast acting fertilizers such as Liquid Grow will reach this ionic state quickest, where as slow release fertilizers such as Nutri-Rich will break down and release these ions slowly over time. The plants will then use these ions to build proteins, starches and fats, as well as enzymes, hormones, and other compounds they need to grow and thrive. Good soil has the ability to hold these nutritive ions with minimal leaching, giving the plants more time to absorb them and thus requiring less fertilizer be used. The measurement for this ability is called Cation Exchange Capacity, or CEC. The CEC measures the soil’s negative charge; a better negative charge will hold more positively charged ions (these are called cations). The CEC is measured on a scale of 0 (low) to 50 (high), with values under 10 having poor cation holding ability. CEC is higher in clay soil, because clay particles are negatively charged. Sand, on the other hand, has little to no charge and thus has a low CEC. CEC is also higher in soils with good levels of organic matter. Beneficial microorganisms such as mycorrhizal fungus can help to improve the CEC, as well as working to break down fertilizers into their ionic components. Soil with a higher CEC is buffered against changes in soil nutrients; while this is a good thing if your soil has a good level of soil nutrients and pH, it also means that it will be more difficult to change your soil nutrient levels if there is some aspect that needs corrected. For example, if you have overly acidic soil, the amount of free H+ ions is too high. If the CEC is good, it will strongly hold onto those H+ ions and be resistant to efforts to counter them. More lime will be needed in such soils, compared to soils with a low CEC that readily release the H+ ions and change the pH. Knowing your soil’s CEC level can help you make better fertilization decisions, and will give you a deeper understanding of your soil.

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Barriers

Deer Fencing Deer are skilled jumpers, so a fence needs to be at least 7 feet tall to stop them.* Our Deer Fencing is 7.5 feet tall, and made of durable, black plastic mesh in 2 inch squares. Easy to work with, you just use zip-ties to attach the fencing to supports. Although deer are best known for jumping fences, they’re even more likely to crawl under or squeeze around the edge of a fence, so make sure your fence touches the ground and completely encloses your garden.  Have you ever seen rub marks on your tree trunks? Or had young trees pushed over by deer? Bucks rub against small trees and large shrubs to scrape the “velvet” off their antlers when the velvet dries up in late August or September. Our Products keep the bucks from contacting the trunks of your young trees.

Make Your Garden Unpleasant

Scare Tactics Startle the deer and they will seek a more peaceful cafeteria. Our Spray Away Motion Detection will send jets of water when it senses motion within 35 feet. Keep the deer guessing when you place Electronic Deer Repellent stakes in the yard. The deer sniff the acorn-scented top, get a tiny shock, and move on. Shifting the locations of the stakes makes your whole yard seem like a spooky place. Yucky Flavors You wouldn’t want to taste the ingredients in our Liquid Fence Deer and Rabbit Repellent either (unless you really like garlic and rotten eggs). This is the only Liquid Fence product approved for use on edible plants. For more rotten egg flavor, and less garlic, offer the deer a sample of Deer Off (for use on your ornamental plants, not edibles). With both these sprays, follow the directions about initial applications and note if you need to spray again after heavy rains or heavy overhead watering. The smell will be gone almost immediately to our poor human noses, but the nose of a deer will still be insulted when we can no longer detect an aroma. With all these tricks up your sleeve, you no longer have to put up with rude neighbors who want to raid your garden. Tell those deer, scat. And you won’t see that any more. *An intrepid deer can sometimes clear a 7 foot fence, so be sure you have an easy way to open the fenced area in case you have to shoo out a deer.

The post Protect Your Garden from Deer first appeared on Green Web Institute.

Hydroponic and Aquaponic Crops

Growing & Selling Microgreens

Aquaponic DWC: Design & Economics

Choosing Your Production Method

Understanding ZipGrow

Intro to Business Planning

Market Research for Farmers

HVAC Design for Indoor Growers

Humidity Management: Tools & Tech for Indoor Growers

Energy Efficient Heating & Cooling for Greenhouses

Insect Pest Management

Seeds & Seedlings

Intro to Hydroponics

Hydroponic Nutrients & Fertilizers

Intro to Aquaponics – Mini Course

Aquaponic System Design – Mini Course

The Farm to Food Truck Model – Mini Course

LED Lighting for Indoor Farmers – Mini Course

Intro to Organics – Mini Course

Green Walls for Restaurants – Mini Course 

The post Vertical Farming Academy Courses first appeared on Green Web Institute.

We recommend a simple device Mixer Injector. One end of this ingenious mixer screws onto your hose bib, the other attaches to your garden hose. The mixer has a small siphon tube that drops down into a bucket of liquid fertilizer and takes the concentrate up into the hose line at a 1:16 ratio as you water. A backflow preventer is integrated into the mixer. Use this mixer with hoses 200′ or less in length. Must be used with an atmospheric Vacuum Breaker. If your house was built within the last 40 years, it will likely have a Vacuum Breaker in place.For gardeners who have low water pressure and use sprinkler systems or drip irrigation The Add-It Proportioning Fertilizer Injectors and the EZ-Flo System are the next step up. Each of them accommodates low water pressure and either drip irrigation or sprinkler systems. 

We recommend using the Fertilizer Injector. Easy to operate, the Add-It injects fertilizer at a 1:200 ratio (2 tablespoons per gallon). A minimum pressure of 10 PSI is required. A backflow device, like our Vacuum Breaker, must be installed before the injector, and a filter is recommended when injecting fertilizers into drip irrigation. Add-It does not need a by-pass because running water through the empty unit will not harm it. 

You can attach the Automatic Fertilization System to a hose, or install it as part of a sprinkler system or drip system. It is an economical and flexible system for automatic fertilizing. Unlike similar systems, you can see the amount of fertilizer solution as it is used. Made of commercial grade components, it is appropriate for residential or commercial growers and landscapers.  Need a review on fertilizers? Green Web has a blog post. Get some fertilizer mixers and injectors. They’ll be your able garden assistants, ready to mix and deliver fertilizer when you water.

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