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The new minder will be released Q4 2007

The award winning Minder logs key growing information to the PC. This information is then displayed graphically so that trends etc can easily be spotted. It also allows alarms to be set so that if anything goes wrong you will soon be notified.

The base unit comes as standard with sensors to monitor the following parameters:-

- Root zone moisture
- Root zone temperature

- Run-off quantity
- Run-off EC
- Run-off pH

Additional sensors may be added to monitor

- Irrigation quantity
- Irrigation EC
- Irrigation pH
- Solar energy

In the future it will also be able to monitor other environmental factors such as - ambient temperature and humidity. Readers familiar with our existing product range will realise that this new MINDER is really an enhanced combination of our old run-off monitor and enviro monitor.

Together, these measurements give a complete picture of what is happening at one of the plants most important places - it's root zone together with information on its irrigation requirements and environmental conditions.

Many growers pay a lot of attention to the EC and pH of the water that is fed to the plant but little attention to what is actually in the root zone and what is running out at the bottom. These latter values are much more important than the input values. In fact, the inputs should be adjusted to achieve appropriate run-off values. By adjusting things like the watering start/stop times, watering quantity, watering interval (solar count) and the root-zone EC it is possible to have considerable control over the plant and to "steer" the crop to be more or less vegatative or generative. This is often called "balancing" the crop. To do this properly, the grower needs really good information and this is exactly what the MINDER provides.

Hopefully, the run-off will be cleaned and re-used but if any is allowed to escape into the environment - eg sprayed over pasture etc, this monioring system can be used to provide records of this.

All data, including the run-off ratio and irrigation quantity per unit solar energy, are graphed on the PC providing vital information for successful growing.

The Plant Minder can be configured to display European or USA date styles, EC or CF units, Deg C or Deg F

If your PC ever goes off-line the MINDER will continue to log data for over a week. As soon as the PC is reconnected the locally stored data is automatically up-loaded.

	GT Newslink Articles		Latest News Autogrow wins prestigious award. At the recent AHGA conference in Australia, the new MINDER from Autogrow was selected as the best new product for 2007 from an international field of exhibitors.
			Jeff, Tell us about the Award We received the award at last months Australian Hydroponics and Growers Association conference in Tasmania for Best Product of the years in 2007. How was the selection made? Committee members selected from a full range of products relevant to hydroponic growers, that have been recently introduced from all over the world. The Minder came out ahead of products from Israel, Holland and the USA. Was it a suprise? Yes absolutely. I had no idea. As the opening proceedings of such conferences are often dry, we were actually working on our stand when the presentation was announced. We wondered why the committee were so keen for us to attend! How did you respond then? I was amazed and absolutely chuffed. It's quite an honour to win such an award and a real encouragement to our whole team who work hard.

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