Injector information

There're quite a few different ways to set up, as well as different types of injector available in the market. Here are a few:

Dosatron injector:
These injectors operate without electricity, using water pressure as the power source. They are installed directly in the water supply line. Water flow activates the injector, which takes up the required percentage of concentrate directly from a container with stock solution. Inside the injector, concentrate is mixed with water, and water pressure forces the solution downstream. The amount of concentrate dispensed is directly proportional to the volume of water entering the injector, irrespective of variations in water flow or pressure that may occur in the main line

Electrofertic pump:
The pump is operate relate similar to those injectors, but it needs electricity and withdraw the liquid nitrogen rather than injecting into the system.

Both of the above systems are highly recommended in the commercial greenhouse operation, since they're highly accurate and easy to operate, which means they won't be CHEAP. We want some thing we can afford that's easy to operate. So what do we do? Well there're few options for us. Cheap stuffs are less accurate, involve more labour and some headaches as a bonus.

Venturi-type injectors:

Such as Hozon uses a pressure difference between the water line and the stock tank to draw a concentrated solution into a faucet connect valve and mix it with water in the hose. These inexpensive injectors can be easily attached to any faucet, but do not allow precise control over concentration. Because of water pressure fluctuations, variable amount(s) of chemical may be injected into the hose. In addition, the injection ratios are low (typically 1:16) and therefore require a large stock tank, thus limiting the use of Venturi-type injectors to small growing areas.

The Hozon requires very little maintenance; check the screen on the suction line for clogs and periodically remove salt deposits from the mixing valve. This is the one that we used before in the John Mitchell Greenhouse; it worked well, was easy to operate and was dirty cheap :) way to go? Not really, this year we will try a different one, which is relatively similar, but more precise.

We are currently looking at the Mazzei injector. It doesn't require electricity to operate, the price is more affordable and it's more precise than the Hozon. However, here comes the headache: how do we set this thing up? There're lots of way to set this thing up but what is the most suitable for our GH environment? Remember, commercial growers only select one or two types of plants in their GH vs the 4 different types we have in our greenhouse (Herbs,Pepper,Tomato,Cucumber). It is certain that they have different fertilizers and water requirements. In conclusion, we're still working on this and hopefully we'll get this done as soon as possible.









Peter Le.

(Update) Sunday Nov 23

Finally i found the solution for the injector, it looks simple but took me lots of time to figure out how to put it together.