Priva Groscale & Moisture Balance Module

One of the first growers to trial blackberry substrate growing in 2017, Parvinder Lalli has continued encouraging development by using technology to improve yield, quality and lifestyle.

“Before we had so many drain stations and would be checking them at all hours of the day. If we miscalculated then it could over-water, resulting in fungal diseases, or it might under-water and ruin the crop. The Groscale removes the guess work," says Mr Lalli.

The principal that the Groscale system uses is very simple. Substrate growers traditionally use a combination of light and time to predict crop watering times. Light is only one of the four drivers causing plant transpiration, so growers often guess how much water is needed by assessing daily conditions and manually checking irrigation results. In comparison, the Groscale simply measures the weight of the crop to determine transpiration rates. By determining that one gram of weight lost is equal to one milliliter of water uptake, the system is constantly measuring transpiration and always knows how much to water.

“We get hot days and warm nights with a lot of wind. Even though we would reach our target moisture level in the evening, after installing the system we realised that plants had been losing water weight overnight. We had not been aware of the extent of this water loss, and had always been guessing to figure it out. Since using the Groscale, we set the system to keep minimum water levels during the night and sometimes it will even give the crop a short irrigation when needed.”

“When the system was installed, I realised we could see the weight increasing on the graph during each irrigation. The system gives me confidence in knowing that if something is wrong, I know about it straight away rather than finding out about it when it is already too late."

Experiences like Parvinder Lalli's have led to widespread use of this technology in the local region, and he has spoken to growers across Australia and internationally about his successes with the system. The Groscale ensures his plants are watered perfectly in all conditions, and he has since taken steps to further control climate conditions with a Cravo Retractable Roof Greenhouse over his blackberries.