Nutrition Management
Nutrition delivered precisely—when, where, and how the plant needs it.
Sera tracks substrate EC, pH, drain dynamics, uptake rates, phenology stage, and environmental drivers to explain nutrient status, detect imbalances early, and recommend exact fertigation adjustments—ensuring optimal elemental availability, preventing deficiencies or toxicities, and maximizing fruit quality without excess leaching or waste.
The challenge
In intensive crops like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, or eggplants on inert substrates (stone wool, coco, NFT), nutrition management is a high-stakes balancing act. Small missteps compound quickly:
Uneven EC across slabs/sectors: Solar asymmetry, irrigation distribution issues, or crop load differences cause some areas to stack salts (EC >5.0 mS/cm risking root burn) while others dilute (EC <2.8 mS/cm reducing generative push).
Nutrient-specific deficiencies or lockouts: Calcium uptake fails from high EC/VPD or low root pressure; Mg/K antagonism shows in interveinal chlorosis; N excess promotes excessive vegetative growth at fruit expense.
Drain EC/pH drift: Insufficient refreshment volume leads to progressive salt buildup and pH rise (reducing P, Fe, Mn availability); over-leaching wastes fert and raises environmental load.
Phenology mismatches: Early vegetative phases need higher N ratios; generative stages demand tighter K:Ca:Mg balance and lower overall EC—yet fixed recipes ignore real-time uptake signals or environmental acceleration.
Limited visibility: Manual drain sampling is sporadic (1–2 sectors/day); junior teams miss subtle trends like rising drain EC before visible symptoms; multi-site operations amplify variability in water quality or substrate aging.
Risk of quality defects: Blossom-end rot from transient Ca shortages, fruit cracking from sudden EC drops, poor color/ shelf-life from N/K imbalances—all tied to nutrition but hard to trace without cause-effect insight.
Without continuous, plant-demand-aware reasoning, nutrition becomes reactive symptom management instead of proactive steering—leading to yield gaps, quality variability, and higher input costs.
How Sera helps
Sera integrates substrate sensors (EC, pH, WC at multiple depths), drain EC/pH/flow, fertigation dosing logs, irrigation events, climate data (VPD, transpiration), crop load/phenology stage, and your uploaded nutrient protocols/recipes. It reasons over uptake dynamics, elemental interactions, and site context to deliver plain-English status explanations, early warnings, and tailored fertigation recommendations.
Daily nutrient status overview delivered automatically
Morning/weekly brief: Prioritized summary of root-zone nutrition trends and deviations.
"Drain EC averaged 4.1 mS/cm across Sector B—target range for generative phase. Two slabs at 5.3 mS/cm from low refreshment volume (drain % 2.8%); projected Ca uptake reduction ~10–12%. Recommendation: Increase cycle volume 12–15% on affected slabs to refresh to 3.8 mS/cm per your protocol."
Flags: Rising drain EC trends, pH drift outside 5.8–6.2, insufficient cation refreshment, or uptake mismatches vs. expected rates.
Instant diagnostics and adjustment guidance via chat
Ask for precise, context-aware answers aligned with your strategy:
"Why is drain EC rising in Zone 3 this week?" → "Drain EC trend +0.7 mS/cm over 5 days—caused by reduced drain % (avg 4.1% vs target 6–8%) during high transpiration periods. Substrate EC now 4.6 mS/cm; K and Na accumulation detected. Impact: Potential Mg/Ca antagonism and reduced root vigor. Suggestion: Increase shot size by 10% and add 15% extra drain target for next 48 h to flush per your high-EC protocol."
"Audit current fertigation recipe against uptake trends for peppers in fruit-load phase." → "Current recipe (N 180 ppm, K 320 ppm, Ca 180 ppm) aligns with protocol targets. Uptake ratio K:Ca 1.9:1 (optimal 1.8–2.1); drain pH stable 6.0. Minor deviation: Mg uptake 8% below expected—likely from high K competition. Projected: Add 15–20 ppm Mg to next tank or reduce K by 10% if BER risk low."
"Compare elemental balance this cycle vs. last at same truss stage."
Proactive imbalance detection beyond simple thresholds
Spots subtle patterns thresholds miss:
Transient Ca shortages during rapid growth spurts (high transpiration + low root pressure).
K excess pushing Mg/Fe lockout (interveinal chlorosis precursors).
pH drift from bicarbonate in source water or substrate aging.
Applies your rules to filter noise:
"Suppress EC alerts if drain % >8% and pH within 5.8–6.2."
"Flag only Ca uptake concerns if VPD >1.4 kPa and fruit load > stage target."
Knowledge base enforcement for consistent nutrient strategy
Upload your fertigation recipes (by phenology stage), elemental targets/ratios (e.g., K:Ca 1.8–2.2 generative), refreshment % goals, acceptable drain EC/pH windows, and crop-specific tolerances (e.g., BER prevention thresholds).
Sera cross-checks every observation/recommendation:
"Proposed Mg increase fits your Phase 5 recipe (max +25 ppm adjustment); no risk to K/Ca balance at current levels."
"Current drain EC trend aligns with your recirculating strategy—refreshment volume sufficient to maintain <0.3 mS/cm rise/day."
Orchestrated actions for tight nutrient control
Smart alerts routed: High-impact imbalances (e.g., rising EC + low drain %) to head grower; recipe drift to ops/nutrition lead.
Automated workflows:
Sustained drain EC rise → push flush protocol (extra volume + acid adjustment) + create follow-up drain sample task.
pH drift detected → suggest acid/base dosing tweak per SOP + log for trend review.
The results
Optimized elemental availability: Balanced uptake across NPK, Ca, Mg, and micros—tighter fruit sizing, higher Brix, reduced BER/cracking, better color and shelf-life.
Higher nutrient efficiency: Precise refreshment and recipe tweaks minimize waste/leach—lower fert costs, reduced environmental footprint, and compliance with discharge regs.
Less variability: Uniform nutrition status across slabs, shifts, and sites—predictable quality and yield even during staff changes or expansions.
Earlier intervention: Catch imbalances days before visual symptoms—prevent quality defects and yield loss instead of reacting to them.
Confident steering: Every adjustment backed by real-time cause-effect reasoning and your exact protocols—not generic feed charts or trial-and-error.
You turn nutrition from a cost and risk factor into a precise, data-driven driver of crop value.
