In addition to maintaining the right amount of light and temperature, plants need the right amount of water and a balanced diet of nutrients to thrive.
Plantui’s patented lighting technology adjusts the growing conditions to support each stage of a plant’s growth. The rest of a plant’s welfare is taken care of by the pump and the hydroponic-specific plant nutrition. You don’t even have to remember to water the plants. It is enough to occasionally add water and nutrients to your smart garden.
If you consider the Plantui light as the brain of your smart garden, then the pump is its heartbeat.
How the Plantui pump works and takes care of your plants
In the sprouting phase, the plants need a wavelength of red light as well as a suitable amount of blue for the plant to become strong. Plants need water more sparingly during this early phase. During the sprouting phase, i.e. when no height blocks have been added to the device, the pump starts once a day for two minutes. The seeds begin to germinate and sprout as they receive water and light, and the pump ensures the plant capsules are properly irrigated.
Once the first leaves of the plant appear on the surface of the capsule, it’s time to add the first height block to the smart garden. This triggers the smart garden into changing the rhythm of pumping and lighting. Now the pump starts twice a day for one minute at a time. With this rhythm, and with the help of a water tray, the roots of the plant learn to reach out towards the water so that they can absorb everything they need from the nutrient solution.
At the same time, the recipe for light changes. Both the blue wavelength and the total light intensity increases considerably, to better support this spurt in growth. Light technology also supports plants by allowing them to focus on growing strong and healthy roots (instead of wasting energy and growing weak stems as they search for enough light).
Once the plants are reaching for the light hat, it’s time to add another height block. The pumping rhythm changes again. With the addition of two or more blocks, the rhythm changes pumping to seven times a day for one minute at a time. Now that the plant is growing thick and green at an accelerating rate, it needs water and nutrients several times a day to thrive. However, it is not optimal to have water available every hour of the day. A little air drying is good for the roots as it allows them to absorb water better when available.
The control of the pump is adjusted in the same way, whether ordinary height blocks or additional light blocks are added.
The Plantui smart garden pump starts about two hours after the device wakes up and only pumps when the lights are on. This way, the hum of the pump does not disturb your night’s sleep, for example.
This is how you take care of your Plantui pump
The pump is a wearable part of the Plantui device, the usable life of which can be extended with just a bit of maintenance.
1) Make sure that the roots do not reach the pump as they may break it
Cut the roots that extend into the water container and remove any pieces of the root that have got lost in the pump with tweezers, for example. The plants won’t react badly to being trimmed.
2) Make sure you only add water to the fill-line of the water bowl on your appliance
If there is more water it can cause corrosion in the pump.
A total of three litres of water can be added to the Plantui-6 and one litre to the Plantui-3.
Be sure to also add 1 tablespoon (1.5 ml) of plant nutrient per litre of water added.
3) Clean the pump by wiping it with a damp cloth at the end of the growing season
The operation of the pump can be checked as follows:
Plantui-6: hold your hand on the light hat for 15-20 seconds. The pump should start for about 2 minutes and the blue light will illuminate while the pump is running.
Plantui-3: press the button under the light cap for 15-20 seconds. The pump should start for about 2 minutes and the green light will illuminate while the pump is running.
If the pump suddenly starts to make a louder noise, typically the cause is root or dirt that has got inside.
If the pump is noisy at the very first pumping or after a longer growth break, the cause is usually a dry pump. The situation corrects itself after a few pumping cycles when the pump is properly wet.
The pump may also become noisy when the water is running out.
Our pump is under constant development. Changes are coming to the next production batch that will further improve the durability of the pump.
If you need a new pump, you can order it from our online store. If the pump breaks during the warranty period, please contact our customer service at hi@plantui.com
