Every fertigation system puts nutrient in water. They differ in how evenly it goes in, whether anything checks what actually went in, and what is left sitting in the pipe afterward. Without a flush, every feed ends with feed standing in the line, where it sits until the next run sends it out first, or someone flushes it to drain. Paradime is a hydraulic system designed around your facility: each pump doses against the live flow, and a scaled nutrient is read by its scale during the feed, so its pump auto-calibrates as it goes and helps calibrate the rest. The feed goes in right, with nothing to correct later. Pick a system and run one feed through it next to Paradime.
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How each type of system works as commonly built. Specific products vary by model and by how they are plumbed.
| System | Feed goes in evenly | Strength follows the line flow | Delivery checked | Line rinsed with clean water | Record of each feed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paradime | ✓ Every part at once, continuously | ✓ Every pump follows the flow reading | ✓ A scale reads during the feed and calibrates the pumps* | ✓ Automatic, every feed | ✓ Asked and delivered, per part |
| Piston injector | ✕ A shot per stroke | ✓ The water drives it | ✕ No | ✕ By hand | ✕ None |
| Meter-pulse injector | ✕ A shot per meter pulse | ✓ A pulse at a time | ✕ No | ✕ By hand | ◐ Water volume, on some |
| Venturi fertigation unit | ◐ In pulses on on/off channels | ◐ Needs the booster's pressure drop | ◐ Volume, on an optional meter | ◐ If programmed | ◐ EC, pH, volumes |
| Dose-and-wait tank | ✓ Mixed in a tank first | ◐ Not needed; one recipe per tank | ✕ Total EC only | ✕ No; the tank holds the rest | ◐ Batch EC and pH |
| On/off inline pump | ✕ In shots | ✕ One speed, set for one flow | ✕ No | ◐ If programmed | ✕ None |
| Flow-following pumps | ✓ Close to it | ✓ Follows one main flow meter | ✕ Worked out, not weighed | ◐ If programmed | ◐ EC, pH, volumes |
* A site may put one nutrient or several on a scale; a scaled pump also helps calibrate the rest. Other systems can meter a channel by volume or infer delivery from pump calibration or EC; we know of none that weighs each part, every batch.
| Paradime | Piston injector | Meter-pulse injector | Venturi unit | Dose-and-wait tank | On/off inline pump | Flow-following pumps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where the nutrient comes from | A container per part; one or more on a scale | Stock tanks, mixed by hand | Stock tanks, mixed by hand | Stock tanks, mixed by hand | Concentrate, dosed into a mix tank | Concentrate or stock tanks | Concentrate or stock tanks |
| What sets the strength | A ratio per part, metered against the live flow reading | The stock mix and a dial on each unit | The stock mix and a ratio on each head | The stock mix, valve timing, and the pressure across each venturi | An EC and pH target for the tank | On/off timing, sized for one line flow | A ratio per part against one main flow meter |
| How it doses | Peristaltic pumps, one per part, speed follows the water | No pump; the water drives a piston | Dosing heads fired by the meter | Suction across a venturi; a booster pump makes the pressure drop | Dosing pumps switched on, then a wait for the mix, then a reading | Peristaltic pumps at one speed, switched on and off | Variable-speed dosing pumps |
| When the flow changes | Every pump speeds up or slows with it | Follows the water, down to the unit's minimum flow | Follows the water, a pulse at a time | Draws less, or nothing, without enough pressure drop | Unaffected; already mixed | Strength moves the wrong way: less water, stronger feed | Pump speed follows it |
| Recipes | Per zone, per feed | Whatever the dials and stock are set to | Whatever the heads and stock are set to | Per program | One per tank, for every zone it feeds | Per setup | Per program |
| What checks delivery | A scale reading during the feed, which calibrates the pumps* | A manual calibration check | A manual calibration check | EC/pH; a sight-glass flowmeter per channel, or an optional volume meter | Tank EC and pH; can't say which part is short | Nothing | EC/pH; delivery inferred from pump strokes or calibration |
| The pipe after the feed | Rinsed to clean water automatically; the valve shuts early for the water that still moves as the line depressurizes, and the flow meter counts it | Full of feed until flushed | Full of feed until flushed | Full of feed unless a flush is programmed | Full of feed, and the tank holds what is left | Full of feed unless a flush is programmed | Full of feed unless a flush is programmed |
| Needs power | Yes, a 24 V DC supply | No; the water drives it | Yes, on electric models | Yes, plus a booster pump | Yes, plus mixing and transfer pumps | Yes | Yes |
Injectors add a shot per stroke or per pulse. Tanks and sensor loops dose, read and correct. Paradime is a hydraulic system designed around your rooms and your flow: every part goes in at once, with each pump's speed set from the live flow reading. A scaled nutrient is read by its scale during the feed, so its pump auto-calibrates as it goes and helps calibrate the rest. The strength is right as it goes in, with nothing to correct afterward.
A dial, a pump calibration or an EC reading tells you what should have gone in. Paradime puts a scale under one or more of your nutrients. It reads during the feed, so those pumps auto-calibrate as they go and help keep the other pumps honest, and every feed is recorded against what was commanded. It has caught a worn tube under-delivering and a pump pulling nutrient it was never told to use.
A line left full of nutrient water between feeds is where salts build up, in the pipe and at the emitters. Some setups dump gallons of mixed feed to drain between feeds to keep old feed out of the next batch. Paradime needs no drain: it stops dosing before the water stops, so clean water pushes the last of the feed out to the plants, and the line waits full of clean water. On a schedule you set, it also sanitizes the line in an open window between feeds, flushes it fully clean afterward, and records every run.
The Facility Designer lays out your benches and zones, then works back the plant count, emitters, water per feed and run times. Free to use.