“With our patented water-by-weight system, growers can have their hanging baskets each watered according to their individual needs. The system weighs each basket and delivers the perfect amount of water,” explains Len Logsdon, an engineer and partner at Control Dekk who focuses on the design and development of precision irrigation tools.
Control Dekk is a Michigan-based company with a mission to eliminate inefficient irrigation, and its patented OASIS system is one of the tools in the company’s toolbox. As Len explains, OASIS was first introduced in 2016, and new features are continuously added to meet growers’ needs. For years, OASIS systems have offered remote access capabilities so that the grower can monitor and control the irrigation of their hanging baskets from anywhere.
OASIS at Kurtz Farms, Connecticut
Control Dekk has many satisfied customers, including Kurtz Farms in Cheshire, Connecticut. Kurtz Farms has over 100 OASIS lines covering more than 100,000 baskets, which is roughly 90-95% of Kurtz Farms’ hanging basket production. The farm has been using OASIS for 5-6 years, and the system has become the standard on the farm thanks to its labor, water, and chemical savings.
“Growers often water by the feel of the baskets, guessing how many seconds or minutes to apply water, and this gets applied to the whole line. What OASIS does for us is touching and weighing so that the correct amount is added to each basket,” explains Hugh Kurtz.
OASIS allows Kurtz Farms to save both on labor and water as the baskets are never overwatered, and employees are freed up to do other jobs on the farm. On most days, the irrigation is already done by the time everyone arrives to work. Employees are then free to go pick baskets right away and not worry about watering.
GENESIS making boom irrigation a breeze
Control Dekk has also been making waves with its newest product, GENESIS. GENESIS is an automated boom control system that has been on the market since 2020 and is now installed on over 100 booms across multiple customers. At Kurtz Farms, GENESIS covers 50% of the existing boom system and is also used for propagation. The platform allows growers to see the crop layout from any screen, program each bay, and monitor the system remotely. For Hugh, GENESIS has allowed him to give employees their weekends back. Rather than scheduling employees to work on the weekends, Hugh can go in himself and use GENESIS to make it through the entire farm within an hour.
“GENESIS is like having another employee who shows up on time and can do the work of a few people in half the time. With GENESIS, we program everything down to the number of passes and speeds to make sure that we are delivering the right amount of water,” says Hugh.
GENESIS also provides the grower with alerts when the system is not functioning properly, such as if the boom is stuck in front of a cart or other equipment.
For more information:
Control Dekk
info@controldekk.com
www.controldekk.com