Sigrow Scale

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Installation & Setup
• Taking Measurements
• Understanding Water Content
• Oxygen-Water Balance
• Charging the scale
• Charging with Scale Charger (Barrel Jack)
• Charging with microUSB
• Scale Specifications

Overview

The Mass Start Scale is designed to measure water weight in trays, pots, or seedling blocks to improve irrigation control and germination outcomes.

It consists of two key parts:

1. Top board – A removable platform with a frame to hold trays or pots.
2. Bottom frame – Contains 4 load cells (one in each corner), along with the internal battery and electronics.

Installation & Setup

Place the scale on a flat, level surface. Then insert the top board so that it fits snugly into each of the 4 corner brackets of the bottom frame.

An improperly placed board can result in unreliable or fluctuating readings.

✅ Correct placement:

🚫 Incorrect placement:

Taking Measurements

To record a weight:

• Tap the magnetic telescopic pen on the Sigrow logo sticker (on the bottom frame).
• You’ll hear a beep, indicating a successful reading.

To tare (zero) the scale:

• Hold the pen on the Sigrow sticker until you hear a longer beep.
• This resets the scale to 0, so you can measure added weight.

See Video 1 below for visual presentation

The tare pen is located on the side of the scale’s frame.

If you’re using a Loadcell Solution v2 scale, there’s no need for the magnetic pen. You’ll find a button on the underside of the scale box that serves the same purpose:

• A short press sends a message
• A long press tares the scale, setting the current weight to zero

Understanding Water Content

Tracking water content allows you to maintain ideal moisture levels, reducing fungal growth, optimising germination, and conserving water.

By determining the dry and wet weight limits, one can identify the optimal moisture range for plant health. These minimum and maximum thresholds (indicating drought and over saturation) help ensure that water is supplied only when necessary, thereby preventing stress in the plants.

Steps to determine water content:

1. Tare the empty scale.
2. Place a dry tray/plant on the scale.

→ This is your Dry Point.

3. Tare again with the dry plant still on the scale.
4. Water the tray/plant and weigh again.

→ This is your Wet Point.

5. Keep the plant on the scale to monitor weight change over time.

→ The difference = water usage.

Oxygen-Water Balance

Once you know the dry and wet weights, you can define the ideal irrigation range. Using the Mass Start Scale allows for a visual reading of the weight, making it possible to assess the oxygen–water balance within the pot at any given moment.

Example:

• Dry Point = 500g
• Wet Point = 1000g
• Optimal range ≈ 700g → This is where plants get the best balance of air and water in the root zone.

📌 This method works best for static trays or pots. For fast-growing plants, the weight shifts quickly and may need frequent recalibration.

Charging the scale

Your scale may come with either:

• A microUSB port, or
• A barrel (jack) charger

Charging with Scale Charger (Barrel Jack)

• Plug the charger into the port on the scale’s frame.
• The tare point is located next to the charging port.
• ⚠️ Unplug the charger after charging – keeping it connected can reduce battery life.

Charging with microUSB

You can use any microUSB cable to charge the battery. Before doing so, you’ll need to remove the cover on the bottom of the scale, which is secured with four screws. A flathead screwdriver is required for this.

The battery is rechargeable via a microUSB cable. Other types of scales generally follow a similar setup.

Scale Specifications

Specifications per product version