Getting Started

start1Note: These instructions were written a few years ago. A few things have changed since then and more changes are planned. We are not doing subscriptions for the 2021-22 season.

There are a lot of things on this site and some of them are a bit complicated. This page is to take you through some of what GrowCare offers. (You can open another tab to keep this page open while you look at other pages).

Local Weather Observations

Click on Local Weather Observations tab (top tab on the left sidebar).

Click View Graph if a graph is not already showing. Set Source to "Bureau of Met". Current weather data will appear on the graph.

Look around the page. In the Data Panel above the graph, see the dates the graph is including. Note the data presented for that period eg Rain, Date/time, Temperature, Humidity etc. Move your cursor over the graph and watch the data scores change as you move over different dates and times across the graph.

You can change the Station and weather data from a different weather station will be displayed. The drop-down box only has some of the available stations; to get one of the other stations, click Station Map. From there you can choose from stations all over Australia. After clicking on one, you can click View Graph to return to the graph.

If you set Source to "Regional network", you see data from an automatic weather station (AWS). These AWSs record different things from those belonging to the Bureau of Meteorology. If you have subscribed, it will say where the station is, otherwise it will say "Example station".

To change data dates

To locate the data date of your choice, simply set the dates in the Date Selection Boxes (on the line below the Weather Station Selection Box).

You can set the first date and in the Days box to the right change to your preferred number of data days for the data to display.

Alternatively, hold your cursor over the graph and a vertical red marker-line will appear. Click and hold the red marker line then drag the graph left and right for earlier (older) or later (newer) data.

To check data over a period of time

Click the graph again to set the red line. Look for the two pointed horizontal arrow (near the top of the red marker line).

Click this once, then let go (the red line disappears for a moment). Now, without clicking again, move your cursor left (for earlier data) and right (for newer data) - a yellow box appears as you move the cursor. Look in the data array above the graph for the scores for the period covered by the 'yellow box'.

Registration & Subscription

Click Register in the top right, and you'll be prompted to enter your name, a username & password, and your email address. This Creates an account on this site. Any time you come to the site again, you will need to log in with this username and password (your browser may remember it for you).

Then to subscribe, which costs $99 for the season, click the Subscribe button (or find Subscribe in the menu), then Add to trolley, then you'll come to the payment screen. If asked for address details, you don't need to fill them in; just click OK. Then you need to fill in your credit card details and click Finish. Once you've done that, you have access to everything in this site, plus disease alerts, until the middle of 2017.

Settings

My Settings - All Settings takes you to the settings page. Setting the Home region affects which stations are listed in a drop-down list of stations. Setting Crop type affects which crop-specific information is shown on the weather graphs and disease modelling page. This setting can be changed back and forth if you want to look at data fo different regions or crop types.

The location is used only for the Bureau of Met Local Forecast. Click Show Map to show the map. You can move the map and zoom in to select your location.

If you are subscribed, you will be able to set your alert settings. Click Edit and you'll be able to choose your weather station and crop type. Whenever there is an alert for that weather station and crop type, you'll be sent an email. If you've put a mobile phone number in, you'll also get an SMS. You can click Test and an SMS will be to your number. If you want alerts for multiple stations, you can buy them for $10 each through Subscribe - extra alert in the menu.

For some users, once your settings are set, that's all you need to do. We will watch the weather and send you an alert when there's anything you need to know. Other users will be interested in more details about the weather, so continue to explore.

Disease Modelling

Click Disease Modelling in the menu on the left. This page shows all the disease events of a particular type. You can use the drop-down boxes to select a different station or a different season. Just above the drop-downs are the disease categories for the current crop type. You can also change the crop type (My Settings - Crop type and one of the options - it won't take you to another page) and then choose between any of the disease categories for that crop type.

You can also look at disease modelling details in Local Weather Observations. Click Graph Options and you can choose which quantities and other things are shown on the graph, including disease predictions. Note that the options in the Graph Options view depend on the crop type, so you can change the crop type and different things will be available. Disease events are marked with a vertical line. There are a number of quantities shown for downy mildew - the predicted appearance and duration of oilspots, and some other "working out" quantities.