AgentPothead
Just this guy, ya know?
That's still out of my ball park I think. 
-
Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
-
Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!
Arduino based plant watering system using Soil Moisture Sensors
- Thread starter epicseeds
- Start date
$275??? Jeeez. These guys charging €500 are making a killing on just resell!
But that’s a pretty good deal compared to the grosens. For $3,300, maybe $3,500 after everything else, you could do four zones with three sets of sensors each which would be cool.... just thinking about all that sweet data is making me excited.
But that’s a pretty good deal compared to the grosens. For $3,300, maybe $3,500 after everything else, you could do four zones with three sets of sensors each which would be cool.... just thinking about all that sweet data is making me excited.
AgentPothead
Just this guy, ya know?
Hey Mountain Kine, how useful do you feel having the ec and temp data from the grosens is? I’m planning to run dosatrons directly off city water so I don’t really have a way to control water temp anyway and I’m not sure how much value id get out of soil ec.
Do you think you’d spend the extra cash for those sensors if you were gonna start from scratch?
Do you think you’d spend the extra cash for those sensors if you were gonna start from scratch?
M
Mountain Kine
The TEROS controller from Meter group was a couple grand though.
For 3500 dollars you get 3 sensors and the controller on the grosens.
Temp EC moisture are all important to graph relative to the actual grow room environment because then you can correlate that environmental and media data with sap analysis to really figure out what’s going on
Just tossing this out.... there are a ton of grow room automation products that do all this stuff without any programming and use a phone app as the interface. They are not very expensive and they are 'plug and play',
I did my own programming because it was fun, like most people who do this stuff. For those who are not dweebs, there are easier ways.
Just FYI
I did my own programming because it was fun, like most people who do this stuff. For those who are not dweebs, there are easier ways.
Just FYI
AgentPothead
Just this guy, ya know?
Yeah you right, but if we wanted easier ways we wouldn't be rolling our own with arduino I can also walk downtown and buy marijuana now legally, but I still go through the "hassle" of growing it myself.
I can also walk downtown and buy marijuana now legally, but I still go through the "hassle" of growing it myself. I definitely agree there are plenty of good options for grow room automation overall but I feel like irrigation is the place where most of these systems are weakest. Maybe I think that because I'm too small for the commercial systems like the grosens to make sense and too big for the "in a box" options like the smart bee or growtronix to do the trick.
I was looking into the weighing option mentioned by CVH though and found this link: https://rngr.net/publications/tpn/59-2/wireless-network-of-electronic-scales-to-monitor-the-substrate-volumetric-water-content-for-managing-irrigation-of-containerized-seedlings-produced-in-forest-nurseries
That pretty much lays out how to build a wireless sensor network for load cells. I'm probably going to end up with the 10HS or one of the other legacy sensors from Meter/Decagon to avoid the regular adjustment for plant weight but thanks for pushing me in that direction. The answers always come in the least expected ways.
I may upgrade to the Teros senors in the future but for now, I don't think I can justify the extra expense for the substrate EC and temp data since I can't control it anyway.
All in all, I've got the questions I came here with answered. Thanks for all the help. I'll start a thread in a few weeks and show everyone how it looks. Hope to see ya guys there.
I was looking into the weighing option mentioned by CVH though and found this link: https://rngr.net/publications/tpn/59-2/wireless-network-of-electronic-scales-to-monitor-the-substrate-volumetric-water-content-for-managing-irrigation-of-containerized-seedlings-produced-in-forest-nurseries
That pretty much lays out how to build a wireless sensor network for load cells. I'm probably going to end up with the 10HS or one of the other legacy sensors from Meter/Decagon to avoid the regular adjustment for plant weight but thanks for pushing me in that direction. The answers always come in the least expected ways.
I may upgrade to the Teros senors in the future but for now, I don't think I can justify the extra expense for the substrate EC and temp data since I can't control it anyway.
All in all, I've got the questions I came here with answered. Thanks for all the help. I'll start a thread in a few weeks and show everyone how it looks. Hope to see ya guys there.
I ran a number of tests on the cheapo RPi and Arduino moisture sensors and they worked great. What was the problem with using those??? Corrosion? It was a while back when I ran the tests but I don't recall any disastrous results.
AgentPothead
Just this guy, ya know?
Yeah from my understanding most of them suck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udmJyncDvw0 I haven't bought one yet, I'm still working on charging 18650 with solar circuit.
I wonder if I could spray them with silicone. Or, even wrap them in real thin plastic (trash bag thick) and 'heat shrink' it to a tight fit. We could also make our own with 2 nails and a 10k ohm resistor. https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-SOIL-MOISTURE-SENSOR-CHEAP-YET-ACCURATE-/
Surely there's an easy answer to simple corrosion. Unfortunately, all my electronics stuff, including all my Ardunio and RPi stuff is already packed to move. This will have to wait a year or 2 until I get settled and unpacked. LOL
I have tried every conceivable type of automated watering system over the past 49 years I have been growing, from drippers to rain machines. Nothing ever worked. Once the plants get established, the watering becomes very regular. However, during transition periods, watering is a very 'personal' thing.
Surely there's an easy answer to simple corrosion. Unfortunately, all my electronics stuff, including all my Ardunio and RPi stuff is already packed to move. This will have to wait a year or 2 until I get settled and unpacked. LOL
I have tried every conceivable type of automated watering system over the past 49 years I have been growing, from drippers to rain machines. Nothing ever worked. Once the plants get established, the watering becomes very regular. However, during transition periods, watering is a very 'personal' thing.
Honestly, maybe nothing. I just can't find enough technical data about any of the cheap sensors to feel comfortable with turning over my watering to them. At the very least, I'd need to know accuracy before buying and I can't seem to track that down on any items under $50 or so.
Jellypowered
Member
M
Mountain Kine
I definitely agree there are plenty of good options for grow room automation overall but I feel like irrigation is the place where most of these systems are weakest. Maybe I think that because I'm too small for the commercial systems like the grosens to make sense and too big for the "in a box" options like the smart bee or growtronix to do the trick.
I was looking into the weighing option mentioned by CVH though and found this link: https://rngr.net/publications/tpn/59-2/wireless-network-of-electronic-scales-to-monitor-the-substrate-volumetric-water-content-for-managing-irrigation-of-containerized-seedlings-produced-in-forest-nurseries
That pretty much lays out how to build a wireless sensor network for load cells. I'm probably going to end up with the 10HS or one of the other legacy sensors from Meter/Decagon to avoid the regular adjustment for plant weight but thanks for pushing me in that direction. The answers always come in the least expected ways.
I may upgrade to the Teros senors in the future but for now, I don't think I can justify the extra expense for the substrate EC and temp data since I can't control it anyway.
All in all, I've got the questions I came here with answered. Thanks for all the help. I'll start a thread in a few weeks and show everyone how it looks. Hope to see ya guys there.
I'll definitely be watching!
AgentPothead
Just this guy, ya know?
Oh nice that's from 2016 even, I wonder if he is still using that home made sensor. If that lasts a year, score.
GreenCrack
Member
I never measured moisture of coco, but i would expect different readings depending on position of the sensor. So one would basically have to determine the correct target value for every pot, and readjust if brand of cocos or its quality changes. Sounds overcomplicated.
Considering we know that cocos can be managed very well with the correct amount of runoff. It should be enough to detect when runoff happens. That could be done with a simple rain or water sensor.
With
s = start time irrigation
r = time runoff detected
x = runoff target (1.2, 1.3, 1.4 for 20%, 30%, 40% runoff...)
total watering time would be
t=(r-s)*x
Could easily be adjusted to multiple sensors, mutlifeeds, min/max wateringtimes and whatever.
The only problem i see would be a sensor that still reports runoff, because it did not dry completely between waterings. But i guess that can be avoided by finding a proper position for the sensors.
Considering we know that cocos can be managed very well with the correct amount of runoff. It should be enough to detect when runoff happens. That could be done with a simple rain or water sensor.
With
s = start time irrigation
r = time runoff detected
x = runoff target (1.2, 1.3, 1.4 for 20%, 30%, 40% runoff...)
total watering time would be
t=(r-s)*x
Could easily be adjusted to multiple sensors, mutlifeeds, min/max wateringtimes and whatever.
The only problem i see would be a sensor that still reports runoff, because it did not dry completely between waterings. But i guess that can be avoided by finding a proper position for the sensors.
Jellypowered
Member
He's moved onto simpler timer based watering but I know he used that system I linked for a good many years.
I forgot how to tag here so I'll pass this thread on to him so he might chime in with some words of wisdom.
