Food Living Outside Play Technology Workshop

Automatic Plant Watering and Soil Moisture Sensing

by AmitabhS on September 30, 2014

Table of Contents

Automatic Plant Watering and Soil Moisture Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: Automatic Plant Watering and Soil Moisture Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1: Materials needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 2: Connect the soil sensor to the arduino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 3: Connect the Pump Controller Board to the Arduino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 4: The Code to be uploaded to Arduino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 5: Setup the drip irrigation kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 6: Connect the pump to the drip main line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 7: Demonstration of the full setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 8: Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

http://www.instructables.com/id/Automatic-Plant-Watering-and-Soil-Moisture-Sensing/
Intro: Automatic Plant Watering and Soil Moisture Sensing
There are many such instructable created. But the problem is with getting the materials. I am creating this so that people get to know what equipment to buy in India and
how to connect them and make them work.

Problem Statement -

1. Can we automatically water the plants when i am going on vacation or do i have to bother my neighbors? Sometimes the neighbors do too much of watering and the
plants end up dying anyway. There are timer based devices available in India which water the soil on set interval. They do not sense the soil moisture and the ambient
temperature to know if the soil actually needs watering or not.

2. Can we know if the soil actually needs to be watered? Irregular watering leads to mineral loss in the soil and might end up rotting the plants.

3. Can we manually water the soil from remote location?

Solution -

The answer is "Yes, we can" to all the above problem. The solution provided is simple and economical. It requires you to know little bit of electrical and electronics but i
feel it is similar to having so much of electrical knowledge so that you can change a bulb. Let me know if you feel any step is complicated. I will try to add more
information so that it becomes easy.

Step 1: Materials needed

1. Soil moisture sensor - (You can search for similar item on ebay)

http://www.ebay.in/itm/Soil-Moisture-DC-5v-Sensor-...

2. Small pump - Toy pump working on 5-6V is enough. Few options available in India are -

http://hacktronics.co.in/home/418-rs-360-small-wat...( this should not be submerged in water)

http://hacktronics.co.in/home/721-small-water-pump...(this should be submerged in water)

3. Arduino -

http://www.ebay.in/itm/291235640103?ssPageName=STR...

4. Pump Controller - (You can make your own circuit with little knowledge of soldering or you can go to shops who sell these electronic equipment and they can point you
to people who can help you to solder)

a) Transistor - 2N2222A

b) Resistor - 1K ohm

5. Drip Irrigation Kit - (You can choose depending on how many plants you want to water).

http://www.ebay.in/itm/DRIP-IRRIGATION-KIT-10-PLAN...

6. Connecting Pipe (i used 0.4" pipe) to connect the pump and the drip irrigation main line.

Step 2: Connect the soil sensor to the arduino

I have color coded the wires for easy understanding of how to connect the soil sensor with the arduino.

a. Red wire - Connect the Vcc pin on soil sensor to the +5V pin on arduino

b. Green wire - Connect the Gnd pin on soil sensor to the Gnd pin on arduino

c. Orange wire - Connect the A0 (Analog) pin on soil sensor to the A0 (Analog) pin on arduino

http://www.instructables.com/id/Automatic-Plant-Watering-and-Soil-Moisture-Sensing/
 Image Notes
1. arduino programming board

Image Notes
1. soil senosr
2. sensor board

Step 3: Connect the Pump Controller Board to the Arduino

The Pump Controller Board comprises of -

1. 1k ohm resistor

2. 2N2222A transistor

3. 5V Pump Motor

Image Notes
1. A0 pin of soil sensor
2. Pump Controller Board

http://www.instructables.com/id/Automatic-Plant-Watering-and-Soil-Moisture-Sensing/
Step 4: The Code to be uploaded to Arduino
Copy the code from Code.txt to the .ino file on arduino and upload the code to the arduino.

File Downloads

Code.txt (566 bytes)

[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Code.txt']
Step 5: Setup the drip irrigation kit
There is enough information on the web on how to setup the drip irrigation kit. I am not getting into details of this.

The point to note here is that there are 6 analog pins on arduino that can be used to sense soil moisture. At the very minimum, one can use the same setup to sense 6
plants. But if designed in a better way, one can use the same setup to sense as many plants in multiple of 6.

I am not going into details of this as this is not the objective of this instructable. I will try to publish another instructable for a better design of the drip irrigation kit so that
maximum number of the plant soil moisture can be sensed.

Step 6: Connect the pump to the drip main line

Image Notes
http://www.instructables.com/id/Automatic-Plant-Watering-and-Soil-Moisture-Sensing/
 1. Clear pipe is used to connect the pump with the drip main line
2. 5V pump

Step 7: Demonstration of the full setup

Step 8: Next Steps

1. Create an Internet of Plants - Create a IOT framework which will help connect plants of similar variety across the world to get connected.
2. Connect the arduino wirelessly with the raspberry pi home server so that the plants can be monitored remotely.
3. Remote Monitoring and Watering of plants - Use GSM based add on board for remote operation
4. Power Supply - Use solar power as the power need is low. Currently i am using a power bank to power the arduino and the pump motor.
5. Weatherproof case - Since the device will be used outside, we need to have a weatherproof case to house the electronics.
6. Add more sensors - Temperature sensor, Humidity sensor.

Do let me know if you think anything else needs to be done as part of this project.

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by BIGDOG1971 - Arduino by
by razeksk jenfoxbot alexgreen00 Receptacles
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Comments
2 comments Add Comment

MsSweetSatisfaction says: Oct 7, 2014. 9:34 AM REPLY

Maybe now my plants will have a chance at living. Nicely done, and thanks for sharing!

AmitabhS says: Oct 7, 2014. 9:21 PM REPLY

Good to hear that it's of some help to you. This is my first instructable and was not sure if the details are easy to understand.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Automatic-Plant-Watering-and-Soil-Moisture-Sensing/