Auto Plant System
Date Started: 15 July 2024
GitHub Repository: coming soon!
While I was stuck inside unable to do normal things, I decided that I wanted my own strawberries. Not only that, I desired a system that 'auto grows' them for me. After researching the best ways to harvest the seeds from the berries and germinate them, I needed a way to automatically water and give light to my young plants.
Powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, this is a very simple circuit that connects to a dual relay module. This is how the power is enabled and disabled for the UV Light and water pump.
The system is set on a schedule to water my plant once every day and turn on the UV light. Every time there is an update with the system (such as the plant successfully being watered) I am emailed a notification. On top of that, there is an Arduino Nano that reads the humidity of the soil and logs it to a cloud database online. Though I haven't made one yet, you could theoretically make a resource that graphs the change of humidity throughout the hours/days/weeks because of the auto-logging of data.
Because of the connection to the cloud, I also made a Flutter app to use alongside the system. This gives me an easy way to water my plant and turn on the UV light from anywhere in the world with a wifi connection.
01
Initial Prototype
A quick prototype was built to establish a proof of concept. I used a plastic cup filled with water and an old pot I found. Because I do not have a lot of knowedge in growing plants, it took a bit of trial and error to get the harvested strawberry seeds to germinate.
02
Water Basin and Supplies
Once a fully functional prototype was secured, I visited my local Walmart and bought a giant glass jar (this is normally used for events to serve beverages) and a new pot with soil. This jar valve was taken apart and a wire and pipe were fed through the opening. Then, I bought some silicon sealant and made a watertight seal to prevent leaks.
03
Updated Location
After more mechanical systems were finalized, a new location of the plant system was manufactured and the organization of the unit as a whole was improved.
04
Final Location
After finding a cheap metal shelf, I figured this would be perfect for my plants to grow in. Because it has 3 layers, the water basin fits perfectly on the bottom shelf, followed by the plant itself and electronics, and with the UV light attached to the underside of the top shelf.
Early Designs
Shown in the Dev Journal are my basic drawings of the system as an early prototype. This includes the wiring, connections, and basic requirements related to the idea.
Progress
Below are some growth progression photos. The strawberry seeds took about 3-4 weeks to germinate, and I honestly forgot about them. I left for a trip for 2 weeks with my system running, and on the day of my return I saw the beginnings of my strawberry farm.
First sprouting after germination (~11 Aug)
