Boxes of irrigation parts waited to be taken downstairs to the mail room. I upgraded our houseplant irrigation system and sold the old parts on eBay to benefit Doctors Without Borders. Everything went. Boxes and packaging materials were rescued from a dumpster.
Category: Apartment Gardening
Soil Sensor Harness
Spent my Sunday afternoon with a crimper, a heat gun, and a soldering iron. Built the wiring harness for up to seven capacitive soil moisture sensors for a 3-level rack of houseplants. The box holds a microcomputer that wirelessly communicates with our home automation hub.
Fern Impersonators
Circuit boards mimicked a fern as they waited for their red, moisture-resistant coatings to cure.
High Prairie
The prairie grasses on our balcony are looking happy. Today I upgraded the irrigation system electronics: it delivers water via 48 micro-drippers; moisture is measured by capacitive sensors in the soil at three points; the system communicates wirelessly with a Hubitat hub.
Prototype Soil Sensor
Did a science experiment: measured soil moisture with an inexpensive (as little as $2 apiece) capacitive sensor wired to a cheap Arduino computer which communicates wirelessly with our home hub. If I deploy this system, the biggest expense will be waterproofing the circuitry.
How to Control Housplants
Posted How to Control a Houseplant Irrigation System.
How to Control a Houseplant Irrigation System
I’ve just finished building an irrigation controller supporting two watering zones for a rolling houseplant rack. As I learn and experiment, I’ve changed the design of our irrigation controllers several times. Currently, the focus is simplification, reliability and autonomy. With the previous design, the Internet had to be available for plants to be watered at… Continue reading How to Control a Houseplant Irrigation System
Yet Another Controller
Finished building the latest controller for watering and misting one rack of houseplants. It communicates wirelessly over a Z-Wave mesh with a Hubitat home automation hub.
Irrigation Manifold
Posted How to Build a Houseplant Irrigation Manifold.
How to Build a Houseplant Irrigation Manifold
Different plants have different watering needs, including the volume and frequency of water that is delivered. It’s therefore convenient to divide an irrigation system into watering zones. Each zone delivers water to plants with similar water needs. An irrigation manifold distributes water to multiple irrigation zones. After experimenting with various designs for irrigation manifolds, I’ve… Continue reading How to Build a Houseplant Irrigation Manifold