Water your plants with a Raspberry Pi
Conclusions
For all three plant pots, I finally had to determine empirically the limit values of all combinations of plant and pot soil and substrate (Listing 4). A fourth sensor, which Figure 1 does not show, was finally placed in the water tank. It is monitored by its own thread starting in line 124 of Listing 3; the budding digital gardener has to connect the red cable to another free GPIO port on the Raspberry Pi Zero. If there is no water in the tank, the script sends email and blocks the other threads until the plant owner gets round to refilling the tank (Listing 3, lines 130-136).
The data for the tank sensor can be found in the YAML file in the tank block (Listing 4, lines 36-40), and the email parameters are in the mail block (lines 42-45). Depending on the configuration of your local email system, you might need to adjust the code so that it contains more detailed information with a clear-cut subject line to keep it from ending up in the Spam folder. The configuration file also contains the debug parameter (line 53), which makes the script more verbose at runtime.
For larger plant containers, such as a flower box, several sensors and water supply systems would have to be used in each box. Here again, some experimentation would be necessary to achieve the desired average soil moisture. Meanwhile, the scripts enter the measured values into an Influx database (Listing 3, lines 39-55). On the basis of this database, it is then possible to obtain an overview (e.g., with Grafana), so you can better adjust the parameters after analysis.
Infos
- "The sys admin's daily grind – PomodoPi" by Charly Kühnast, Linux Pro Magazine, issue 177, August 2015, pg. 56: https://www.linuxpromagazine.com/Issues/2015/177/Charly-s-Column-PomodoPi
- Irrigation kit: https://www.amazon.com/WayinTop-Automatic-Irrigation-Watering-Capacitive/dp/B07TMVNTDK/
- Adafruit Python library for MCP3008: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Python_MCP3008
- Raspberry Pi Zero W: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w/
- Fritzing: https://fritzing.org/home/
- GPIOs: https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/usage/gpio/
- Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
- Code for this article: ftp://ftp.linux-magazine.com/pub/listings/linux-magazine.com/236/
« Previous 1 2
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
OpenMandriva Lx 23.03 Rolling Release is Now Available
OpenMandriva "ROME" is the latest point update for the rolling release Linux distribution and offers the latest updates for a number of important applications and tools.
-
CarbonOS: A New Linux Distro with a Focus on User Experience
CarbonOS is a brand new, built-from-scratch Linux distribution that uses the Gnome desktop and has a special feature that makes it appealing to all types of users.
-
Kubuntu Focus Announces XE Gen 2 Linux Laptop
Another Kubuntu-based laptop has arrived to be your next ultra-portable powerhouse with a Linux heart.
-
MNT Seeks Financial Backing for New Seven-Inch Linux Laptop
MNT Pocket Reform is a tiny laptop that is modular, upgradable, recyclable, reusable, and ships with Debian Linux.
-
Ubuntu Flatpak Remix Adds Flatpak Support Preinstalled
If you're looking for a version of Ubuntu that includes Flatpak support out of the box, there's one clear option.
-
Gnome 44 Release Candidate Now Available
The Gnome 44 release candidate has officially arrived and adds a few changes into the mix.
-
Flathub Vying to Become the Standard Linux App Store
If the Flathub team has any say in the matter, their product will become the default tool for installing Linux apps in 2023.
-
Debian 12 to Ship with KDE Plasma 5.27
The Debian development team has shifted to the latest version of KDE for their testing branch.
-
Planet Computers Launches ARM-based Linux Desktop PCs
The firm that originally released a line of mobile keyboards has taken a different direction and has developed a new line of out-of-the-box mini Linux desktop computers.
-
Ubuntu No Longer Shipping with Flatpak
In a move that probably won’t come as a shock to many, Ubuntu and all of its official spins will no longer ship with Flatpak installed.