Question I want to make automatic watering for pots at home. Can I benefit from the most cost-effective sets for this?

[enesayasar]

I want to make automatic watering for pots at home. Can I benefit from the most cost-effective sets for this?

 

[OldSurferDude]

That's a pretty open question. First of all, "benefit" could mean lots of things. Financially? Emotionally? Power shift from your partner to you? Aesthetically? Or the mere fact of doing a fun project. Both "yes" and "no". Looking at "financially", having less money means you won't have any investments to cause worry and having fewer worries is a benefit. So this part is entirely on you.

I have considered doing this project after reading about the soil moisture sensors. But three things dissuaded me, my partner, running drip irrigation throughout the dwelling and the risk of leaks. Also my partner feels that plants need vacations and is constantly moving them around.

A reservoir in each plant? You would still have to remember to fill them. How do you power the automation devices? Batteries need replacing. From an outlet needs wires and would look just like the drip tubing.

It comes down to this: no one can do your thinking for you. All I can say is try it and see how you feel about your results.

OSD

 

[enesayasar]

there is no financial problem, I am looking for a project set that can be fun. I couldn't decide whether it is more logical to use an Arduino or a raspberry pi.

 

[kanewolf]

there is no financial problem, I am looking for a project set that can be fun. I couldn't decide whether it is more logical to use an Arduino or a raspberry pi.

I would base the decision on what interface you have to control. Are you going to use a standard irrigation controller that is WIFI enabled? Are you going to directly control relays tied to solenoid valves? Both implementations can do what you want but they are very different implementations.

 

[enesayasar]

Yes, it could be wifi. I thought it would be enough to use a humidity sensor with just a microcontroller.

 

[OldSurferDude]

I would recommend using an Arduino at each plant which has a soil moisture sensor and a relay to control a valve communicating over an nRF25 radio. Use MySensors software. This node would communicate to a MySensors serial gateway running on an Arduino that is connected via USB to a linux computer that is running Home Assistant (in a virtual box?) . Watering four plants thusly would cost less than just the RPi. If you want to employ a traditional irrigation controller interface, look into SIP (Sustainable Irrigation Platform) software, though the communication to Home Assistant is a little tricky.

I would not recommend WiFi for home automation communication. Most home routers, like Asus, are only capable of handling about 30 devices. Asus routers will not alert you when they are overloaded, they just bog down and send data erratically.

OSD

 

[OldSurferDude]

Yes, it could be wifi. I thought it would be enough to use a humidity sensor with just a microcontroller.

Soil moisture sensor, For one plant, An Arduino checking the sensor to decide when to turn on the relay that opens the valve. Use a typical USB power supply to power it.

In this scenario, it will take a bit of trial and error determining when to open the valve and for how long. You cold have two variable resistors into two ADC pins to control this, or hard code it and reprogram every time you make an adjustment.

A reservoir or dripline for water?

OSD

 

[kanewolf]

I would not recommend WiFi for home automation communication. Most home routers, like Asus, are only capable of handling about 30 devices. Asus routers will not alert you when they are overloaded, they just bog down and send data erratically.

I only used WIFI as an interface standard that will impact the choice of controller. A single WIFI enabled irrigation controller would not overtax home WIFI.
The other consideration is power to the controller. A controller for each plant could be difficult to power as well as plumb.