automatic watering systems multiple pomps , sensors and plant pots

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi

I was planning on making a watering system for watering pots.

The idea is tu use the arduino with multiple soil moisture sensors designated to certain plant. once the moisture drops to a certain level it should than activate the waterpomp which is designated to that specific pot. this will make the moisture level rise to a certain level, which will than stop the pump.

is this possible or am i asking to much for the arduino ?
if yes what arduino would be best for this project and how many sensors + pumps could I attach to it
what attachments would i need to buy for the arduino i was thinking of using electrical mechanical relays

the idea is to have a large rain water barrel with pumps attached to it out of the pumps tubing towards the designated pot

probably when I figure out how tho do this best ill come bac for the coding part of the work :confused:

2

Have you Googled
Arduino greenhouse

3

LarryD:
Have you Googled
Arduino greenhouse

I did however most of them are systems to open a valve and mainly simultaneously and have way more features than I want it to have. if I would add one feature it would be a display showing each sensor status or when a pumps run which pump it is.

I have to admit I am new to this so the goal is to start now with 2 pumps, 2 sensors and a display and see how it would scale from there.

4

You could just run the pump for X seconds when the sensor says things are dry.
BTW you can pump water with small air compressors going into holding tanks or bottles.

You will not find exactly what you need but, you can add and subtract to what others have done.

5

LarryD:
You could just run the pump for X seconds when the sensor says things are dry.
BTW you can pump water with small air compressors going into holding tanks or bottles.

You will not find exactly what you need but, you can add and subtract to what others have done.

Hi thanks for you input found out that i can just buy multiple DC 12V Soil Moisture Sensor Control Controller Relay Module and hook them up up separately each holds one pump and one sensor. now i just need to find out how to connect the arduino with a screen showing status and activation anybody knows ?

6

Do you mean these water sensors ?

Like any such unit, you really want to get one and prove over some days /weeks it works as well as you hope before even considering connecting everything to an Arduino.

000250.jpg

7

I would suggest using one pump and solenoid valves such as are used for a lawn sprinkler system. Also be careful in selecting the moisture sensor. Some just measure electrical connuctivety which is a strong function of soil mineral and salt content.

Look at the design of lawn sprinkler or drip systems for ideas.

8

The automatic relay module (on the jpg above) seems to me like the standard conductivity sensor which uses its digital output to switch a relay.

That's a very crude and uncontrolled way to pump water. If the sensor fails, the water will flow.

If you power that type of sensor module permanently, the lifespan is a couple of weeks, then the copper of the sensing pcb is gone.

9

If these are pots being watered, you should flush the soil so there is no build up in minerals.
Any overflow should spill into a sump.