Automate and Remote Control your Garden

Most people would love to have a nice vegetable garden, but few have the time to maintain one. Above all, gardens require regular watering. When the weather is hot, just a few days without water can kill your garden! The time it takes to drag out hoses, and get everything soaked regularly, is more time than many people are willing to spend. What if you spend many days at a time away from home? Getting a neighbour or friend to check on your garden is inconvenient to say the least. There are many automatic watering systems available today. Some are only timers. Some incorporate rain sensors. But what if you want to check on or water your garden remotely? How do you plug your garden directly into the Internet? The goal of this garden project was to build a garden that was easy to water, and could be controlled remotely via the internet.

Garden Wish List

• Must be easy to water, and have an adjustable watering time.
• Must have a Rain Sensor
• Must have a Moisture Sensor
• Must have a Door Sensor for security
• Must have a Garden Light Control
• Must have a Web camera
• Must be accessible via the Internet

The diagram below shows the layout of a minature garden. The red lines are the irrigation drip system with feeders every 12 inches apart.



Below is a picture of the minatue garden. Due to the rural environment, fencing must be put all the way around to keep out garden robbing deer and rodents. Fencing is even put on the roof to also keep birds out. To the right, an Earth Machine composter can been seen.

The picture below shows the garden path of decorative rock. Sweet Bush Peas overflow on the right. Zucchinis occupy the center section, beets on the left.

The picture below shows the garden drip system that feeds the Butter Crunch lettuce in the upper baskets.

The picture below shows the rain sensor from Toro. This sensor is easy to hook up and acts like an on/off switch. The rain sensor is fed with 5 volts dc. When it rains, the switch closes and lets the RMS-300 dc voltmeters sense the voltage. This rain sensor is perfectly suited to the dc voltmeters on the RMS-300 board.

The picture below shows the moisture sensor from Irrometer. This sensor is easy to hook up and outputs a dc voltage that has a linear relationship to the amount of moisture measured in the soil. This moisture sensor is perfecty suited to the dc voltmeters on the RMS-300 board.

The picture below shows a common door contact sensor. This is hooked up to the RMS-300 alarm inputs. We can tell if the door is open or closed. We can set the RMS-300 board to alert us by email or sound a siren if needed.

The picture below shows the outdoor Camera from TrendNet. This web camera has a good outdoor picture quality and was easy to display the video output on the web page of the RMS-300 unit. An outdoor halogen light can be remotely turned on and off for night time viewing.

The picture below shows the garden web control panel of the RMS-300 board. Here you can turn on the watering system. See if the weather is sunny or raining. View the moisture sensor output. See if your garden door is open or closed. Turn the light on or off. Set the refresh rate. View live video feed of the garden. Do all this remotely over an internet connection.

The pictures below shows the watering control valve, pressure regulator, filter, and chemical injection lines. The watering on/off solenoid is controlled by the relays on the RMS-300 board mounted inside the garden shed. This can easily be disassembled and stowed come winter time. The water lines must be blown out by compressed air.

The diagram below shows how the Super RMS unit was wired up to monitor and control the garden.

The picture below shows some tomatoes ready to pick.

Strawberries!

Beets.

Carrots.

More Lettuce.