Make an automatic plant light

This light helps your plants grow.

I got the idea from the Garduino, but nothing is taken from it. The schematic and the program are mine.

This plant light gives your plants 4 additional hours of light per day. When it gets dark, it turns on and after 4 hours of darkness, the light turns out. The light restarts when it detects light.

Step 1: Parts

You will need:

1x ATTiny26
1x 5V Wall adapter
3x Red LEDs
1x 30ohm resistor
1x 20 ohm resistor
1x 100kohm resistor
1x 50kohm resistor
1x power socket
1x power plug

wire
plant container

Comments

[ASCAS]

You do know that there is a cheaper and easier way to to this. I made a circuit that only uses 4 components.
1 - LDR
1 - NPN Transistor
1 - Resistor
1 - LED

[DemonDomen]

Your LED would glow all night, but mine turns off after 4 hours of darkness.

[ASCAS]

oh so thats why you used a IC chip. You know that mosfets works good too :)))for a adjustable timer with a light sensor :))) other than that nice job :D

[narendralkcrazy]

like this...

[drgnflyz]

I am going to adapt this (along with the solar panel and battery) to give my chickens the extra 4 hours of light they need (inside their small coop) during the winter so that they will continue to lay eggs! Thank you for the instructable!

[Zhelnot]

can u show me the sketches?

[albylovesscience]

what are the plants growing ln

[chrwei]

add a solar panel and a battery and ditch the wall-wart for extra awesomeness

[awang8]

But then you'll need sun to shine on it and if the sun's shining on it then it's won't need growth lights... Not awesomeness... More like weirdness...

[chrwei]

uh, sun shines during the day, charges battery, sun goes down, lights run off battery.... never seen a solar landscaping light?

[awang8]

The main purpose of this is to grow plants indoors. If you're taking it outdoors than it won't need growth lights because it's already exposed to the required spectrum for the required amout of time.

[DemonDomen]

Actually, the purpose of this project is to add 4 additional hours of light. The plant gets the natural amount of light plus 4.

[awang8]

But plants grow best with the natural amount of light. If you add more light it's not organic because the leafs are forcing the plant to take extra nutrients... Unneeded nutrients...

[chrwei]

but a tomato growing in December can't get the the correct amount of natural light

[awang8]

Yes it can! It's summer in December!

[DemonDomen]

Australia?

[awang8]

Yeah.

[Derin]

And if you grow a potato,then the plant will be a couch potato!

[awang8]

Why not grow potatoes inside a couch-shaped container? Not a couch potato, a potato couch!

[chrwei]

solar panels work inside too

[awang8]

Uhh... No they don't.

[pullinsb]

Uhh... yes they do. Ever used a calculator with a solar panel on it? Most of the time a person will use them at their table/desk and not outside. Solar panels work inside because they turn light into electricity (hence the name photovoltaics). Of course the light would be more intense outside. Why not use this near a window, inside, where it gets the natural sunlight they crave and then your LEDs will give the extra 4hours. All in all, great i'ble.

[nick_hunter]

Indoor light also works on solar calculators.

[godfreyandthandi]

just use some capacitors?

[greeneggsandham]

Not as good as batteries.

[awang8]

I'll be using this for my hydroponics system i'm going to set up one day... One day... I'll be making some heavy modifications. Basically, it means I won't be using a microcontroller. I'll use one of those power timer thingys and that also saves the hassle of running your wall-wart 24/7.

[kanikedude03]

can someone give me an example of the correct leds to use from mouser. They have so many different types of leds, and i'm not sure exactly what i need. Red LEDs is a bit general. haha

[DemonDomen]

Get one of those: http://de.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?N=254249+4294631172+4294739373+4294722442&Ns=Pricing|0

Pick some cheap ones and they should look something like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LEDs_8_5_3mm.JPG

[Jon316]

the ATTiny26 dat your asking for is it a LM324 Quad Op Amp i saw dis one in radio shack and it looks like the one that is demonstrated in the pic

[DemonDomen]

No. The ATTiny26 is a microcontroller, the LM324 is an amplifier.

[shamanwhitewolf]

Since we're using LEDs, I wonder if we can use a potato to power the light, thus feeding its own growth (still requiring nutrients, of course). Citrus and others could work also.

Not mine, but an example of bio-power:
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Bio-Battery---Power-for-the-future.-So-easy-a/

[awang8]

Are you sure red LEDs are enough? I thought you're supposed to use a mixture of red, white, ultraviolet and infrared.

[bdelanghe]

Red LED's should work great to supplement a little extra light. A few blue LEDs wouldn't hurt seeing as plants absorb that part of the spectrum. Green lights will do nothing. And IR and UV will actually damage the plants.

[awang8]

I disagree. Plants absorb UV and IR as well as blue and red. The sun naturally emits UV and IR and if it damages the plant then... Well... Your garden would be dead if that theory was true.

[DemonDomen]

Red is included in white. I agree on the UV and IR part, but I'd have to buy the leds.

[awang8]

Oh wait, yeah. White has a mixture of all colours. Forgot.

Once someone told me you need green lights to grow plants. Totally disagree!

[El Chucko Norris]

green lights are the worst the color of the plants reflects green light so they would die in only green light. red is best

[jamwaffles]

Thanks for sorting this all out guys - i was going to ask if red LEDs were enough myself, but i've just read all this and now im sorted. cheers lads

[awang8]

In conclusion, red, blue, ultraviolet and infrared make a perfect greenhouse growth light.

[jamwaffles]

w00t lol. is the infrared there for heat (whiche you dont get out of LEDs) or for the plant for some reason?