Plant Box

by Gursimran Singh 425

6.5K1009

Intro: Plant Box

Hi, in this tutorial I am going to show ,how to build your very own "Plant Box" that shows :-

  • Time and date
  • Temperature
  • Moisture
  • Light
  • Can notify using bluetooth and even water plants (with some change in code)

Essentially fit for people who forget to care their plants being busy. I haven't added light source because it is a desk friendly device and usually my desk lamp remains on, to save energy.

STEP 1: Things You Need

You need :-

  • LCD 2004
  • Arduino UNO
  • LDR
  • TMP36
  • 10 Kilo ohms resistor
  • 220 ohms resistor
  • RTC module
  • HC-05 if you want bluetooth, I'll show how to do it, see step no. 6

And some usual tools such as soldering iron and bunch of wires.

STEP 2: Schematic

DS3231 works on I2C and works as usual with Serial data and Serial clock pins a.k.a A4 and A5. LCD is connected as usual like 1602 lcd. You can see the schematics for soil moisture sensor,temperature sensor and light sensor above. The main code is attached below

STEP 3: Enclosure

I used thin plywood for making enclosure. Be sure to use thin pin like nails to hammer sheets together. The measurements for box are 11 cm X 15 cm X 12 cm.

STEP 4: The Most Difficult Part

I used my rotary tool and cutting wheel to cut out wood for lcd. Be sure to measure the height and width of LCD properly.

STEP 5: Some Tips

Here are some tips :-

  • Don't hammer so hardly to break everything apart.
  • Rough edges would give it a dumb look
  • Use wood adhesive if you can
  • Do oil treatment to give shiny look
  • Use 5v power supply integrated inside the box

STEP 6: Bluetooth

Adding bluetooth is easy use HC-05,but don't forget to use voltage divider to shift logic level from 5v to 3.3v.

Use a pump and relay to trigger water supply to plants.

Use arduino bluetooth car controller from play store to send characters to serial port of arduino.

Use if else command to trigger relay and pump section.

STEP 7: Fit Everything

Use screws to mount lcd inside the box and also be sure to either make holes for usb port/dc port or keep cable inside using a small hole.

Rig everything inside,use hot glue or duct tape to secure everything.

STEP 8: Preparing

Take any small plant that fits in your box. Fill box with soil and plant it now. strip off the wires of moisture sensor electrodes and merge them in soil. Its ready!

STEP 9: End

Use a small box that could go inside wooden box. Don't forget to use waterproof sheet (Plastic bag) to save electronics and wood from getting wet. Leave soil moisture wires in box stripped off from insulation.

Don't forget to care plants!

i hope you liked my tutorial!

Please vote if you like it!

Thank you!

Bye!

9 Comments

JON-A-TRON 7 years ago

Good idea! The title photo is lit very well. A 3/4 point of view would be helpful, that way we could see the top of the box as shown in the photo that's attached. It would be great to see it with plants, that way people who are quickly browsing the site would immediately see what the project is without reading anything.

Gursimran Singh 425 7 years ago

Thank you! :-) Going to update it just after coming back from school.

JON-A-TRON 7 years ago

Looking good man, keep it up!

Dushyanta 7 years ago

Nice project gursimran. Would be of great use for people wanting a automatic pot.

Sverd Industries 7 years ago

Nice concept you got there! Do you have a more in depth explanation on adding bluetooth notifications?