Introduction: Plant Watering Detector

This project will detect the amount of moisture in the soil of a plant and show you its state by using an LED matrix. If the plant's soil has moisture in it will display a smiley face, if it doesn't it will display a frowny face and if it's somewhere in the middle it will show a medium face. This project is perfect for someone learning to work with new components such as switches, soil moisture sensors and LED matrices.

Supplies

  1. Arduino UNO
  2. LED matrix
  3. Capacitive Soil moisture sensor
  4. Switch
  5. Potted plant
  6. Female/Male jumper wire
  7. Electrical tape
  8. Wires
  9. Double-sided tape

Step 1: Connect the Soil Moisture Sensor

  • Using a female/male jumper connect the soil moisture sensor to the Arduino
  • The GND pin on the sensor should go to a ground pin on the Arduino
  • The VCC pin should go to the 5V pin
  • The AOUT pin should connect to A0

Step 2: Connect the Switch

  1. To connect the switch wrap some wires around the circles in the pins. Use one red wire and black wire for this. If needed use solder or electrical tape to keep the wires in place
  2. Connect the red wire to the 3.3V pin on the Arduino
  3. Connect the back wire to a ground pin

Step 3: Connect the LED Matrix

Place the LED matrix on a breadboard.

Use this diagram to connect the LED matrix to the Arduino Uno. Use any colour wire to connect them.

Step 4: Enter the Code

Plug your Arduino UNO into your computer and upload this code using the Arduino application.

Attachments

Step 5: Assemble It Onto a Plant Pot

Poke the moisture sensor into the soil, turn the code on with the switch and watch as the sensor reads and outputs the information. Make sure you have a source of power this can be a 9-volt battery or a computer.