IoT Smart Plant Monitoring & Automated Watering System

Project Overview

The objective of this project is to build an automated system that monitors the soil moisture of a plant and automatically waters it when the soil becomes too dry. This eliminates the need for manual watering and ensures the plant receives the optimal amount of hydration. The system also sends real-time data to a smartphone or web dashboard via Wi-Fi.

Target Application: Indoor gardening, small-scale greenhouses, and agricultural automation.

Components Required

• Microcontroller: ESP8266 (NodeMCU) or Arduino Uno with a Wi-Fi module

• Sensor: Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor (v1.2)

• Actuator: 5V Mini Submersible Water Pump

• Control/Switching: 5V Relay Module (1-Channel)

• Power Supply: 5V/2A DC Power Adapter (or standard power bank)

• Tubing: 6mm silicone pipe for water delivery

• Miscellaneous: Jumper wires (Male-to-Female, Male-to-Male), Breadboard, and a water reservoir (container).
  
  Working Principle

  1. Sensing: The capacitive soil moisture sensor is inserted into the plant's soil. It outputs an analog voltage proportional to the soil's dielectric permittivity (which changes based on water content).

  2. Processing: The microcontroller reads this analog signal. In the code, this raw analog value is mapped to a percentage (0% to 100%).

  3. Decision Making: A threshold is defined in the software (e.g., 30% moisture). If the current reading drops below this threshold, the microcontroller sends a HIGH signal to the relay module.

  4. Action: The relay acts as an electronic switch. When triggered, it completes the higher-current circuit powering the 5V water pump. The pump runs for a predefined duration (e.g., 5 seconds) to deliver water without flooding the pot.

  5. IoT Integration: Concurrently, the NodeMCU sends the moisture data payload via Wi-Fi to a cloud platform (like Blynk or ThingSpeak), allowing the user to view a live graph of their plant's hydration levels from anywhere.