To automatically water the potted plants in my backyard while away on vacation, I created a small irrigation system! With a Raspberry Pi, moisture sensors, and a motorized pump, I put together the hardware for the irrigation system in a waterproof box. Only the insulated wires for the motor and sensors are exposed.
Every day, at a defined time, the program will run a check to determine whether it should proceed with irrigation.
- It connects to the Open-Meteo API to determine whether it is forecast to rain at any time during the day. If that’s the case, and it’s not been forecast to rain consistently for a week in a row, the irrigation won’t be triggered.
- Next, it checks if the moisture sensor is at or above its threshold. If it is, and it has not maintained this moisture level for 3 days, the irrigation won’t be triggered.
- Finally, if neither of those conditions prevented irrigation, the pump will be turned on for 3 minutes.
