So, I’ve been having this problem lately with keeping my plants watered, especially when I go out of town. You know how it is, you either overwater them before you leave and come back to a swamp, or you don’t water them enough and find them all wilted and sad. I’ve tried those self-watering globes and a few other things, but nothing really seemed to work well. Then I had this idea – what if I could make something that would water my plants automatically while I’m away? That’s how I started on this little project of building a plant watering cart.
I started brainstorming what I needed. Obviously, a water reservoir was a must. Then I thought, I needed a way to move the water to the plants, so some kind of pump, and of course, something to control the pump. Also, it should be mobile, so I decided to put everything on a cart. It was time to gather some supplies.
First, I got myself a simple plastic storage bin for the water reservoir. It was cheap and the perfect size. Then, I picked up a small submersible water pump from the local hardware store. I made sure it was the kind that could be turned on and off easily. For the brains of the operation, I used an old microcontroller board I had lying around. If you don’t have one, you can pick one up pretty easily these days. Lastly, I grabbed some plastic tubing to connect the pump to the plants and some basic caster wheels to make the whole thing mobile.
Assembling the cart was the fun part. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the bin for the pump’s power cord and another hole near the top for the tubing. I attached the pump inside the bin, making sure it was properly secured, and then connected the tubing. I ran the tubing out of the bin and cut it into smaller pieces to reach each plant. The microcontroller was mounted on the side of the bin, and I wired the pump to it. For the base, I just used a piece of plywood I had, and I screwed the caster wheels onto it. Then, I secured the bin to the plywood base with some brackets. And just like that, the physical part of the cart was done.
Now for the programming. This was a bit tricky since I wanted the cart to water the plants on a schedule. I wrote a simple program for the microcontroller to turn the pump on for a few seconds every day. It took some trial and error to get the timing right. I had to make sure the plants were getting enough water but not too much. I tested it a few times while I was home to make sure everything was working as it should. Finally, after a few tweaks, I had it watering my plants perfectly.
The first time I used it when I was out of town, I was a bit nervous. But when I came back, my plants were just fine. No overwatering, no underwatering, just happy, healthy plants. It was such a relief! I’ve been using this watering cart ever since, and it’s been a real game-changer. I even added a little sensor to detect the moisture level in the soil, so now it only waters the plants when they actually need it. It’s not the prettiest thing in the world, but it works like a charm.
- Plastic storage bin
- Submersible water pump
- Microcontroller board
- Plastic tubing
- Caster wheels
- Plywood board
- Brackets and screws
What I used:
It’s amazing what you can do with a few simple tools and a bit of creativity. Now, I don’t have to worry about my plants when I’m away, and I can enjoy my trips without coming back to a plant graveyard. If you’re a plant lover like me, you might want to give this a try. It’s a fun project, and it really does make life a lot easier!
