Getting Started
Alright, so I had this idea rolling around in my head for a bit. You know how it is, you see something cool or you have a little problem you wanna fix. For me, it was my sad-looking desk plant. I’m not great at remembering to water it, honestly. So, I thought, why not make the pot itself a bit smarter? Something simple, nothing too crazy. Just a little project to keep me busy.
Collecting the Bits and Pieces
First thing, I had to rummage through my parts bins. What did I need? Well, the list wasn’t too long:
- An old microcontroller board (found one I wasn’t using)
- A soil moisture sensor
- Some jumper wires
- A small battery pack
- And, of course, the flowerpot itself!
Just grabbed a cheap terracotta one to start with. Didn’t want to ruin a nice pot if I messed up. Laid everything out on the workbench. Always good to see what you’ve actually got before you start soldering or drilling.
Putting It All Together
Okay, assembly time. This part needed a bit of patience. I carefully drilled a small hole near the bottom of the pot for the sensor wires to pass through. Had to be gentle, terracotta can crack easily. Then I connected the moisture sensor to the microcontroller board. Just followed a basic wiring diagram I sketched out. Nothing fancy, just connecting the right pins. Power, ground, signal. Standard procedure. Then I tried to figure out where to stick the microcontroller and battery. Ended up attaching them to the outside of the pot with some strong double-sided tape for now. Looked a bit rough, but hey, it’s version zero, right? Function over form at this stage.
Making it Think (Sort Of)
Next up, the code. Fired up the computer. I wanted it super basic: check the moisture level, and maybe blink an LED if it’s too dry. Kept the code really simple. Read the sensor value, compare it to a number I guessed was “dry”, and if it’s below that, turn the light on. Took a few tries to get the sensor reading calibrated correctly. Plugged the board into the computer, uploaded the code. The usual compile, upload, wait cycle. Got a few errors initially, typos mostly. Fixed those up.
The First Test Run
Moment of truth. Put some soil in the pot, stuck the sensor in. Powered it up. The little LED stayed off. Good sign, meant the soil wasn’t bone dry. I let it sit there for a day or two, checking on it. Sure enough, after a couple of days, the little LED started blinking. Poked my finger in the soil – yep, felt pretty dry. So, the basic idea worked! Watered the plant, and the light went off again. Success!
Hitting Some Snags
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. Definitely not. The first battery pack I used died way faster than I expected. Guess the board and sensor used more juice than I thought. Had to swap it out for a slightly bigger one. Also, the double-sided tape wasn’t holding great, especially after watering. Had to find some stronger stuff, almost like a waterproof adhesive. And calibrating that “dry” level took some trial and error. Too sensitive and the light was always on, too high and the plant was already wilting before it blinked.
Where It Stands Now
So, now I have this slightly modified flowerpot on my desk. It’s not winning any design awards, that’s for sure. The wires are still a bit visible, the controller box is stuck to the side. But, you know what? It works. It blinks when the plant needs water, and my desk plant actually looks healthier. It was a fun little exercise, tinkering around, solving those small problems. Definitely learned a bit more about those moisture sensors and power consumption. Maybe the next version will be cleaner, hide the electronics better. But for now, this ‘version zero’ does the job I wanted it to do.
