Plant Micro Climate

Some plants require pretty specific environments to thrive. Many beautiful plants grow best in a climate that is nothing like the climate where you live. Orchids are a perfect example of this. They require cool temperatures and very high humidity, nothing like the environment where I live. In an effort to create a better environment for orchids we built a small “world” for them to grow better. The main feature is a fish tank to contain everything. We also needed lighting and a way to monitor temperature and humidity.Plant Micro Climate

Step 1: Gather parts and tools

Materials:
– Aquarium of adequate size for the plants you want to grow
– Lid (plexiglass from a local hardware store)
– Light (LED aquarium light works great)
– Raspberry Pi (SD Card, power, wifi adapter-optional)
– Temperature/Humidity sensors (DHT22 AM2302 SHT11 SHT15)
* I used AM2302 sensors. If you use others, there will be changes needed in the script.
– Resistors (2ea. 4.7k to 10k)
– Phone/modem cable (four conductor to connect the sensors)
– Adafruit 16×2 LCD
– f/f jumper wires
– NO momentary switch
– two pin header
– Case/mounting solution

Step 2: Set up the Aquarium

The Aquarium/lid/light portion is pretty straight-forward. Buy or find one in your garage or basement, a good sized aquarium for your plants. Used aquariums are very cheap and pretty easy to find. Cut the plexiglass to fit the inner lip of the top of the aquarium. If you buy this from a hardware store, they can do this for you and you end up with a nice clean cut. I personally have not had the best luck cutting this material myself. You will need to cut/drill a few notches in the lid for the sensor connections. For the light I recommend the modern LED aquarium lights available from pet stores and Amazon. I used the Marineland brand, but there are others. They are much brighter and last much longer than any older fluorescent tube fixture that you might be tempted to use.Plant Micro Climate schematic

Step 3: Setup the Raspberry Pi

Now you have a way to contain the environment. But you will want to know the parameters of that environment. That's where this gets a little more complicated. I used a Raspberry Pi model B with a base Raspbian install. There are a few additional software packages needed to make the LCD work. If you use the Adafruit LCD they have a great tutorial on getting that up and running. There is a newer tutorial but I have not tested it. All links to external information sources are a little lower.

I have provided a wiring diagram above. This is how I connected everything. If you want more detailed information take a look at the links below. That diagram does not include the reset switch. That was added later. I find it helpful if there is a problem with the Pi and you need to reboot. It's much faster than SSHing into the Pi and running the reboot command.

For more detail: Plant Micro Climate


About The Author

Ibrar Ayyub

I am an experienced technical writer holding a Master's degree in computer science from BZU Multan, Pakistan University. With a background spanning various industries, particularly in home automation and engineering, I have honed my skills in crafting clear and concise content. Proficient in leveraging infographics and diagrams, I strive to simplify complex concepts for readers. My strength lies in thorough research and presenting information in a structured and logical format.

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