Indoor Plant Watering System

[BrianTheCookie]

Hi guys, I am new to this forum. Been gardening since I was young.


As per topic, I am in the middle of developing an automated plant watering system and hope to put it on crowdfunding. I was building it for myself at first as my weekday schedule got more and more busy but I thought why not share it?


I would like to know what other urban gardeners think an automated watering system should have.


To give a bit more context, this particular watering system is meant for indoor/balcony use and is designed to water plants in pots. Please post what functions/features/specifications/price you would like in an automated plant watering system. I will see what things I have missed out and try my best to come up with something good for all of us

 

[headfullofbees]

Simplicity.
I have three, gravity-fed, automated watering systems for greenhouses and polytunnel and have just got the parts through the post for the greenhouse I acquired over the winter.
One hint: a ring system helps to equalise the water pressure.

 

[BrianTheCookie]

Simplicity.
I have three, gravity-fed, automated watering systems for greenhouses and polytunnel and have just got the parts through the post for the greenhouse I acquired over the winter.
One hint: a ring system helps to equalise the water pressure.

Wow! Have fun with an entire greenhouse. I live in an apartment in Singapore so my planting space and access to good light is really limited.

Oh well, the system I am developing is more for indoors and I am using pumps to get the water up. I will keep simplicity in mind, but I suppose adjusting watering volumes for individual plants once in a while is a necessary evil? I did consider incorporating soil moisture sensors but those are expensive and need extra wires running all over the place!

 

[headfullofbees]

Wow! Have fun with an entire greenhouse. I live in an apartment in Singapore so my planting space and access to good light is really limited.

Oh well, the system I am developing is more for indoors and I am using pumps to get the water up. I will keep simplicity in mind, but I suppose adjusting watering volumes for individual plants once in a while is a necessary evil? I did consider incorporating soil moisture sensors but those are expensive and need extra wires running all over the place!

Adjustable drippers are cheap.

 

[BrianTheCookie]

Yes that is true, but with drippers, you need a tap for pressure, which an indoor space may not have.

 

[headfullofbees]

Yes that is true, but with drippers, you need a tap for pressure, which an indoor space may not have.

Gravity is enough pressure for these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100Pcs-Ad...655942?hash=item2c9a9ebf46:g:9sUAAOSwBahVOzcx

 

[BrianTheCookie]

Gravity is enough pressure for these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100Pcs-Ad...655942?hash=item2c9a9ebf46:g:9sUAAOSwBahVOzcx

This solution is quite good. But the gripe I have with it is that the water source needs to be placed high above the plants.

For me, there are a lot of good watering systems out there, but I can't find a great watering system for indoor use. I naturally have my own design requirements for the system but I would also like other people's input to create a great system.

So what do you guys want in an automatic plant watering system :?

 

[headfullofbees]

You want bells and whistles and ingenuity?
I'm an engineer, I want cheap, simple and effective.

 

[Corzhens]

I cannot visualize your invention. But I had seen the drip system that uses the small white hose with small holes where water drips. The holes are designed to drop water near the roots of the plant. But it is not used in a greenhouse but on a bed of vegetables for irrigation. It supplies water 24 hours with the drips. And it also uses gravity only unlike the sprinklers that uses water pressure.

 

[BrianTheCookie]

Ok the current design of the device allows it to take in water from a bucket on the floor and distribute it (using silicone tubes) to plants via 10 individually adjustable outputs (software driven). Watering volumes are set by the user, the device runs on mains power, has 6 preset watering volumes for beginners and is currently pitched at 100 USD (excluding shipping), which is 10 bucks a plant. No internet connectivity.

Do you guys think a device like that is a good indoor automated watering solution? What else would you like to see in it?

 

[BrianTheCookie]

Hi, I thought some of u may be interested in what happened to this project – it is going live in crowdfunding next Friday

This device is sincerely meant for busy urban gardeners. Even if you have no problem watering your plants, this may come in useful when you go on holiday. Compared with other systems, I designed this to be as simple as possible: tell it how much to water and the device will draw water from a bucket and feed it to your plants (up to 10 pots), no connecting to the plumbing system and stuff like that. Just make sure the bucket does not run dry (usually lasts a month), update the watering volumes as your plants grow and you are good to go.

I really hope that this will make some of our lives easier (I can’t be the only passionate gardener with no time around). If you are interested, here is the campaign preview (www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/a46d97e7). I will post the link to the real campaign when it is live. Cheers!