I'm trying to build an energy-efficient soil moisture measuring system. I am using an ESP32 and 3 "Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor v1.2" connected to an ADS1115. The sensors don't have a power off function, so I'm using a p-channel MOSFET to switch them off when they aren't measuring. (https://i.ibb.co/QrxTbFt/circuit.png)
This works pretty well for energy-efficiency, but the accuracy seems to suffer. When not switching the sensor off I get pretty much the same measurement result every single time. When switching, the measurements go up and down by about 3 percent points. This issue is caused because the supply voltage for the sensors is not always exactly the same when switching.
To combat this, I installed a ceramic 100nF and an electrolyt 1000uF capacitor on the supply for the sensors. This stabilized the supply voltage and massively reduced the inacurracies but created a new problem. Under some circumstances I don't fully understand I get a brownout shutdown by the ESP32. (https://i.ibb.co/WxV9Tg0/index.jpg)
Do you know what could cause the brownout and how to prevent it? Or can you reccomend another way of solving the problem with the inaccuracy?
I recently ordered a bunch of capacitive soil moisture sensors for a plant care project. During testing, I noticed that unfortunately some of them were very unresponsive and responded extremely slowly to changes in soil moisture.
It turned out that the reason for this is that a 1MOhm resistor is not connected to ground because a misplaced via hole is interrupting the copper path on the circuit board. I scratched off the silk screen to make the problem visible.
Faulty sensor with interrupted copper path
What its supposed to look like
It can be fixed by soldering a new 1MOhm resistor between the analog-out pin and the ground pin of the sensor or by soldering a cable between the ground pin and the disconnected side of the existing resistor.
I just wanted to let you know in case you have any problems with your sensor readings too.
In case you are currently about to buy such a sensor, look carefully at the product pictures and make sure the via hole is placed correctly. Also make sure it has a voltage regulator and a suitable timer chip on board, otherwise there could be other problems. More on that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGP38bz-K48
Hi All,
I've just realised that the Sonoff MS01 soil moisture sensor isn't in the list of sensors for GPIO14. Is this something I'm going to be able to work through myself as a relative newbie, or should I wait for someone more capable to sort this out?
Any pointers for someone happy to spend some time learning? I've read through the peripherals page but presume I'm going to need some details from Sonoff (plus some more knowledge of Tasmota) to make this work. Is this right?
Thanks
Dim
So I’m Conflicted. I’ll be adding a sensor to each pot using capacitive moisture sensors, an Arduino mini and a custom 1 wire library I found to bring all the data back to my Home Assistant instance (Allows the Arduino to be a 1 wire device without being a 1 wire device)
My biggest challenge, where to place the sensor. It’s about 3” long. Should I shove it in the top pointing down. Top side, Halfway down the pot, bottom or all 3? I feel like all 3 is the best bet as the top will obviously dry out faster than the bottom. But it wall also show saturated rich faster as they are watered.
Thoughts?
::Update::
So threw in 3 sensors on 1 pot. going to measure the results over the next few days during and after feeds. Ignore the mess on the graph, that was from calibrating the ADC on the ESp32 and configuring the median thresh-hold in ESPHOME. Also painted the edges of the probes with my 3D printer resin and cures it so water wouldn't seep into the edges (Possible?) and give me false readings.
https://preview.redd.it/jgn3x60y60w71.png?width=1242&format=png&auto=webp&s=535ff5eab2886aa83286eb242b7ea5b36c20e41a
Just curious, I usually use a wooden skewers and see if soil sticks to it or not to judge, or if lazy my finger, but I'm definitely not optimal. Just wondering if they're useful (particularly if you've got v bushy plants it s hard to get clear access to the soil with) or just a gimic.
I had two of the v1.2 capacitive soil moisture sensors working properly in ESPHome last week, running on a NodeMCU. Yesterday, I added a third sensor, and then none of them worked. I thought I must have connected something wrong, so I re-did all of my connections, but they still reported 100 percent moisture, when I knew one of the plants needed water. More investigation revealed that the sensors were all giving a voltage of 0.00, so they dutifully reported 100% moisture. I took everything apart, and did it again with just one of the sensors, but the result was the same. I switched out the sensor with a new one, changed the board to a D1 Mini, and switched out all of the wires. Same result. To make sure the sensors weren't bad, I tested them in Arduino, and all work correctly. The NodeMCU is fine, so is the D1 Mini, and the sensors are fine...they just report zero voltage in ESPHome. I've gone over and over the code, but I just can't see what's wrong. If there is anyone here who would be willing to take a look at it with fresher eyes than mine, I'd really appreciate any suggestions.
https://pastebin.com/JYg03e99
I'm new to arduino (not programming though) and I'm looking for a beginner to intermediate project that can sense the moisture and ph of soil. It would be a bonus if the project supported multiple sensors to monitor various beds of soil.
Can anyone suggest a build for me? I've seen many soil moisture builds but I'm hoping the community can suggest a tried and true build for me to get started.
Also, what is the best Canadian website to buy boards and parts?
Thank you!!
Are you ready to make a DIY watering system to take good care of your plants with it and TH10/16 smart switch?
Here to check the video: https://www.facebook.com/SONOFF.official/posts/2827362590908721
https://preview.redd.it/gzw2vla3pgd71.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f7354f7188645b0ef433e4df019760e0bc7210cc
Hello, I am looking to integrate soil moisture sensors for automation in my garden, but I can't seem to find any that are compatible with the smart life app. Does anyone know of any that would work?
Alternatively, I was planning on making my own soil sensors, is there any way I could integrate these DIY sensors into Smart Life, say by using a raspberry pi to relay the sensors information to the smart life app?
The "add devices" section has an option for "other" which makes me think this kind of thing could be possible.
Thanks!
I just started using an Eve Aqua and would like to further automate it. Pausing the schedule today and tomorrow based on weather forecast data (precipitation chance) is a start, but not enough imho. I would like to make decisions based on actual, current data, rather than inaccurate „chances“.
So I tried to find a HomeKit/Thread/Matter compatible soil moisture sensor but really couldn‘t find something useful.
Is there really nothing out there?
I’ve been searching for some outdoor soil moisture sensors for monitoring soil conditions for keeping better track of watering plants. Most that I have found use Bluetooth or WiFi which likely require custom proprietary apps. I’ve seen some DIY options although most are for indoor use, but I would prefer a prebuilt solution if possible. At a minimum, I would like to know the hydration level of the soils but if it has other sensors for PH levels, that would be nice too.
If such Z-Wave sensors don’t exist or no good quality sensors exist, sounds like a good opportunity for a smart home company.
