“In this Instructable, I will show you how I made my smart indoor herb garden! I had a couple of inspirations for this project with the first being that I had some interest in the in home Aerogarden models. Additionally, I had a unused Arduino Mega with a TFT touchscreen shield that had just been sitting in my electronics bin for years. I figured why not try to make my own Aerogarden like herb garden using an Arduino with some of this extra time that I have during quarantine! I ended up going a little extra with the project in that I added moisture sensors to each soil aliquot but it has proven to be useful so far. All in all, I couldn’t be happier with how everything turned out!
I just finished this project and planted some basil and chive seeds on 5/7/2020. This Instructable is posted on 5/11/2020. I’m hoping that plants will begin to sprout this upcoming week and I will be sure to update this Instructable with progress growth pics!
Here is a quick rundown of some of the features of my smart indoor herb garden:
- Touch screen display that displays time, day of the week, and date.
- Four 2.35” x 2.35” x 2.33” aliquots for planting herbs. Aliquot tray is inserted into a basin that collects any water drainage and isolates itself from the electronics.
- LED setting that allows user to set desired “turn on” time and duration. Additionally, user can disable LED’s from turning on if they so choose.
- Moisture sensor page that indicates which of the 4 herb aliquots need to be watered.
- Adjustable grow light that gives the user ~6-8 more inches of height once the plants begin to grow.
If you are interested in seeing how I made this project or you want to make one for yourself, please follow along!
Supplies:Electronics:
- Arduino Mega 2560
- 2.8” TFT Touchscreen Shield
- 4x Soil Moisture Sensors
- 3x N-Channel P30N06LE MOSFET
- 1x RTC DS3231 Module
- LED Light Strip
- 5V 2A power supply
- CR1220 3V Cell Battery
- 3x 220 Ohm Resistors
- Perfboard
- DC Barrel Jack
- Wiring
Herb Garden Planter:
- White and Black 3D Printer PLA Filament (if you choose to print your own base)
- Red Oak Wood Veneer
- Thin aluminum sheet metal (optional)
- Shiny Metallic Spray Paint and Primer
- Wood Finish/Stain
- One Coat Polyurethane finish
Soil/Herb Products:
- Herb seeds of your choice
- Miracle Grow Topsoil
Miscellaneous:
- Electrical Tape/Painters Tape
- Hot glue gun
- 3D printer (optional)
- Exacto Knife
- Sandpaper (~220 + Grit)
- Soldering iron + Solder
- Cyanoacrylate Superglue
- Tools (Wire cutters, scissors, needle nose pliers)”