Automated Greenhouse
Hey folks, shared a comment about my little Toronto, Canada based automated greenhouse in another thread, and got some interest to see more, so thought I’d create a dedicated post for it.
I recently visited the Hortus Botanicus in Delft, The Netherlands and was inspired by their automated greenhouses. No where near the level of sophistication they have, but overall super happy with how it has turned out so far!
Here are all the various components:
* temp/humidity sensor
* intake and exhaust fans powered through a smart outdoor plug that turn on automatically when it reaches a certain temp.
* solar panel that charges a large 12V battery
* pump that pulls water from a rain barrel, which collects water off the greenhouse/shed roof (powered by the battery, using a Shelly 1 for wifi control)
* solenoid valves controlling the pump outflow to two different pipes (powered by the battery, using a Shelly 1 for wifi control)
* one pipe goes to dripline irrigation system hooked up throughout
* the other goes to a series of misting nozzles near the roof to control humidity and temp (through evaporative cooling)
* roof vent that automatically opens and closes by temp (using a wax cylinder, totally mechanical)
It is all hooked up to Home Assistant, and I have multiple automations that control the fans, watering, misting, etc all based off temp, humidity, and forecast (waters longer if it is going to be a hot sunny day, for example).
Next up I want to get some soil moisture sensors to feed into the watering algorithm, but haven’t gotten that hooked up yet. Also want to figure out a solution for my shade cloth - right now I have a 50% shade cloth on all the time because it gets too hot, but would love an automated awning or something like that with the shade cloth so I can retract it automatically on overcast days.
Happy to go into more detail on any parts if anyone is interested!