Step 1: Materials Needed

1. Soil moisture sensor - (You can search for similar item on ebay)

http://www.ebay.in/itm/Soil-Moisture-DC-5v-Sensor-...

2. Small pump - Toy pump working on 5-6V is enough. Few options available in India
are -

http://hacktronics.co.in/home/418-rs-360-small-wat...( this should not be submerged

in water)

http://hacktronics.co.in/home/721-small-water-pump...(this should be submerged in

water)

3. Arduino -

http://www.ebay.in/itm/291235640103?ssPageName=STR...

4. Pump Controller - (You can make your own circuit with little knowledge of
soldering or you can go to shops who sell these electronic equipment and they can
point you to people who can help you to solder)

a) Transistor - 2N2222A

b) Resistor - 1K ohm

5. Drip Irrigation Kit - (You can choose depending on how many plants you want to
water).

http://www.ebay.in/itm/DRIP-IRRIGATION-KIT-10-PLAN...

6. Connecting Pipe (i used 0.4" pipe) to connect the pump and the drip irrigation
main line.

Step 2: Connect the Soil Sensor to the Arduino

I have color coded the wires for easy understanding of how to connect the soil
sensor with the arduino.

a. Red wire - Connect the Vcc pin on soil sensor to the +5V pin on arduino

b. Green wire - Connect the Gnd pin on soil sensor to the Gnd pin on arduino

c. Orange wire - Connect the A0 (Analog) pin on soil sensor to the A0 (Analog) pin
on arduino

Step 3: Connect the Pump Controller Board to the Arduino

The Pump Controller Board comprises of -

1. 1k ohm resistor

2. 2N2222A transistor

3. 5V Pump Motor
Step 4: The Code to Be Uploaded to Arduino

Copy the code from Code.txt to the .ino file on arduino and upload the code to the
arduino.

Code.txtCode.txtDownload
Step 5: Setup the Drip Irrigation Kit

There is enough information on the web on how to setup the drip irrigation kit. I
am not getting into details of this.

The point to note here is that there are 6 analog pins on arduino that can be used
to sense soil moisture. At the very minimum, one can use the same setup to sense 6
plants. But if designed in a better way, one can use the same setup to sense as
many plants in multiple of 6.

I am not going into details of this as this is not the objective of this
instructable. I will try to publish another instructable for a better design of the
drip irrigation kit so that maximum number of the plant soil moisture can be
sensed.

Step 6: Connect the Pump to the Drip Main Line

Step 7: Demonstration of the Full Setup

Step 8: Next Steps

Create an Internet of Plants - Create a IOT framework which will help connect
plants of similar variety across the world to get connected.
Connect the arduino wirelessly with the raspberry pi home server so that the plants
can be monitored remotely.
Remote Monitoring and Watering of plants - Use GSM based add on board for remote
operation
Power Supply - Use solar power as the power need is low. Currently i am using a
power bank to power the arduino and the pump motor.
Weatherproof case - Since the device will be used outside, we need to have a
weatherproof case to house the electronics.
Add more sensors - Temperature sensor, Humidity sensor.