HYDROPONICS AND AUTOMATION

BY ANURAG PULIKOTIL
March 14, 2020
Introduction
We all know that the food we eat are obtained from plants. The plants are grown
in soil, i.e. large fields. But that’s not the only way to grow plants; here comes
the concept of Hydroponics. Hydroponics is made up of two word ‘hydro’
meaning water & ‘ponic’ meaning labour. It is basically growing of plants
without soil. Hydroponics is growing plants in a nutrient solution under
controlled conditions of light, temperature, and pH levels.
In conventional practice of farming, the main role of soil is to act as a medium
to transport nutrients like potassium, nitrates & water to the plant. Hydroponics
as an alternative to traditional farming as we replace soil with a nutrient solution
(basically nutrients + water). It has significant advantages over traditional
farming.
Why Hydroponics?
Soil varies globally. Not all types of soils are suitable for growing plants. We
need to add a number of external agents to the soil to make it usable for growing
plants, i.e. fertilizers, softeners. In hydroponics we use nutrient solution as per
the requirement of plant being grown. There is no requirement of external
fertilizers as such.
Plants grown hydroponically are safer and regarded to be of better quality
because no fertilizers are involved, the diseases spreading through soil are also
eliminated & nutrients are provided as per requirement without loss.
With hydroponics one can easily grow plants at their home, or any conditioned
place for human comfort. Outside conditions like a desert, or cold regions will
not affect the plant growing in your house.
Water is saved, it is found that plants grown in a hydroponic environment
consumes at least 80% less water in comparison to plants grown in soil. The
reason behind this is that water can be recirculated many times, on the other
hand water seeps into the soil and is not utilized completely for transfer of
nutrients.
Nutrient Film Technique
One of the simplest and versatile technique of hydroponic gardening is the
nutrient film technique. In this process we provide nutrient solution to the roots
of plant in cyclic process. The plants are lined up adjacent to each other, kept in
a tray; the roots are dipped in nutrient solution which keeps on flowing due to
the action of gravity and by a pump for recirculation. The upper parts of plants
are exposed to atmosphere, and so regular photosynthesis is not affected.
Nutrients flow in a thin film form thereby allowing us control over the required
quantity as per the plant being grown. Generally, plants requiring less water,
having fast growth rate are grown by this technique.

Image: Nutrient Film Technique

Source: www.thespruce.com/hydroponic-gardens-nutrient-film-technique-
1939220
Automation in Hydroponic System
Let me give you a brief overview about automation in hydroponics and how
exactly it is implemented.
The components used are microcontrollers, sensors, Internet of Things
Technology. In general, first we create a nutrient solution, this solution is then
made to flow through the storage system where roots of plants are brought into
contact with the nutrient solution. We monitor external parameters to ensure
that optimal conditions for growth. By this the plant grows faster and is
healthier than its soil grown counterpart.
Let’s get into the details:
This system comprises of Arduino boards, Raspberry Pi unit, Sensors: an
electrical Conductivity Probe, a pH sensor, temperature sensors, humidity
sensor.
Two Arduino boards act as nodes, one for transmitting data received from the
sensors to a third Arduino acting as a gateway for sending information to local
server on based on Internet of things created by the Raspberry Pi Module &
other for receiving data in the opposite direction; i.e. the control system which
modifies the environment as required. This data sent can be viewed on a
Smartphone or a computer webpage by an open source automation software
Domoticz which is connected to Raspberry Pi local server.
The electrical conductivity probe provides data about the nutrient solution, i.e.
that level of salt present in the solution. The pH sensor measures the pH level of
the solution and is used to control the acidity level as required for optimal
growth of plant. There is a temperature sensor places in water which measures
the temperature of water, as pH levels are affected by temperature. Temperature
is to be maintained at 24 -25℃ for optimal growth. The water heater maintains
the temperature. Carbon Dioxide is supplied using to the system by a carbon
dioxide releasing pad.
 Image 1: Representation of various Sensors used in system.

Image 2: Representation of Circuit

Source: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050918302473

Scope
A Delhi based startup firm, Agro2o has developed two automated hydroponic
system based on Iot, which will be available to consumers at a an approximated
price of Rupess 7,999 & Rupees 17,999 respectively. Agro2o was founded by
Yash Vyas in March 2018 and incubated by Union Ministry of Agriculture
and Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.
 Image: Yash Vyas with indoor smart garden product
Source: www.thebetterindia.com/219829/elhi-startup-agro2o-smart-
hydroponics-grow-vegetables-indoor-india-nor41/
References
https://www.explainthatstuff.com/hydroponics.html
https://www.agro2o.com/post/growing-plants-without-soil-
hydroponicshttps://www.agro2o.com/post/growing-plants-without-soil-
hydroponics
https://www.thespruce.com/hydroponic-gardens-nutrient-film-technique-
1939220
https://www.thebetterindia.com/219829/elhi-startup-agro2o-smart-hydroponics-
grow-vegetables-indoor-india-nor41/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050918302473