House Plant Hydration Notification System: Technical Report

The problem being addressed is plant dehydration. Nowadays, with cheap travel, people go away often and plants are regularly neglected. Another reason plants are neglected is because of people’s busy work schedules or some people are just not aware how often their plants need to be watered. Also as we all know there are different plant families, some requiring a lot of water and some not. For instance succulents, require very little water as they normally live in deserts, whereas basil, the common herb, requires daily watering, if it is to thrive. I have decided to address this problem by developing this system. I have been working on a solution. In my opinion this solution involves a Raspberry Pi with a connected moisture sensor that is buried in the soil of the plant. When the moisture level drops, it will be detected by the sensor and this information will be recorded and stored on the Raspberry Pi and a notification will be sent to the owner/user’s mobile phone indicating that they need to water their plant. I have evaluated the need for this system and all the feedback I have received has been positive. As long as costs are realistic/affordable the system would be popular. The feedback I have received has come from private residential homes, companies, banks, hotels and other businesses that have plants in their foyers. The system could also be used in schools and colleges but I have yet to evaluate their needs and feedback