So you’ll probably know I’m into technology so here’s a walkthrough of my setup & how you can look after plants where ever you are in the world.
Primarily i wanted to be able to monitor the weather, automatically water and have wifi & power in my greenhouse to charge my phone. Obviously our allotments are off grid so its not quite as simple as at home. So where do you start?
Power
Firstly I have a couple of 12v solar panels (in series) that feed into a Victron solar charge controller, this device charges a 12v 80ha battery so that I have reliable power 24 hours a day, even in the depths of winter.
Networking
To control my setup the next thing I needed was a good network connection, so a low cost data-sim and portable WiFi hot spot allows me to connect remotely.
Weather Station
I use a Netamo weather system, that monitors temperature, pressure, wind and rainfall (which you’ll see on our weather page) Weather (weather) the system will send me alerts when it gets cold (or hot!)
Watering
I have three pumps set up to automatically water to schedule or trigger when it gets to hot.