AI in the grow

[Bandit420]

Great idea on transmitter>UIS plug>splitter> multiple UV lights.

I’ll be interested in seeing how your power outage simulation goes. We had our third power outage in seven days last night. Horribly, Texas has set a new standard for measuring flooding. The daily storms here have an impact, but are trivial. Washed out roads and power outages.

Anyway, my light didn’t come on again. I don’t have the new AI controller. I’m curious about the UIS plug. My small assortment of AC products (humidifier, exhaust fan and clip fan) all came back on. The light plugged in to the UIS plug did not. I again had to delete the automation and set it up again to get the light to come one. Unplugging the UIS doesn’t do it.

Getting some good learning experience, so I won’t bitch too much. I’m getting ready to post a photo asking if I have a hermaphrodite White Widow outdoors, but I know the answer. First time and all, it’s nice to have confirmation. Probably chopping a plant out there.

I did a power outage test on the new fans. I’ll have to tape over the idiot lights. Turning it off and on keeps your settings.

Loss of power resets everything to default. So lights are back on and any oscillation settings are lost.

Not a huge deal as we check the plants daily and durning the fall/winter we don’t suffer brown/black outs.

So if you use any of the Costco fans just be aware they will need to be reset after power loss and taping the lights might be a good idea.

All good here on a power outage simulation!
Takes a minute or two to reboot but everything picks up where it left off aside from missing some time.
The clock continues working even though there's no power so if power cuts at 5:15 and is off for an hour, when it resumes it will be 6:15 so no need to reset timers or any of that.

Yeah the Costco fan, like my ceiling fan, simply shut off and do not come back on. The ceiling fan light comes back on so I had to disable it but as far as the ACI stuff goes, it does exactly what I'd want it to do in a power outage for me.

 

[Stoneyluv]

I use the ecowitt moisture probes and with the hub can moniter 8 moisture probes. Also the probes are wireless battery operated . Work very well for me.

have these been reliable for you? can you leave them in the soil 24/7?

i see there is a nice sale going on right now...

 

[doublej]

+1 would like to know as well

 

[OLDCRO]

have these been reliable for you? can you leave them in the soil 24/7?

i see there is a nice sale going on right now...

They have been good to me so far. I put them in the soil starting veg and dont come out till harvest wipe off good to go next grow. Battery used is double AA and last about a year.

 

[steamroller]

have these been reliable for you? can you leave them in the soil 24/7?

i see there is a nice sale going on right now...

I found the probe for $18. Your sale beat that?

Ecowitt WH51 Wireless Soil Moisture Meter

Buy the WH51 Wireless Soil Moisture Meter – Soil Moisture Sensor for Irrigation Management, Garden, and Agriculture for only $17.99 at Happy Hydro!

www.happyhydro.com

 

[OLDCRO]

 

[Stoneyluv]

They have been good to me so far. I put them in the soil starting veg and dont come out till harvest wipe off good to go next grow. Battery used is double AA and last about a year.

thanka man i think i'm going to take the plunge... looks like some controllers can read 16.. gotta look into it before i buy. but only 8 would still be tits!!!

thanks man!!

I found the probe for $18. Your sale beat that?

Ecowitt WH51 Wireless Soil Moisture Meter

Buy the WH51 Wireless Soil Moisture Meter – Soil Moisture Sensor for Irrigation Management, Garden, and Agriculture for only $17.99 at Happy Hydro!

www.happyhydro.com

WH51 Wireless Soil Moisture Meter – Soil Moisture Sensor for Irrigatio

Soil Moisture Meter: measures soil moisture content within 72 seconds and the data can be viewed on our free WSView plus App after the WiFi configuration(requires a GW1100/GW2000 gateway[sold separately]) to let you know when to water your plant/lawn/garden [Accessory Only, Can Not Be Used...

shop.ecowitt.com

same price but an additional 15% off right now..

looking at this to start then buying more sensors..

Ecowitt GW1206 Soil Moisture Meter Kit, Includes GW1200 IoT Wi-Fi Gate

Features 【Reliable Wireless Soil Moisture Sensor】: Equipped with advanced chip, ECOWITT WH51 wireless soil moisture sensor collect soil moisture data within 72 seconds when totally inserted into the soil. The data can be transmitted via GW1100 Wi-Fi gateway and the live data can be viewed on...

shop.ecowitt.com

 

[OLDCRO]

I found the probe for $18. Your sale beat that?

Ecowitt WH51 Wireless Soil Moisture Meter

Buy the WH51 Wireless Soil Moisture Meter – Soil Moisture Sensor for Irrigation Management, Garden, and Agriculture for only $17.99 at Happy Hydro!

www.happyhydro.com

You also need the hub to get the readings on your mobile phone never tried on the computer.

 

[OLDCRO]

The hub is not battery operated has to be plugged into usb for power. I have mine plugged into usb on computer upstairs as my grow room is downstairs. It runs on wi-fi your hooked up to ecowitt server and there is no charge for this.

 

[Stoneyluv]

The hub is not battery operated has to be plugged into usb for power. I have mine plugged into usb on computer upstairs as my grow room is downstairs. It runs on wi-fi your hooked up to ecowitt server and there is no charge for this.

great info man, thanks. i like that its a standard double A and not some small button battery. my PC is only about 4-6 ft from my grow, there's a floor in between but i got drill bits!! haha but if all it needs is usb power than i have that on a power strip down there.

i think i'm going to get the GW1200... this kinda sold it for me... : The GW1200 Gateway supports up to 16 WH51 Soil Moisture Sensors, and the channel name can be edited.

i have 16 plants.. feels like it's kinda meant to be. i think i'm gonna start out with $200 or so worth and add from there.. i like the idea they can be renamed within the app!!!

 

[OLDCRO]

great info man, thanks. i like that its a standard double A and not some small button battery. my PC is only about 4-6 ft from my grow, there's a floor in between but i got drill bits!! haha but if all it needs is usb power than i have that on a power strip down there.

i think i'm going to get the GW1200... this kinda sold it for me... : The GW1200 Gateway supports up to 16 WH51 Soil Moisture Sensors, and the channel name can be edited.

i have 16 plants.. feels like it's kinda meant to be. i think i'm gonna start out with $200 or so worth and add from there.. i like the idea they can be renamed within the app!!!

I only have the 8 sensors. I only flower 8 plants at a time. The hub is small inch and a half by two and half inches.

 

[OLDCRO]

I picked up a couple at a time over a couple of months.

 

[Stoneyluv]

I only have the 8 sensors. I only flower 8 plants at a time. The hub is small inch and a half by two and half inches.

so with the sale and shipping i can get 12 sensors, enough to monitor all back rows and i would only have to lift/monitor the front row ( for now) for $240...

i'm so freakin tempted.. i might sleep on it, but for $250 i can not have to worry about over/under watering as much as i really messed this up on my own last grow. i could forget about $250 pretty quick to be honest. been looking for something just like this for a while now and never even knew this brand existed.

 

[OLDCRO]

so with the sale and shipping i can get 12 sensors, enough to monitor all back rows and i would only have to lift/monitor the front row ( for now) for $240...

i'm so freakin tempted.. i might sleep on it, but for $250 i can not have to worry about over/under watering as much as i really messed this up on my own last grow. i could forget about $250 pretty quick to be honest. been looking for something just like this for a while now and never even knew this brand existed.

View attachment 109515

If you get 12 put some at entrance to grow room some in the middle some at the back this way it will give idea how the plants absorb the water (feed). If its the same all thru grow room.

 

[OLDCRO]

so with the sale and shipping i can get 12 sensors, enough to monitor all back rows and i would only have to lift/monitor the front row ( for now) for $240...

i'm so freakin tempted.. i might sleep on it, but for $250 i can not have to worry about over/under watering as much as i really messed this up on my own last grow. i could forget about $250 pretty quick to be honest. been looking for something just like this for a while now and never even knew this brand existed.

View attachment 109515

Thats a good price i got the hub and 8 sensers run me around 250.00 plus tax. Your getting 12 sensors and the hub for 209.00 great price.

 

[OLDCRO]

I grow autos and they like a shallower watering. I water them till i get a 65 percent soil moisture then stop and dont think about watering again till the probes get around 28 percent. I got these percentages by experimenting and this is my happy area so when i was happy with this i keep track of exactly how much to water each plant to keep it in the happy area. The probes are all within 5 percent of each other.

 

[Stoneyluv]

If you get 12 put some at entrance to grow room some in the middle some at the back this way it will give idea how the plants absorb the water (feed). If its the same all thru grow room.

i was thinking about that.. also maybe the heaviest drinker and the lightest drinker too.. having the extras to mess with might really help.

you're making it almost impossible to say no... in fact, YOLO.. just bought em!

Thats a good price i got the hub and 8 sensers run me around 250.00 plus tax. Your getting 12 sensors and the hub for 209.00 great price.

the SUMMER2025 code gave me $36.93 so the sale covered the shipping.

10-25 days delivery. $60 in shipping had it sooner but i'm cool with waiting.

I grow autos and they like a shallower watering. I water them till i get a 65 percent soil moisture then stop and dont think about watering again till the probes get around 28 percent. I got these percentages by experimenting and this is my happy area so when i was happy with this i keep track of exactly how much to water each plant to keep it in the happy area. The probes are all within 5 percent of each other.

5% is pretty impressive. i plan to stick all twelve in one pot at first and see how close they are to each other as a test. i have a feeling i'll be nerding out for a while building notes like you did.

 

[OLDCRO]

i was thinking about that.. also maybe the heaviest drinker and the lightest drinker too.. having the extras to mess with might really help.

you're making it almost impossible to say no... in fact, YOLO.. just bought em!



the SUMMER2025 code gave me $36.93 so the sale covered the shipping.

10-25 days delivery. $60 in shipping had it sooner but i'm cool with waiting.



5% is pretty impressive. i plan to stick all twelve in one pot at first and see how close they are to each other as a test. i have a feeling i'll be nerding out for a while building notes like you did.

Place all 12 sensers in water should show you 100 percent. Dont completly submurge the whole probe just the soil probe end. Each sensor wiil come with silcon caps make sure you put them on before using protects battery compartment and electronics

 

[steamroller]

If I thought, I could hook it up and it would work for me I would be in.
My room is over 100 feet from the house separated by metal walls.
Besides my lack of skills with tech.
Only $310 all in for 16.
Would be cool to know from here what is going on in there.

 

[OLDCRO]

If I thought, I could hook it up and it would work for me I would be in.
My room is over 100 feet from the house separated by metal walls.
Besides my lack of skills with tech.
Only $310 all in for 16.
Would be cool to know from here what is going on in there.

You would have to check if you can get wi-fi from your house to your grow area. If you have mobile phone try your wi-fi in grow room turn off your data to make sure your connecting to your home wi-fi.

 

[Stoneyluv]

If I thought, I could hook it up and it would work for me I would be in.
My room is over 100 feet from the house separated by metal walls.
Besides my lack of skills with tech.
Only $310 all in for 16.
Would be cool to know from here what is going on in there.

i could help you with a repeater router to extend your wifi signal if you need. i have over five acres lit up with my wifi!!!!

of coarse it would make that $310 be $360 but hey ya know!!

 

[Stoneyluv]

i got a tracking number from ecowitt already... looks like it ships from kentucky.

 

[Bandit420]

so with the sale and shipping i can get 12 sensors, enough to monitor all back rows and i would only have to lift/monitor the front row ( for now) for $240...

i'm so freakin tempted.. i might sleep on it, but for $250 i can not have to worry about over/under watering as much as i really messed this up on my own last grow. i could forget about $250 pretty quick to be honest. been looking for something just like this for a while now and never even knew this brand existed.

View attachment 109515

Welcome to this fun little rabbit hole!
We've come a long ways from these wonky things!

I grow autos and they like a shallower watering. I water them till i get a 65 percent soil moisture then stop and dont think about watering again till the probes get around 28 percent. I got these percentages by experimenting and this is my happy area so when i was happy with this i keep track of exactly how much to water each plant to keep it in the happy area. The probes are all within 5 percent of each other.

Good base line of info to start. Thanks Oldcro!

I've messed with my probes a bit and was thinking around 20% would be the low mark to trigger a watering pump.
I'm only gonna use 4 probes with two at shallow and two at deep depths then run a sort of zone coverage to average out for the whole garden.

 

[OLDCRO]

 

[Zen_seeker]

View attachment 109557

So yours looks pushed in all the way to the green part in a tall skinny two or three gallon soft pot.

Does the sensor get to the halfway point?

Do you wait until it reads 10% or less or do you have a repeating amount that stops you from watering too soon? (I think I read 28% was your happy zone?)

A little pricey for four plants but might be worth it to save my back down the road.

Only downside is it’s WiFi. I stick to BT these days. With a bus stop outside I used to catch kids trying to hack my router(s). I’d hit them back and watch from the window. I don’t bother anymore but twice in the last 5 years kids got through. Once to the IP cameras and once to a travel router.

Just to easy for bored kids and asshole people in the city. At least up north you have far less issues like that, if any. Most times they would have to be on your property to try anything. Here they can from the cities sidewalk.

 

[OLDCRO]

Its in a 3 gallon pot last grow was in 5 gallon pots. I dont even think of watering plants to i get 28 percent soil moisture readings the probes this morning are reading from 30 to 34 percent so i will be be watering tomomrow morning. The probe goes in about 3 inches into soil close to root zone. Saves me lifting pots to see if they need water open app on phone and check.

 

[OLDCRO]

It depends what im growing if i use 3 gallon pots verus 5 gallon pots. If i no the finished plant is going to grow about 3to 4 feet they go into 3 gallon pots if larger 5 gallon pots. Only time i water to run off is when i first start seeds. load the pots water to run off wait a week drop seeds.