First Grow

Hi there neighbor.
This is my first grow.
Currently germination stage; still need to program the board for controls and wire my setup.
waiting for a few items to be delivered mainly the esp32 wifi from arduino and vivosun inline fan kit.



Lighting: MarsHydro TS600

Tent: AliExpress 3x3x6ft

Air: Vivosun 4in inline fan kit w/carbon filter, Walmart clip on 120v fan

Water: Lowes bucket with sump pump 12 vdc

Controls: Arduino nano IOT ESP32 wifi - 8 channel relay optocoupler board, 120v ac to 12vdc power supply (relays are 12v coil), the water pump inside my Lowes bucket is connected to two solenoids; plant 1/2, and the moisture sensors will turn the pump on through day to get soil watered automatically. I simply fill the bucket up with distilled water 1-2 times per week : safety features is a float switch in my tent that shuts power off to pump and all relays if leak develops.


Royal Dutch Seeds: Blue Gelato and OG Kush

Two plants: Germinated in red solo cups

Grow medium: Planted directly into Happy Frog

Plan on switching to Ocean Forest after 1 mo of veg and vegging.

are all those electrics water proof?

go go kid said:

are all those electrics water proof?

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That's a dangerous game lol

I sit my power supply on top of tent just hope the cords are longer enough

go go kid said:

are all those electrics water proof?

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No , but you made an excellent point.

- I got this waterproof enclosure, and put all my controls in here.

PURPLEB3RRYKUSH said:

That's a dangerous game lol

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LoL, right, don’t want renters insurance to be my crutch. i

5 days germinated.
Im leaving it by the glass door of the balcony for this week until I get the tent wiring done then I’ll get it under 18/6 lighting.

Do you think it’s okay for the first week to veg under the sunlight?

- w . i. p.

Color me intrigued!

heydiddlydoo said:

5 days germinated.
Im leaving it by the glass door of the balcony for this week until I get the tent wiring done then I’ll get it under 18/6 lighting.

Do you think it’s okay for the first week to veg under the sunlight? View attachment 5391735

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They are already stretching quite a bit, so not ideal. Any supplemental light you can throw at ‘em?

DMChiz said:

They are already stretching quite a bit, so not ideal. Any supplemental light you can throw at ‘em?

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I just now plugged my grow light to the outlet, so no timer. I’ll manually turn my light ON at 12am and off 6pm inside my grow tent; til I get these controls programmed and smooth. Thanks

Hey there neighbor.
Hope your week is blessed.


Some Progress
- More wiring; got the soil moisture sensors connected to my ESP32 board

- Pulled some low voltage 18-4 into my enclosure and landed appropriate wires to first three relays (water pump, solenoid 1, solenoid 2 in that order) all 12v btw.

- My relays are 12v coil, 10a max rated. Good enough for what I’m doing. The remaining relays will be for more stuff i.e. grow light, clip on fan, exhaust fan.


Question:

Since I’m currently using Fox Farm Happy Frog, research indicates to use a mix of Ocean Forest and some Happy Frog when transplanting to final pot. Is this accurate information?

*Update*. Fan in;

upgraded light hangers to better style

heydiddlydoo said:

Hey there neighbor.
Hope your week is blessed.


Some Progress
- More wiring; got the soil moisture sensors connected to my ESP32 board

- Pulled some low voltage 18-4 into my enclosure and landed appropriate wires to first three relays (water pump, solenoid 1, solenoid 2 in that order) all 12v btw.

- My relays are 12v coil, 10a max rated. Good enough for what I’m doing. The remaining relays will be for more stuff i.e. grow light, clip on fan, exhaust fan.


Question:

Since I’m currently using Fox Farm Happy Frog, research indicates to use a mix of Ocean Forest and some Happy Frog when transplanting to final pot. Is this accurate information?



View attachment 5392071View attachment 5392072View attachment 5392073View attachment 5392074View attachment 5392075View attachment 5392076

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Yes I would mix happy frog and ocean forest with some extra perlite.

heydiddlydoo said:

Hey there neighbor.
Hope your week is blessed.


Some Progress
- More wiring; got the soil moisture sensors connected to my ESP32 board

- Pulled some low voltage 18-4 into my enclosure and landed appropriate wires to first three relays (water pump, solenoid 1, solenoid 2 in that order) all 12v btw.

- My relays are 12v coil, 10a max rated. Good enough for what I’m doing. The remaining relays will be for more stuff i.e. grow light, clip on fan, exhaust fan.


Question:

Since I’m currently using Fox Farm Happy Frog, research indicates to use a mix of Ocean Forest and some Happy Frog when transplanting to final pot. Is this accurate information?



View attachment 5392071View attachment 5392072View attachment 5392073View attachment 5392074View attachment 5392075View attachment 5392076

Click to expand...

No electronic device in tent at any time all power plugs should always be out of tent

so this fancy set up will automate everything including the watering ?

kilostowers said:

No electronic device in tent at any time all power plugs should always be out of tent

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I know what I’m doing.

iliketoast said:

so this fancy set up will automate everything including the watering ?

Click to expand...

Yup. It’s controlled by an ESP32

Hey there neighbor, hope you’re having a blessed Sunday. My seedlings are off to an amazing start. For now, Ive got my eyes on them and will plan to transplant here in about 8 days to bigger fabric pots.

Here are some key updates
- Finished wiring all devices
- Grow lamp, inline fan, clip on fan all 120v
- Water pump, solenoid 1 for plant 1, solenoid 2 for plant 2 are all 12v

Arduino ESP32 Wifi board controls everything. I also included analog capacitive soil moisture sensors. I even have a remote cloud dashboard to check on my plants, status.

Now I can relax. The seedlings are being lit on a light schedule, which the cloud network contains. The relays power each device.


And some pics. From here I plan to continuously improve the code, make it better.

Oh, and might I add, the total cost for me was $350. Of course, the labor hours fiddling code and trying to get it stable was not included. If one were to compare the price to a fully automated solution off the shelf for a home grower, it
s not bad for $350, considering an AC Infinity comparable grow kit is $700, and Vivosun has their solution for $520 on sale (retails $700 without sale).

This was an ongoing project for me as far back as December last year, piecing together components and testing code. After determining what all was required I got everything finalized. I saved a bit of $$$ , learned a ton. Have a great week ahead!








- Ned

Just something down to road to be aware. Not sure if this is your first time using a tent but you may end up having temp / humidity issues as the plants get bigger. Do you have ac in the room and a fire extinguisher? Fire balls?