Water your plants with a Raspberry Pi
Watering Pi
© Lead Image © agor2012, 123RF.com
With a Pi Zero and a few components, you can build an inexpensive and reliable automatic watering system for your plants in next to no time.
Whether in an apartment, on a balcony, in a greenhouse, or in a garden, if you are not at home and want to water your plants remotely, an automated system is your only option. In this article, I show you how to harness the power of a Raspberry Pi Zero as a reliable helper to manage the watering system.
Design
Automatic irrigation is nothing new. These systems not only exist on a large scale in agriculture and horticulture but have also been available for many years for domestic use. Some providers attach their systems directly to the water supply. In this project, I'll instead draw water from a 200-liter tank reservoir with a supply that will last for a couple of dry days (Figure 1). The advantage of a tank is that you do not have to deal with a pressure line and you do not lose an uncontrolled amount of water in the event of an accident. The aim is to create a robust solution that you can tailor entirely to your own needs, thanks to the flexibility of the Raspberry Pi and your own hardware and software.
Figure 1: The control unit and supply line assembled on the 200-liter storage tank.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Digital Autonomy
• The Answer Was Already on the Shelf
• Changing the Chip Industry: How Public Investment Has Grown Open Silicon
• United Nations Open Source Portal Goes Live
• EU Open Source Strategy Plays Key Role in Tech Sovereignty Package
• France Says “Au Revoir” to Microsoft
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
The Bullet-Proof KDE Software Initiative Is Coming
KDE, Techpaladin, and Kubuntu Focus have announced a new initiative that will provide at least three years of support for KDE Plasma 6.6 LTS and related software.
-
Linux Mint Shares a Possible Kernel Cleanup Solution
For those on Linux Mint who like to keep multiple kernels around but don't want them to take up too much space, you might be getting a new automated tool.
-
CachyOS Gets an Update
CachyOS August 2026 release is now available with the latest version of KDE, some new features, and plenty of improvements.
-
The Linux Kernel Dev Staging Area Now Rejects AI-Generated Patches
Unless a kernel patch is a valid security fix, it will be rejected if it was created using AI.
-
Linux Surpasses Double-Digit Market Share
According to two sources, the Linux operating system has hit a major milestone in market share that naysayers thought would never happen.
-
AI Helped Develop a Linux Exploit
A use-after-free race exploit was discovered and exploited on CentOS Stream 9.
-
Yet Another Linux Kernel Vulnerability Discovered
Affecting millions of systems, a kernel flaw discovered by Qualys could allow users to gain root privileges.
-
Ubuntu 26.10 to Include Ubuntu Certified Hardware Check
If you've ever wondered if your laptop or PC is officially certified to run Ubuntu, that curiosity will soon be met.
-
Substantial Update to IPFire Now Available
The lastest version of IPFire features a fundamental change to how the system handles DNS.
-
Gnome Working on Test Center App to Make Testing Easier
It's now possible to test experimental features on the Gnome desktop without worrying that you'll break things.