HACS Plant monitoring and hardware plant sensors

[@jmr]

I like the "ECOWITT WH51 Soil Moisture Sensor Soil Humidity Tester" which appears to be quite expensive right now at $30 but I usually buy them for around $15-$20 on sale. It requires a gateway or an SDR receiver. The official gateway has humidity and barometric sensors built in and it's very easy to integrate locally with Home Assistant. There are also other sensors that work with the gateway including full weather stations. A great system overall.

[@alsothejiraguy]

+1 recommendation for Ecowitt. It's pricy, so I only bought two with my GW1100 about a year and a half ago. Now I've fully maxed out the soil Moisture sensors on it, added a soil temp sensor for the outdoor garden, as well as an outdoor thermo/hygrometer and the lightning sensor, and still debating replacing some of my Acurite/rtl_433 sensors with more Ecowitt. 😅. I did have some problems with the official ecowitt integration when I first started, because, at that time, the gate way didn't support connecting to a SSL system, and I've redirected my HA's non-ssl connection, but the HACS integration worked well for me. That was a few firmware updates ago, so might be worth check out again

[@DarkRehabOfficial]

Thank you so much for all those awesome tutorials! I'm a new member on your channel :)

[@predragbalorda]

E vala ti prezime para vrijedi! Subscribed!

[@BeardedTinker]

Hvala!! :) Ali nadam se da nije samo zbog toga :)

[@joemccall8991]

Waiting for Apollo Automation to release the PLT-1 but unsure what protocols it will support. Also, I would need a dozen or more sensors so would be prohibitively expensive.

[@katiporoka]

I have the Zigbee bulky version. While it works great in my apartment, I have high soil moisture readings in the greenhouse and outside that I don't completely trust. I decided on this type mainly because of the corrosion on other types of sensors, which destroys the sensors within a few months. What is the long term durability of other sensors? My plants grow better with the use of sensors because I simply water them more regularly thanks to the sensors.

[@BeardedTinker]

I've got few of them (others) in cart to test, but still haven't ordered them. I know that people are pretty happy with BLE version of Mija Flower sensor. But I also always forget if the are rated for indoor use only or not. So far still trying to find something that give at least partially accurate data and that also can survive outside. Those bulky ones I have survived both very hot summers and cold winters outdoors.

[@simonsayshomeassistant]

Another great video BT!

[@BeardedTinker]

Glad you enjoyed it Simon! Still haven't had Tim to check your video on 2024.8. interested to see what you got out of it as it's a huge release overall

[@simonsayshomeassistant]

@@BeardedTinker Yes, it is great to see that they are improving the background stuff like ZHA

[@Tntdruid]

Dont get the ZigBee version, mine has been stuck at 90% the past month.

[@EsotericArctos]

I think the mi flora BLE's work well. The Tuya devices look like a rip off of them a bit

[@BeardedTinker]

Zigbee version is Tuya version? Finding documentation for those devices is not that easy :D

[@BeardedTinker]

There are actually "original" one that are Tuya - probably same OEM company decided to expand portfolio, but hey, Tuya... :)

[@martonszoke4241]

is it possible to order the fully assembled pcb from jlcpcb ? Can you explain how can i ?

[@BeardedTinker]

Yes, it should be possible if I remember correctly. You will need all of the files from archive file. BOM is list of material and it should be uploaded when it asks you for components. Pick and place file gives location of components and Gerber file is PCB layout file. Just follow the steps on web site from JLCPCB - it should guide you through the process

[@martonszoke4241]

@@BeardedTinker thank you

[@martonszoke4241]

The Modkam zigbee sensor is worikng with HA?

[@BeardedTinker]

It should work - at least in Zigbee2MQTT. It's part of the official device list.

[@FourtyNos]

Hi, Which card are you using in your dashboard? great video btw!

[@EsotericArctos]

I've used the mi flora HHCCJCY01 BLE monitors for a while and found them to be pretty reliable, but the xiaomi plant database is a bit rubbish. The open plantbook database was a big advantage for this. I like this plant monitor from HACS. It seems to be really detailed and a great way to monitor how the plants are doing. The only sensor I am missing from the mi flora is the air humidty sensor, but I can get that from a different sensor in the room :)

[@BeardedTinker]

I still haven't ordered any of them but it's in my shopping cart. Will probably do it next few days. Open Plantbook is really awesome project - loving how it ties with other components nicely.

[@EsotericArctos]

@@BeardedTinker If you are getting the mi flora devices, get the international "white" version. The green version does work as well, but they are more made for the china mainland market

[@iainhay2823]

@@BeardedTinkerthis is basically what I do in my setup as well, can recommend them

[@Tntdruid]

I got 10 of them, they are great and very stable.

[@hachogonzalez8649]

Why no one make a version that sensor capacitor pcb is inside the pot and a battery box hanging on the outside?

[@JoseBerruezo]

Nice video!

[@MihaiKrieger]

I had 3x Zigbee ones..they sre absolutely horrible and inaccurate. They report around 40% additional humidity than MiFlora and they are bearly sensitive to changes.

[@Ipeacocks]

Are you talking about DIY version or that bulky one?

[@MihaiKrieger]

@@Ipeacocks the bulky, tuya one.

[@marphaman]

you are right. never again a tuya sensor :/

[@BeardedTinker]

But unfortunately, if it's not tuya, than the number of alternatives is very limiting... DIY is ok, but you do need to spend some time to calibrate it by hand too. Out of box it can be waaaayyyy off.

[@TerraMagnus]

It’s a shame the plant sensor market has been so, so shady.

[@BeardedTinker]

True... So true.

[@leah.internet]

This one is not for me - plant monitoring is one thing I wont automate. Gardening is one of those things that takes me away from tech, and something that grounds me in the physical world.

[@BeardedTinker]

Fair enough, but it can also be part of manual gardening, just giving you a bit more info that may not be visible at first glance (cumulative sun per day, soil moisture or conductivity for minerals,...)