Long-Term Soil Monitoring Installation

UPDATE: 6/7/2023: All the data and code iterations are freely available for your review, comment, and suggestions :) You may download via this link: drive.google.c...
The final code uploaded to the instrument is "revised_cap5"
This video is a continuation of soil moisture monitoring experiments documented here: ecorestore.ari... and here: • Measuring the Impact o...
This next chapter summarizes a permanent soil monitoring installation in Tucson, Arizona that will support various experiments related to evaluating mulch as a strategy for climate change resiliency. Baseline data is being collected as of June 3, 2023.
The electronics for this setup follows:
Feather MO Adalogger: www.adafruit.c...
Feather DS3231 Precision RTC : www.adafruit.c...
FeatherWing OLED : www.adafruit.c...
Solar Lipo Charger : www.adafruit.c...
6V 3.5 Watt Solar Panel: www.adafruit.c...
2500 mAh Lipo Battery: www.adafruit.c...
BME280 Sensor: www.adafruit.c...
DS18B20 Temperature Sensors: www.adafruit.c...
Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensors - Watch this video: • Buying, Programming, a...
Experiments, inventions, and more data coming soon - please subscribe for updates.
BTW, I create all this content for the greater good with everything licensed under Creative Commons. At the same time your support is genuinely appreciated- tips are welcome via this link: www.buymeacoff...

[@XerocraftTucson]

Nice job, @modestMaker! I once read that "A man with 1 thermometer knows what temperature it is; A man with 3 thermometers is never quite sure"

[@ModestMaker]

That’s brilliant :)

[@livetohash6152]

i did the same thing in my yard in Florida (no solar charger yet) using 10 sensors & a Mega with a wireless to do API posts to my webserver inside. I cut a slit in some abs junction boxes n slid the CS blade through it, n siliconed the box sealed with all the connectors n electronics protected with some silica inside.. working great so far. Put a 4 way 12v valve with relays to water at 510 on my CS, my trick now is to observe n calculate percolation/evap of xx amount of water over yy hours/days.. You gave me AMAZING insight into this stuff, so thanks!!!

[@ModestMaker]

What kind of sensors did you use? I’ve had no luck with capacitive soil moisture sensors over time- they bias results after initial wetting.

[@livetohash6152]

@@ModestMaker I'm terrible at documenting, but I'll get it all together n share eventually. For now, I cheated a bit with a month of testing different stuff ... I found the perc levels in my soil, where it drains at different rates, n put my sensors there surrounded with a medical grade silicate sand that does not stick to the CS and it dries along with surrounding soil, it kinda "breaths" in the dirt with moisture if that makes sense. I get from 510 to 290 CS readings and when I test with other devices, stand alone ones, the sensors are right on. So far, plants n trees are perfect... Would love to figure a reliable pH sensor to determine when I need nutrients🤞

[@ModestMaker]

@livetohash6152 thanks for sharing those details. You may want to check this video out : kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6LMqImOncyBgdksi=dWcI4t72yOCv5oBh - just something to be aware of 😉. Interesting approach in using silica sand - sounds like it might work over the long haul (?)

[@livetohash6152]

@@ModestMaker we'll see, but they are medical grade, not regular choice... designed to absorb n dissipate... I'll get into it when I get it documented once I'm all done. I'm about to move it all into a planter to lift it up for privacy, about 3 feet. So I'm thinking I make part of the side glass with holes to test various layers 🤔

[@ModestMaker]

I would like to test this. Do you have a recommended supplier for silica sand?

[@firebear14]

Loved your video. Looking forward to future updates

[@ModestMaker]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@Lazy.Farmer]

Thank for idea

[@ModestMaker]

Welcome 😊

[@andrewkirch5920]

Remember the only difference between fucking around and science is measuring the results.

[@ModestMaker]

Need data for results- this is a good place to start 😊.

[@wallaceshackleton1889]

The Alcohol thermometer has some inherrant poblems. I just love watching you play, experiment and learn and I'm learning something myself - thanks. On reflection - the capacitive soil moisture sensors have problems. I just wonder if an experiment that I conducted years ago, in conjunction with a geomagnetic experiment would give better results. The experiment basically consisted of two widly spaced electrodes buried in the ground and measuring the voltage potential (mV) between them. The variance to the data associated with geomagnetic activity may affect the data too much but this is food for thought.

[@ModestMaker]

Thanks - I have made a ton of progress since my last post which I hope to share soon- just not enough hours in the day. Yes- those capacitive soil moisture sensors are challenging, but it’s such an elegant concept. I am working on a few ideas myself and agree the key may be to combine with other data. Thanks for sharing your own ideas and stay tuned!

[@jangAckman]

Thank you for sharing. Very interesting project. I wonder why you didn't use any wireless modules (like 433MHz, WIFI, or sort of) to transmit data in real time?

[@ModestMaker]

I will. That’s on the schedule, essentially to replace the data logger wit an ESP-32 talking to AdafruitIO. I just wanted to play a little more with data loggers first.

[@donaldhoudek2889]

@@ModestMaker Easier to work out the bugs this way

[@donaldhoudek2889]

GREAT Video!!!! When you get a chance take a drill and put a bunch of holes in the side of your PVC temp/humidity sensor housing to allow for cross flow air ventilation. I made my sensor box out of 8" square white plates purchased on Amazon. I put .5" spaces between them to allow for air flow. Works great! Thanks for the video

[@ModestMaker]

Great tip! I have other improvements I also need to make thanks to suggestions (like yours) shared in other videos. Will do!

[@donaldhoudek2889]

@@ModestMaker Oh, forgot to mention that I drilled a 3" hole in the center of the plates (to hold the sensors in open air) under the top one which helped air flow.

[@harris-075]

Good Job !

[@ModestMaker]

Thanks!

[@brudwyr]

Great project. Have you had any problems with water ingress in the DS18B20 or damaged moisture sensors due to corrosion while buried over a longer time?

[@ModestMaker]

All the sensors are holding up fine through the present except for the capacitive soil moisture sensors- those simply do not report valid data and failed rather quickly.

[@ModestMaker]

io.adafruit.com/biod101/dashboards/soil-experiment-ambient-shade

[@brudwyr]

Thanks. That's useful information. I have been looking at making my own multi-level soil probe. A shame about the capacitive soil moisture sensors.

[@ModestMaker]

@brudwyr Sure. Here is the full playlist : kzbin.info/aero/PLqJ5k4cakypy1E4J_tvEiD0kpFK1tGY3D&si=KDV-10mbkuRZm4x7

[@sebakiller9736]

Very cool project but why you use sd Card and Not a Lorawan Modul and send it online for example to ttn and Put the Data in a influxdb

[@ModestMaker]

I have WiFi so don’t need LoRa, but might play with that later. I do have a LoRa gateway installed at home, so it will definitely be something I play with down the line. For now, just want to get some baseline data :)

[@Aragorn450]

KZbin is adding a "Climate change" tag to this video... *sighs* Good video though as always 🙂

[@ModestMaker]

It is what it is. Thanks for watching and for your interest!

[@eleknagy1087]

I love what you're doing, but I wouldn't give too much credibility to the information that those specific capacitive moisture sensors give you. :/ In my own previous experience, the variability between how each sensor behaved as they dried out was very high. There is also a video by the channel "Flaura - Smart Plant Pot" that discusses their problems with them and a potential fix. I also tried some smaller green ones from Adafruit that wouldn't change value after drying out. Most of them just always read as "wet" as they dried up. Unfortunately, good soil moisture sensors are ridiculously expensive per sensor. Hopefully that can change in the future.

[@ModestMaker]

Oh… I know. Those sensors are definitely challenged based on my attempts at calibrating here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6LMqImOncyBgdk . The only reason I included them is to see if there is anything redeeming I might salvage from the same (since I have them already). I give more credence to temperature as an analog for moisture. I may add different sensors later and will certainly check the video you shared for more details- thanks 😊.

[@donaldhoudek2889]

@@ModestMaker I have switched all my temperature sensors to the DS18B20 sensors (ease of coding) and will be upgrading my Humidity sensors soon

[@ModestMaker]

Also this one where I confirm Flaura’s observations : kzbin.info/www/bejne/opOXeZeZpb6KebM

[@ModestMaker]

Good choice on DS18B20. I like these as well because the signal works over long distances unlike others that rely on I2C.

[@firebear14]

@modestmaker, do you plan on replacing the moisture sensors with more accurate sensors at a future date if those sensors are available. Or do tests to check for a relation between temperature and moisture?

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

@ModestMaker >>> I just found your channel. Subbed.

[@ModestMaker]

Thanks for subbing 😊