Irrigation system

To my great surprise my better half is interested in automating the watering of the garden - of course I said no problem, I'll just add it to the home automation setup for you. Any recommendations on the hardware one requires to do this? Specifically hardware available in the UK.

I've had a quick look at what's on the market and for us a simple above ground drip watering system fits the bill, especially the ones that can be expanded as we add more plants in the garden. But the controllers all appear to be self contained timers. Where would Z-Wave come in so I can control everything with Indigo?

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Simon

I looked into this last year for someone with a greenhouse but didn't find much of interest (it'd seem there's not much call for it here... You know which country you live in, right?

Most I found was some rather expensive motorised on/off adapters which could have been used with a fibaro relay, but I can't seem to find them anymore. You may need to look to suppliers in hotter countries where there is more of a market for such things

durosity,

I do realise it sounds like an odd thing to do in a country like ours, but occasionally we have a dry spell, probably when we'll be on holiday and can't water. I did find this place and a whole bunch of options: http://www.easywatering.co.uk/acatalog/ ... imers.html

I was surprised at how relatively inexpensive they were. You can even get ones with rain sensors, which we know are going to come in handy over here.

Just that this would be a separate system to manage. Would rather have it come under one controller. Plus, you go on holiday just as they announce a hosepipe ban and it continues to happily water your garden - and you return to a lush garden and a big fat fine.

Fortunately as I've lived in Glasgow most of my life, before moving to geordieland I've never been subject to a hosepipe ban. I suppose you could get a waterbutt for it.

And yeah I saw those kinds too.. But they really wanted to be able to control it from their phone.. Indigo seemed ideal except the lack of integration here

I've since learnt that irrigation and sprinkler systems are big think in the US, according to my other half who is from there. I might just have to install something here which isn't controlled by my Mac or iPhone. I know, crazy talk.

[jay (support)]

IrrigationCaddy claims to ship worldwide though I don't know specifics.

hi all, 3 years later has this developed at all? My in-laws are donating lots of potted plants to us, which I know we won't remember to water... !
Can something like Rachio be used?


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Have you had a look at Jay's Rachio plugin? viewtopic.php?f=65&t=18321

I've not got one myself but am looking at getting one.




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Any pointers on what else i need to buy? I have a hosepipe and a tap...


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[jay (support)]

Are you looking to build your own irrigation system? Afraid that's quite beyond the capabilities of the majority of us here.

We're assuming that you're talking about a professionally installed sprinkler system to which you can add controllers that Indigo can in turn control. There are several options for Indigo integration: EZFlora (Insteon) integration is built-in, and there are several plugins to other systems available as well. But they all have to start with an installed sprinkler/irrigation system.

This chap built his own with off-the-shelf components:

http://www.dreamgreenhouse.com/projects ... /index.php

I'd imagine that it'd be fairly easy to modify the design to work with something that works with indigo. I'm planning to do something like this for the other halfs greenhouse when she gets one next year.


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[jay (support)]

I'm sure that's going to be a smashing success. Hopefully, not a flooding success though...

Hehe fingers crossed! I also plan to modify it slightly for an anti-cat system.. our cats keep digging up her spring onions and such so after experimenting a bit with a multi sensor I’ve been able to get it to detect when a cat enters that part of the garden.. so next I need a sprinkler system to go off and scare them away!

@petematheson also you may want to consider a few of these (max 3): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wireless-Soil ... 1380895647

handy for keeping a track of if the soil is damp or not.

Hehe fingers crossed! I also plan to modify it slightly for an anti-cat system.. our cats keep digging up her spring onions and such so after experimenting a bit with a multi sensor I’ve been able to get it to detect when a cat enters that part of the garden.. so next I need a sprinkler system to go off and scare them away!

Uhhh, you better install an "other-half" override for that deterrent - otherwise you WILL be sleeping at Jay's house when the sprinklers mistake her for a cat!!

Terry

Hehe yeah! Actually it was her idea the last time Sushi dug up her rhubarb plant!


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