AUTOMATIC WATERING SYSTEM

1
Venansius Fortunatus W, 2Julio Irvan Rahardjo, 3Liem Farrel K
1,2,3
Informatics Engineering Major, Faculty of Computer Science, Soegijapranata
Catholic University
1
20k10001@unika.ac.id, 220k10004@unika.ac.id, 320k10010@unika.ac.id

ABSTRACT
The objective of this study is to develop an automated plant watering system that can
maintain appropriate soil moisture levels. Adequate water supply and soil moisture maintenance
are critical for plant growth and development. Lack of water can lead to stunted plant
development and even death. Improper watering can cause plants to dry out, for example if the
soil is too dry due to excessive sunlight. Watering at night, however, can cause water to fail to
evaporate, leading to mould on the plants. Therefore, this study proposes the development of an
automatic watering system that functions day and night by accurately measuring soil moisture.
Keywords: watering, plant, automatic

1. INTRODUCTION
The Internet of Things is a concept where an object is given technology such as sensors
and software to communicate, exchange and control data and can connect to other devices with
sensors and the internet. IoT is used in various fields, one of which is plantation, with this
technology watering plants will become easier.
Each plant requires an appropriate watering cycle in order to support plant growth and
development. Watering plants is done to balance soil moisture and maintain water content as
needed. Plants need oxygen for breathing, therefore soil moisture must be maintained so as not to
reduce oxygen levels which can cause plants to wither and die.
Lack of water in plants that occurs quite often can cause plants not to develop and can
cause plant death. Therefore it is important to maintain water or humidity levels in plants,
especially during the day where during the day is the time when the soil is often dry due to sun
exposure.
Watering plants also need to pay attention to the time in doing it. During the day if the soil
is too dry due to exposure to the sun then the plants do not get water and soil moisture is also not
maintained causing the plants to dry out. However, if watering is done at night the water will not
evaporate and can cause mold to form on the plants. Therefore an automatic watering system is
needed to be able to do watering according to soil conditions. So an automatic plant watering
tool was made. This tool works during the day and evening by measuring soil moisture.

2. MATERIALS AND METHOD

Table 1. Equipment and Material Needs
No Material and Tools Function Volume

1 Arduino Uno Program Motherboard 1 pieces

2 Breadboard as an electrical conductor as 1 pieces

well as a place to attach the
cable

3 Water pump Water output 1 pieces

4 LDR sensor Light meter 1 pieces

5 Relay Electric Current Control 1 pieces

6 Soil sensor Soil moisture sensor 1 pieces

7 Adaptor Electric power source 1 pieces

8 LED light lightning simulation 1 pieces

9 Jumper cable Component connector 14 pieces

10 Resistor Inhibits electric current 2 pieces

 Image 1. Program Code

first, the soil moisture sensor is read, then if the light sensor is above 200 and the lights go off,
followed by reading the soil sensor if it is below 750 it will print dry soil which will then turn on
the watering pump. and if the soil print is wet then the pump will not turn on.

Image 2. Flow Chart

 When soil moisture detecting whether it is moist or not, (1) then continue checking by
LDR sensor, when the soil is dry and LDR is more than 200 then watering the plant. (2) checking
by LDR sensor, when the soil is moist and LDR is less than 200 then not watering the plant.

3. RESULTS
When the soil moisture sensor detects whether the soil is wet or dry, it checks the LDR if
the light is more than 200 then the led light turns off and the pump turns on. However, if the light
is less than 200 then the pump does not switch on. And if the soil is wet and the light is more or
less than 200 then the pump will not switch on. For a more detailed IoT demo, please see the
following link https://youtu.be/uDJ3TD8OjUs?t=386.

4. CONCLUSION
Creating automatic watering based on IoT can be an effective solution for plant growth
and development. In this tool, watering scheduling will be done when the soil is dry and the
light is above 200. This allows plants to receive a sufficient and appropriate water supply for
their needs, without the need for human intervention. So that the balance and moisture of the
soil is well maintained.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] R. Siskandar, M. A. Fadhil, B. R. Kusumah, I. Irmansyah, and I. Irzaman, “INTERNET OF
THINGS: AUTOMATIC PLANT WATERING SYSTEM USING ANDROID,” J. Tek.
Pertan. Lampung J. Agric. Eng., vol. 9, no. 4, p. 297, Dec. 2020, doi: 10.23960/jtep-
l.v9i4.297-310.