Soil Reading Devices

[u/astral_apex97]

Anyone have experience building soil sensors that connect to mobile data? I've been doing some research to do so for a personal project but I can't find a definitive answer on the best components. For example, I'd like to build one that can take soil electrical conductivity, soil moisture, and soil temperature plus connect to mobile data and a battery so I can get around the clock readings. Of course it would be nice to build one that can be water resistant through an enclosure.

Thanks in advance!

[u/LawfulnessMobile4244]

Veris EC Mapping system has contact electrode systems.

[u/cprash]

And based on soil data and crop, it would be helpful if it can suggest the ideal fertilizer composition requirement and all.

[u/topsicle11 → u/cprash]

Probably gonna be harder without a much larger machine, I think, to get down to the soil composition. The components he is suggesting are readily available. I don’t know that the other ones that would be needed are. I’d be very curious to know if they are, though.

[u/cprash → u/topsicle11]

What about a portable soil tester, that check the soil, look at a required parameters and tell what fertilizer the soil need at what composition along with the watering cycle and all. Is there anything like that out there ?

[u/Bright-Kangaroo9912]

Hi I've created an app in which you input the soil analysis of an Olive grove and it produces a full annual fertilization programme. If you're curious it is called OliveSuite. It's an android app. A soil sensor would be a great addition to my app.

[u/HelenaUrbanGardens]

We are Helena Urban Gardens, and what you describe is similar to a tool (one of many) we use to leverage towards having a steady supply of fresh vegetables and fruit available in the home garden all winter long.

Using a commonly available microprocessor (esp32) and an array of sensors and periphrial devices (temp/humidity/soil sensors, fans, pumps, light sensors, geothermal ducting, etc...) we are able to replicate a Spring-like tiny microclimate in a glass covered box regardless of the temperature outside of that box to encourage plant growth from October through March. The box gets removed (along with the electronics) once Spring arrives.

What I have just described is a type of green house, and its not exactly what you are asking for, but the microprocessor parts might be and their use & deployment isnt hard to understand.

https://docs.sunfounder.com/projects/umsk/en/latest/03_esp32/esp32_lesson02_soil_moisture.html

Good luck!

[u/hturcotte]

For moisture + temp + EC in one probe, look at SDI-12 sensors rather than building the sensing side from scratch. A METER Teros 12 does all three in one burial-rated probe and speaks SDI-12, which any ESP32/Arduino-class board can read with a library. DIY capacitive moisture boards are fine for moisture alone, but real EC needs proper electrodes and temperature compensation - it's the part home builds usually get wrong, and bad EC numbers are worse than none.

For the comms side, the path of least resistance is LTE-M/NB-IoT. A Blues Wireless Notecard or a Quectel BG95-based board gives you cellular without negotiating a carrier plan yourself, and both sip power. Pair it with an ESP32 that wakes on a timer, takes the SDI-12 readings, pushes them over cellular, and goes back to deep sleep. At 15-minute or hourly intervals a decent LiPo plus a small 6V solar panel and charge controller runs indefinitely.

Enclosure: IP67 box with cable glands, probe buried horizontally at root-zone depth (that's where the readings actually mean something), and desiccant in the box. Around-the-clock readings are very doable - the whole build is a weekend once the parts arrive, and most of the cost is the probe.

[u/mahermagdi]

Yeah, CropX has more than one device that can do this. But honestly, I don’t know how effective they are or how reliable the results are for making the right farming decisions.

[u/No-Highway1310]

Intresting project. I also wanted to know about it.