Building an "Automated Green House" is not so easy ,if you don't have any previous experience of gardening,electronics or programming or in general the "D.I.Y."(do It yourself) experience and you don't want to "read and learn a little"
In the process of "trying" to make a greenhouse I read a-lot of things on-line and learned a-lot too, and after some time I thought it would be easy if at first I make a small "Grow-box". Making a small Grow-box is much easier,safer and quite cheap as the "environment" you want to control is much smaller and "failure-points"or things which can go wrong also reduce in number and if there are any plants inside they can die or will give less "harvest",so the losses will be less too as compared to a much larger greenhouse having a larger environment to control,much more "failure" points and if anything goes wrong all the plants in the larger greenhouse will be effected so for a person with less/no previous experience of gardening and less/no knowledge about the "local climate" and "plant's growth requirements", making a small grow-box is the right path to take.
More lumens per watt means more light for your money and because it will consume electricity to run continuously so,the efficiency matters for both the plants and you the human.
Also, know the amount of heat the lights inside the grow box will produce e.g: C.F.L.s or leds give off very less heat as compared to halogen bulbs.
Every type of plant has it's own temperature and humidity requirements and you will have to mimic and maintain them inside the grow box to let your plants grow and stay healthy.
As fluctuating temperatures outside the grow-box will affect the inside temperature and therefore a proper system for sensing of inside/outside temperature and humidity and for controlling the environment inside a fan, heating/cooling , humidifying/dehumidifying should be in place.
For sensing and controlling you will need some sensors,relays (type of switches for controller)and a micro-controller like an Arduino .
Temperature sensing can be done using a thermistor ,(as it is easily available,cheap and can also be obtained/harvested/salvaged from an old laptop battery).
For humidity you can use a humidity sensor or DHT22 or 11(less accurate) which can sense both temperature and humidity, displaying that data in real-time on an lcd or an Oled display will be a good idea.
Every type of plant has it's own specific nutrient requirements and they absorb those nutrients from their roots which are buried under a nutrient retaining medium e.g: soil or just water in the case of an aquaponic/ hydroponic system.
The basic mineral nutrients almost every plant requires are N,P,K (nitrogen,phosphorus,potassium) and the amount matters,too much or too less will harm the plants.
Finally,you'll have to make a box or a pre-made enclosure will do the job.It will be the boundary between the outside environment and the inside environment.
An important thing is to consider the "Fire hazard" as the lights or other high power devices or bad/sloppy wiring job can cause fireworks. or DEATH.
Size of the Box or the enclosure should be decided according to the plant's expected height and the distance of the plant's top part from the lights inside the top of the box and it will also need some space to "breath" as the plants grow sideways too.
In the process of "trying" to make a greenhouse I read a-lot of things on-line and learned a-lot too, and after some time I thought it would be easy if at first I make a small "Grow-box". Making a small Grow-box is much easier,safer and quite cheap as the "environment" you want to control is much smaller and "failure-points"or things which can go wrong also reduce in number and if there are any plants inside they can die or will give less "harvest",so the losses will be less too as compared to a much larger greenhouse having a larger environment to control,much more "failure" points and if anything goes wrong all the plants in the larger greenhouse will be effected so for a person with less/no previous experience of gardening and less/no knowledge about the "local climate" and "plant's growth requirements", making a small grow-box is the right path to take.
Understanding How it all works :
Step 01: LIGHTS
To make an efficient grow box first you need to "understand the plants", the plant or plants you want to grow have specific requirements to grow properly and be healthy,for example: naturally during the day time plants need regular exposure to "sunlight" to make food for themselves ( Photosynthesis) and the duration of exposure changes gradually over the year as the days get shorter or longer and it has an affect on the plant's growth and it also gives the plants necessary "signals" to start or end the different stages of their complete "growth cycle".
"Sunlight" is composed of waves of different wavelengths which can be seen in the form of a "Rainbow"(visible spectrum) and the sunlight is also intense or strong so in a grow box the plant will need a "light source".
Selecting the right light source is very important,as any type of light will do the job for example: C.F.L.bulbs, fluorescent tube lights,L.E.D.s, Halogen bulbs, etc you just need to make sure that the "light source" can give off proper spectrum of light (learn about Color temperature also mentioned as a number printed on bulbs) and proper "intensity of light" which is measured in" LUX" luminous flux per unit area and the unit is "lumen" for luminous flux per square meter so, the intensity of light should be according to the requirements of the plant not more or less than that.
If you read the printed text on a normal household "cfl bulb" there will be a number mentioned e.g. 3700lm/W , 360lm/W , etc. which is the "light bulb efficiency" and it's measured in terms of "lumens per watt" (the amount of light produced per watt of electricity consumed).
More lumens per watt means more light for your money and because it will consume electricity to run continuously so,the efficiency matters for both the plants and you the human.
Also, know the amount of heat the lights inside the grow box will produce e.g: C.F.L.s or leds give off very less heat as compared to halogen bulbs.
Step 02: Temperature and humidity:
Every type of plant has it's own temperature and humidity requirements and you will have to mimic and maintain them inside the grow box to let your plants grow and stay healthy.
As fluctuating temperatures outside the grow-box will affect the inside temperature and therefore a proper system for sensing of inside/outside temperature and humidity and for controlling the environment inside a fan, heating/cooling , humidifying/dehumidifying should be in place.
For sensing and controlling you will need some sensors,relays (type of switches for controller)and a micro-controller like an Arduino .
Temperature sensing can be done using a thermistor ,(as it is easily available,cheap and can also be obtained/harvested/salvaged from an old laptop battery).
For humidity you can use a humidity sensor or DHT22 or 11(less accurate) which can sense both temperature and humidity, displaying that data in real-time on an lcd or an Oled display will be a good idea.
Step 03: Nutrients/Fertilizer :
Every type of plant has it's own specific nutrient requirements and they absorb those nutrients from their roots which are buried under a nutrient retaining medium e.g: soil or just water in the case of an aquaponic/ hydroponic system.
The basic mineral nutrients almost every plant requires are N,P,K (nitrogen,phosphorus,potassium) and the amount matters,too much or too less will harm the plants.
Step 04: The Box :
Finally,you'll have to make a box or a pre-made enclosure will do the job.It will be the boundary between the outside environment and the inside environment.
An important thing is to consider the "Fire hazard" as the lights or other high power devices or bad/sloppy wiring job can cause fireworks. or DEATH.
Size of the Box or the enclosure should be decided according to the plant's expected height and the distance of the plant's top part from the lights inside the top of the box and it will also need some space to "breath" as the plants grow sideways too.
The walls of the grow box should be reflective from the inside so the light can be efficiently distributed among the plant leaves,the box should have spaces or "vents"from which air can be sucked in and blown out which is not necessary to do continuously but occasionally it will have to be done,some holes in the walls for sensors and to attach a fan inside(not too powerful) to move the air around inside.
If the required "inside environment" is very different than the outside environment then
proper insulation will be required also , so that the environment variables like temperature and
humidity can easily be maintained.
So, the materials that can be used to make a box can be a thick/thin plastic/wood/metal or a
wooden frame with walls made of polyethylene sheet or cardboard.If it is transluscent the
natural sunlight can also be used when available which can reduce electricity usage.
If the required "inside environment" is very different than the outside environment then
proper insulation will be required also , so that the environment variables like temperature and
humidity can easily be maintained.
So, the materials that can be used to make a box can be a thick/thin plastic/wood/metal or a
wooden frame with walls made of polyethylene sheet or cardboard.If it is transluscent the
natural sunlight can also be used when available which can reduce electricity usage.
