Ok. I'm posting this from my phone so forgive me if pictures are 99 degrees or upside down.
My idea? A grow box.
The idea is not new. I'm sure some of you that survived the 70s know what these are. Probably had one of your own.
But for veggies.
Disclaimer: I don't know anything about gardening. I barely know enough about computers.
My prototype is very cheap just to prove it out.
I took an old shipping crate. I made it a little bigger and sided it with a piece of OSB I had laying around.
I've been reading about plants and they actually grow best with red and blue lights. A NASA study says 80/20.
The red stimulates chlorophyll production and flowering while the blue promotes internode production and stem strength.
I'll be using LEDs for lighting, which means I'll need a heater.
I could do this all with simple controls but that's no fun.
There was some record cabbage in Alaska. IIRC it was ~127 lbs. They only had 4 months of summer but 16 hours of sunlight in the day.
I'd like to manipulate these parameters.
So I'm using an Arduino. A small computer that runs C/C++.
Coupled with temperature, humidity, and soil moisture sensors.
if this works I can upscale and diversify.
Imagine 5 or 6 of these babies, each one with an ecosystem tailored to the crop.
No pests, no pesticides, no chemicals.
And the water pumps, LEDs, and all components (except for a heater. I haven't sourced a heater yet) are 12 volt so I can run them off a battery and charge them with a solar panel.
I have a PWM and some ni-chrome wire. I might make a heater or buy a ceramic aquarium heater.
--Steve