Show HN: Grow your own with the Raspberry Pi

[alexellisuk]

https://github.com/alexellis/growlab/

[unwind]

Meta: I think the title would work better if it said "your own food".

[throwaway744678 → unwind]

As a non-native english speaker, I first confused the title with the expression "grow a pair". I wondered how a Pi would help in that case.

[Sophistifunk → throwaway744678]

As a native english speaker, I assumed it was about weed, so it's confusing to all.

[Ruthalas → Sophistifunk]

I did as well, for what it's worth.

[knicholes → throwaway744678]

Maybe it could monitor testosterone levels and inject you with some when low.

[unmole → knicholes]

I thought exogenous testosterone had the opposite effect?

[alexellisuk → unwind]

It's a very common phrase in the UK: "Grow your own" means food. But I can get that updated for our international speakers.

Thanks for commenting.

https://github.com/alexellis/growlab.dev/commit/a349972b977b...

[tailspin2019 → unwind]

Yeah I was confused by this title last time (this post seems to be a repeat from a week or two ago)

Edit: seems that the link is different from last time. The GitHub README that this links to gives a much better introduction to this project than the previously linked website [0] does (in terms of quickly understanding what it is).

Plus it looks like a really great project.

[0] https://growlab.dev

[stevekemp → unwind]

That was a very confusing title, especially considering that I dug up some wild raspberry bushes this morning, to plant upon my balcony!

[lucideer → unwind]

For context: GYO & GIY (Grow Your Own / Grow It Yourself) are common acronyms in permaculture/biodiversity/grower circles.

But yeah, probably not widely recognised. Worth clarifying.

[coolgeek → unwind]

Hah! I assumed it meant grow your own weed

[bartmika]

This is amazing! So excited a community like this exists. I started doing something similar last year. Here’s my progress:

https://bartlomiejmika.com/post/2021/red-mulberry-growlog-2/

And here are the open source libraries I’ve written to support it:

- https://github.com/bartmika/sparkfunweathershield-arduino - https://github.com/bartmika/tstorage-server - https://github.com/bartmika/tpoller-server https://github.com/bartmika/treader-server - more to come...

I hope to submit in the future!

[alexellisuk]

We have 28 people participating now, with live-previews, lots of Twitter activity and prizes to give away for folks who complete the various parts of the challenge.

The code is open source and includes a data logger and Grafana dashboard that's fun to use even if you are not growing things.

[iancmceachern → alexellisuk]

My wife and I founded Open Agriculture Supply (www.openagriculturesupply.com) years ago to support the mit open agriculture initiative that ultimately fizzled out. We'd love to support in any way you need!

[alexellisuk → iancmceachern]

Thanks Ian, do you want to get in touch via email? alex@openfaas.com?

[_ofdw]

I love stuff like this. I recently[0] put some raspberry pis and beaglebones to work monitoring my plants (though my own solution is not as smooth as this, and I didn't opt for photo capability).

My robogardeners alert me via push notification on my phone when e.g. my basil needs watering, and I can issue them commands to set water/dryness thresholds via IRC.

[0] https://0x85.org/raspi.html

[borski]

Funny story - I recently bought a Gardyn[1] but they didn’t have an open API, so while reversing it discovered that under the hood it’s just… a raspberry pi haha

It’s a fantastic device tbh, but I LOL’d

[1] https://mygardyn.com

[alexellisuk → borski]

Fancy trying out one of the experiments we have listed? Like the data logger or live preview?

[borski → alexellisuk]

Actually, it would be fun to try and pull data off the device. I’ll play with it tomorrow!

[openthc]

Super excited to see more Pi powered growing. IME It works great for medium scale operations. One of my next objectives is a community sized greenhouse for veg, and a bunch of Pi automation.

[bobsmooth]

>growlab

I think they're called gardens.

[notdang → bobsmooth]

Once you add a camera to it, it's called a lab.

[bernardv]

Not clear if one needs to buy >your< kit, or any kit.

[alexellisuk → bernardv]

We have _no kit_ for sale, so it's clearly any kit :-)

We do have open source code available for you to use for free, and three varied experiments you can take part in. Feel free to browse the code and README

[mastrsushi → bernardv]

No one ever really needs to buy >a< kit.

[civildude]

is a raspberry zero?

[alexellisuk → civildude]

Sure, you can use a Raspberry Pi Zero. That's part of the build instructions in the repo