Greenhouses have a big problem
Which can be solved with IoT
IoT (Internet of things) is being used in everything from lightbulbs to vehicles. What may surprise you is that even greenhouses have been modernized with IoT.
In Canada, 71% of food is grown in greenhouses. source This has left a big opportunity to make greenhouse farming more efficient, which it has.
Contents:
- What are greenhouses
- Problems with greenhouses
- What are smart greenhouses and their advantages
- Takeaways
What are greenhouses, and why do they matter?
If you’ve driven by the countryside, or watched a movie, you’ve likely seen a greenhouse. They are those large glass buildings whose main purpose is to provide ideal conditions for plants to grow. Whether it’s snowing or raining acid, the air is arid, or the climate is not exactly ideal for plants, greenhouses keep the climate ideal for plants.
Thanks to the greenhouse effect, the transparent walls allow for the sun’s rays to strike the greenhouse and enter it. But some of the energy gets trapped inside in the form of heat.
Greenhouses can keep the ideal climate for plants of 80% humidity and 24ºC even during the harshest winters. This is why they are an essential tool for indoor framing with an industry value of $48.2 billion CAD in 2021 that is expected to grow to 44% in 2030 ($109.3 billion CAD). source
Traditional greenhouses problems
Traditional greenhouses have worked for years, but they do have their flaws. The plants love the moist environment to flourish but pests and bacteria also love it. Impatient Necrotic Spot Virus (INSV) can cause symptoms such as yelling of leaves, steam death and poor flowering which reduces crop cultivation quantities source.
When farmers are away automatic irrigation systems water the plants, but being unmonitored, the plants could be lacking nutrients or be overwatered. This then leads to plants not getting enough oxygen in the soil, their roots dying, and overall slow growth. On the other side of the spectrum, the irrigation systems can get clogged format the impurities in the water causing the plants not to get enough water.
Even if automatic irrigation water systems function properly, they give the same amount of water to all plants. They don’t have the capability to dynamically water plants based don't their needs.
Why is smart better?
Smart greenhouses are similar to typical greenhouses. They are glass buildings with plants inside. What makes them different is they use IoT sensors to together data 24/7. This large amount of data allows for fine-tuning the climate, improving overall plant health and more. This can fix problems with traditional greenhouses.
Smart irrigation systems
Water is a crucial part of the success of a plant’s life. To ensure they get the perfect amount of water, smart irrigation systems water the plants based on their needs.
They mostly get their data from IoT sensors in the soil to water the entire batch of plants or just the singular plant for very fine-tuned control. This fine-tuning is especially perfect when different plants or species are being grown. For instance, to grow tomatoes a soil moisture of 70–80% is ideal, but lima beans prefer drier soil at around 55% humidity.
In this project, a soil moisture sensor was used to output the humidity of their plant’s soil. This could then pump water to plants when they are dry.
Early detection of crop diseases
When one crop gets infected with a disease it can rapidly spread, then many crops can get damaged and therefore have a smaller, less profitable harvest.
To resolve this agrochemical solutions exist, but farmers aren’t always sure how to use them. IoT sensors can inform the farmers when to use them and in what quantity, to stay safe and ecologically friendly.
Artificial intelligence systems like this one can also use cameras to regularly take pictures of the plant leaves. With the images the A.I. model can filter through the ones that look like the plant may have a disease.
Perfect climate
Smart thermostats have become increasingly popular in homes “4 in 10 U.S. home now use a smart thermostat.” source. Why? They have many advantages like saving money on electricity and adjusting the temperature of your home remotely.
Greenhouses often have a thermostat to help regulate their ambient temperature. They actuate fans to circulate air or heaters to warm it up. The advantages of smart greenhouses can also apply to greenhouses.
During the harshest of winters, the climate may get too cold inside the greenhouses. Smart thermostats can know the ambient temperature of different areas of the greenhouse and use dynamically turn on the heaters to keep a consistent temperature.
With an internet connection, the thermostats can even let farmers know the temperature of their greenhouse(s). If the climate control system fails they can receive alerts to be alerted of the problem before it gets too late.
MOES sells a thermostat that uses the Tuya (Chinese IoT cloud) cloud that can be used in greenhouses to do the above.
Conclusion
IoT is used in lots of environments including greenhouses. Before IoT greenhouses had downsides like poor climate control and irrigation. But thanks to IoT, smart greenhouses solve those problems plus more.
Hey there! Thank you for reading my article. I’m 15, passionate about IoT and an activator at the Knowledge Society (TKS).
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