Mastodawn

Dis Feb 3, 2025

@t_o I'm using MiFlora (a.co/d/bcpq1u0) everywhere for soil sensing. I have plans to bolt AA rechargeables to them this summer, or maybe rig up a solar bank next to the garden. They are decent on battery individually but once you have a bunch it adds up. Accuracy is good enough to use the plant db integration data for alarms and such.
This hygrometer (a.co/d/4GxHrvS) has also worked great, I have 3 for the different tents. (Looks like it is on sale, I might get another one..) Every now and again I put them together to make sure they still agree with each other.
I don't have a solution for watering yet, but I have a few in the wings waiting for reviews. I'll probably just build one.

Fans, lights, warmers are all driven by ThirdReality zigbee switches (a.co/d/gXIvyGO), and monitored by a hacky template sensor to ensure the state and the readings (power, illuminance) match the schedule.
For the BLE rx, I don't usually place intentional receivers anymore. Ever since I got the skeleton of the bigear running, I get toothbrushes and rivian car keys and such from several houses away. I don't have to add a radio when anyone gets new sensors :) That said, most of the receivers are still just esphome on esp32 as a side gig to their normal operation.

Rant: I can't mention BLE switches without a huge strong screaming warning: Do Not Buy Switchbot! After 2 tried to burn down my house, yes really, I took them out of service. They will fail eventually, even under-loaded, and when they do they will toggle on-off-on-off at about 4x per second until either you unplug it or the downstream equipment catches fire. Then you will find out that they don't cover the warranty unless you buy it in person from the CEO at his home on a leap day. I've got a stack of these stupid things, 3 of which failed on me after use with loads like "10 watt pole fan" and "buggy esp32 device on an old 5w usb charger that I reboot every day" :(

#miflora #thirdreality #zigbee #homeassistant #esphome #switchbot

Dis Feb 3, 2025

#Garden news!
We started a couple dozen seeds the other weekend, mostly peppers. So far the herbs are all popping (purple basil, thyme, etc) but the peppers are shy.
Yesterday something new came up though. Gnats.

Everything is coated in DE now. Cross your fingers for the seedlings pushing through.
The screenshot is part of the Home Assistant dashboard I use to look in on them (#esp32cam, #miflora and a BLE hygrometer). The seedling kit itself is made mostly with free items off Vine tied to cheap metal shelving.
Pictured are three flats with seedlings (peppers on top and bottom, herbs in the middle) coated in DE "fossil flower". In the opposite corner on the floor are 4 standalone pots holding marigold seeds. Nothing is big enough to be visible on the camera yet.

#homeautomation #gardening

Dis Aug 1, 2023

Yesterday the #weedlings got Fitbits (ok, #miflora, but they don't know the difference) and I spent a bunch of time arguing with a plant API instead of just inputting my decent-enough values from last time.

Part of the arguing involved removing the old devices. A smart person would have saved the thresholds, but I'm not that person. Doh!

Pics tomorrowish when I get back to it and build the dash.

Today was supposed to be offline, so I spent it integrating #calico and #k3s and #linkerd and such in the new #homelab. I .. am bad at not being burnt out.

Some good news. Changes involved a cluster CIDR change, so I had to reset from zero. Thank FSM for flux2. I expected pain and it basically Just Worked.

#selfhost #snarkhome #TuringPi2 #k3s #dietpi #homeassistant #fluxcd #dietpi #cannabis #growyourown #growyourownmedicine

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Blort™ 🐀Ⓥ🥋☣️Jun 17, 2023

@utopify_org Oh, and in another mix of tech and gardening, my other project right now is getting bluetooth proxies working in #HomeAssistant, so I can reliably get alerts when my various indoor plants need watering / fertilizer / more or less light via a large stack of #MiFlora sensors.

These things are fantastic... when they're in range! No more guessing if plants are dying because of water/fertilizer/light levels! 🥰

Blort™ 🐀Ⓥ🥋☣️Apr 19, 2023

Hoping someone might have a thought or two on the easiest way to set up a #bluetooth to #wifi bridge/extender for @homeassistant with an #ESP32 S.

How would you recommend someone who's never used an ESP32 before go about it?

Essentially I have a couple lying around, and want to extend the range of my #Miflora devices in #HomeAssistant, so I can see how my plants are doing.

Also, if I do this, am I likely to be able to see battery levels in my Miflora devices?

Thanks y'all!