So when we started planning this long getaway I immediately thought about things around the house. Especially the garden! Three beautiful tomato plants, squash and zucchini, basil, arugula and other random botanical items. I, being the geek I am, decide to rig up a quick irrigation system.

Yep, that’s right. Full out automatic watering system. Having Crestron in my home (and knowing how to program it) enabled me to build a relatively inexpensive irrigation system (about $100 of parts). All that was needed was a few sprinkler heads, some pvc pipe and glue, a length of hose, a solenoid valve, and a rain sensor. Oh, and a new event in the scheduler on my MC3 (programming).

Everyday, one hour after the sun sets, the sprinklers turn on for twenty minutes and bring new life and cleansing to my bunches of greens. But if it’s already wet outside, the rain sensor tells the Crestron system and the sprinklers don’t turn on.

I can keep an eye on things through my Crestron Mobile app from the other side of the world (if we have a decent Internet connection). Thats the cool part. If I feel like watering my plants from Bali I can!

It has been running for a couple of weeks now. And it works well! Sure beats getting the hose out in the morning. The basil looks happy. And really that’s what it’s about. The basil.