Sustainable urban farming using a smart hydroponic approach using IoT and real time monitoring

Sustainable farming methods are needed due to the rising demand for fresh products brought on by the world's population growth. The light and water temperature factors affect the growth of selected leafy greens, and the Internet of Things-enabled smart system helps monitor these conditions. The present project aims to explore how the water temperature and light intensity affect the growth of leafy greens by integrating an Arduino UNO WIFI microcontroller with a household hydroponic system as an Internet of Things-enabled smart home hydroponic system. The smart home hydroponic system consists of sensors, an Arduino UNO WIFI microcontroller, and a home hydroponic system. The smart home hydroponic system monitors and manages environmental variables in real-time in hydroponics. The smart home hydroponic system helps to catalyse growing conditions by monitoring the information on temperature, relative humidity (RH), pH, and nutrient concentrations. Four experimental setups combining different lighting sources (LED vs. natural light) and ambient conditions (room vs. air-conditioned) were tested over a 4-week growth period using kale as the model crop. The light intensity and water temperature were monitored and recorded through a cloud system. Results showed that LED lighting with room temperature conditions yielded the highest growth performance, with a 15-20% increase in leaf count and biomass compared to other conditions. The optimal water temperature range was identified as 28-30 °C, and stable pH values between 6.5 and 7.0 were correlated with faster root development. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of using IoT sensors provides a better-controlled environment and helps improve the efficiency of hydroponic systems in an urban household setting.