IOT Based Vertical Farming using Hydroponics

Rama Krishna Peddarapu Allani Karthikeya R. Jahnavi Reddy

Computer Science and Engineering Computer Science and Engineering Computer Science and Engineering
VNRVJIET VNRVJIET VNRVJIET
Hyderabad, India Hyderabad, India Hyderabad, India
peddarapuramakrishna@gmail.com allanikarthikeya@gmail.com jahnavir69@gmail.com

Katkuri Pooja G. Someshwar

Computer Science and Engineering Computer Science and Engineering
VNRVJIET VNRVJIET
Hyderabad, India Hyderabad, India
poojakatkuri6@gmail.com someshwar1204@gmail.com

Abstract—In the ever-evolving landscape of agriculture, the Hydroponics is the technique of growing plants using a
adoption of innovative farming methods becomes imperative to water-based nutrient solution rather than soil. This method
address the challenges posed by soil erosion, infertility, and allows plants to absorb essential nutrients directly from the
seasonal limitations. One such promising approach is the water, which can include an aggregate substrate or growing
integration of hydroponic-style vertical farming with IoT media to provide support. Hydroponic systems are highly
(Internet of Things) technology. This approach aims to address efficient in nutrient and water usage, as they recycle water
traditional farming challenges such as soil erosion and and nutrients within a closed system, minimizing waste. This
infertility by utilizing water-based nutrient solutions and
method also allows for precise control over nutrient
vertically stacking plants. IoT sensors monitor crucial
environmental parameters, allowing for precise control of
concentrations, ensuring optimal plant growth and reducing
irrigation and nutrient delivery. Automation reduces workload the risk of nutrient deficiencies or excesses. By eliminating
and minimizes human error, while remote monitoring enables the need for soil, hydroponics mitigates issues related to soil-
farmers to stay informed about conditions and receive alerts. borne diseases and pests, reducing the reliance on pesticides
Overall, this integrated system offers increased efficiency, and herbicides.
productivity, and sustainability compared to conventional [9] Vertical farming is the practice of planting the plants
farming methods.
in vertically stacked layers, optimizing land usage as it can
Keywords—hydroponic, IOT, irrigation, remote be implemented in an indoor environment. This innovative
monitoring, water-based nutrient approach allows for the cultivation of crops in urban areas,
utilizing spaces such as rooftops, abandoned warehouses, and
I. INTRODUCTION other underutilized urban spaces. Vertical farming
significantly increases the yield per unit area compared to
[14] In the rapidly changing field of agriculture, traditional horizontal farming, as multiple layers of crops can
embracing innovative farming techniques is crucial to be grown in the same footprint. The main idea of vertical
overcome the challenges of soil erosion, soil infertility, and farming is to use controlled-environment agriculture
seasonal limitations. As the global population continues to technology, where all environmental factors can be
grow and urbanization accelerates, the pressure on traditional controlled, including temperature, humidity, light, and CO2
farming methods to meet the increasing food demand levels. This controlled environment enables year-round crop
intensifies. A particularly promising solution is the production, independent of external weather conditions, and
integration of hydroponic vertical farming with Internet of reduces the need for chemical inputs.
Things (IoT) technology. This method not only mitigates the
challenges mentioned but also significantly enhances The integration of IoT technology with hydroponic
efficiency, productivity, and sustainability in agricultural vertical farming systems enhances these benefits by
practices. providing real-time monitoring and control of environmental
parameters.[11] IoT sensors can continuously monitor key
Traditional farming methods often face constraints such factors such as pH levels, nutrient concentration, water
as limited land availability, dependency on soil quality, and temperature, humidity, and light intensity. This data is
vulnerability to environmental factors. The availability of transmitted to a central control system, which can make
arable land is decreasing due to urban expansion, industrial automated adjustments to irrigation, nutrient delivery, and
development, and climate change. Soil quality, essential for climate control systems, ensuring optimal growing conditions
plant growth, can be compromised by over-farming, at all times. Remote monitoring capabilities allow farmers to
pollution, and depletion of nutrients. Environmental factors access real-time data and receive alerts through web or
such as drought, flooding, and extreme weather conditions mobile applications, enabling timely interventions and
further exacerbate these challenges, making it difficult to reducing the risk of human error.
maintain consistent agricultural productivity.[8] Soil erosion
and infertility, particularly in regions with intensive By combining hydroponic vertical farming with IoT
agriculture, degrade the soil structure and reduce its fertility, technology, farmers can achieve higher crop yields,
leading to lower crop yields and reduced farmer income, improved quality, and reduced operational costs. This
especially during off-seasons when crop production is integrated approach not only addresses the challenges of
typically lower. traditional farming but also opens new opportunities for
urban agriculture, contributing to food security and
sustainable development. As the demand for efficient and

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sustainable farming solutions grows, the adoption of agriculture by sending cloud data and monitoring values
hydroponic vertical farming systems with IoT integration is such as temperature, light, EC value and pH value, all data
poised to revolutionize modern agriculture, providing a could be monitored via Thingspeak.
viable alternative to conventional methods and ensuring a
resilient and productive agricultural sector. Yusuf, Md Mahmud, et al [3] has initiated a cloud platform
A. Existing Work for storing, visualizing and analyzing the data that is sent
from the vertical farming system. The dashboard is
Traditional agricultural practices face significant
developed in ThingsSentral cloud platform wherein an entire
challenges, primarily soil degradation due to extensive
web application can be compiled into an executable file and
plowing, chemical use, and poor land management. This
hosted in any cloud service provider such as Google cloud,
results in soil erosion, fertility loss, and reduced crop yields
Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or any other cloud
over time. Farmers also struggle with variable weather and
platform. It uses Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) method.
limited daylight during off-seasons, lowering productivity
and income. Additionally, these methods are resource-
Sahoo, Rudra Swarup, et al [6] designed a Hydroponic
intensive, requiring large amounts of water, fertilizers, and
farming system behind closed doors using Deep Water
pesticides, which increase environmental damage and
Culture to grow a mint plant. A series of sensors like
production costs. Environmental factors like droughts,
temperature and humidity sensor, water level sensor, air
floods, pests, and diseases further threaten crop yields and
quality sensor (MQ135) are used to monitor the farming
farmers' livelihoods.
credentials & interfaced with the microcontroller NodeMCU
for their operation. LEDs are used to make the plant grow.
B. Proposed Work Since the area is enclosed from all sides, we have
In this project, plants are cultivated in a vertical mechanically designed a DC motor to act as an air
arrangement without soil, using nutrient-rich water exchanger in our indoor farming area.
solutions, which allows for higher crop yields in smaller
spaces compared to traditional soil-based farming. Bugayong, P. E., et al [7] has selected green ice lettuce as
Strategically placed IoT sensors continuously monitor key the subject of observation specifically for this study. They
parameters such as pH levels, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), included hybrid power switching mechanism along with
temperature, and humidity, providing real-time data on LED illumination for the growth of the lettuce plant along
environmental conditions crucial for plant growth. With an with easy monitoring, blue LED is used for the process
automated irrigation system based on this data, precise which was seen to be more effective for plants such as
amounts of water and nutrients are delivered to the plants, lettuce.
ensuring optimal growing conditions while significantly
reducing the workload on the farmer and minimizing the Bhargava, Yash Vardhan, et al, in their paper have included
risk of human error. sensor fusion based hydroponic farming system [8] where
The collected data is transmitted to a central control system system employs multiple sensors synchronized to work and
or accessible via an app, allowing the farmer to monitor communicate to a common server giving shape to sensor
environmental conditions remotely and receive notifications fusion and the Internet of Things. The system strives to
via email or other means in case of any abnormalities regulate the sensed conditions concerning the required
detected. This integration of hydroponic farming with IoT standard conditions for the plant, thus reducing the
technology holds the potential to revolutionize modern associated human effort to a bare minimum.
agriculture, improving efficiency, productivity, and
sustainability. Kaur, Gaganjot, Prashant Upadhyaya, and Paras Chawla., et
la has developed mobile application [15] for monitoring the
II. BACKGROUND SURVEY AND IMPORTANCE OF control of plant growth using the hydroponic VF system.
THIS RESEARCH and improved nutrition by 2030, an IoT based automated
Rajesh, E., Shajahan Basheer, and K. Baskar et al in paper Vertical farming system is designed which is integrated with
[1] implemented a Soilless Cultivation using IOT. In the various sensors to monitor and control various plant growth
paper sensors are used to monitor the pH level and parameters. Collected data is sent to ThingSpeak IoT
temperature of the water. If the pH level is too high or too platform and could also be accessed from VertiFarmControl
low with the ideal pH level then it will give an alert message android application. The mobile application is capable of
to the user. Similarly, the temperature of water and showing live data from various sensors and alert the user
atmosphere is monitored using the sensors and if it is too when sensor value falls out of range. This automated system
high or too low with the given condition then a HTTP along with VertiFarmControl application is able to sustain
request is send to the cloud server and user receives an healthy plant life with minimum user intervention.
alarm message.

Sobri, Nur Anas, et al in paper [2] implemented the

hydroponic system using IOT with real-time monitoring
using sensors. It develops an automated system for
managing and monitoring plant development, as well as
posses an impact to check the plant growth under the
environmental elements that the system regulates. The use
of sensors like the wireless sensor system is an efficiency in
 III. DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY dedicated node, where the latest readings and timestamp are
stored.
Data Synchronization: Firebase automatically
synchronizes data across all connected devices. This ensures
that the mobile or web app used for monitoring always
displays the most recent data.
Threshold Management: Threshold values for each sensor
are stored in Firebase. These values can be adjusted
remotely through a mobile or web interface.

3. Alerts and Notifications

Objective: To implement a system that sends SMS or
email notifications when sensor readings go out of range,
ensuring timely interventions.
Methodology:
Triggering Mechanism: The Arduino continuously
compares sensor readings with the stored threshold values.
Fig. 1: Data Flow If a reading exceeds the threshold, a trigger is generated.
Notification Service: When a trigger occurs, the Arduino
1. Sensors and Arduino sends a request to Firebase, which, in turn, initiates an alert.
Objective: The primary objective of using sensors and an We used Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) to send push
Arduino board in this hydroponics project is to monitor notifications to connected devices. For SMS or email alerts,
environmental and system parameters, such as temperature, we integrated Firebase with third party services like Twilio
humidity, water level, and nutrient concentration, to ensure or SendGrid.
optimal conditions for plant growth. Custom Alerts: Users can customize the alert settings,
Methodology: choosing to receive notifications only for specific sensors or
Sensor Integration: We integrated various sensors, thresholds.
including DS18B20 for temperature, DHT11 for humidity,
and an ultrasonic sensor for water level, with an Arduino
board. The sensors are connected to the Arduino's analog
and digital pins to read real time data.
Data Acquisition: The Arduino board as shown in figure2
(a) is programmed using the Arduino IDE to continuously
read sensor data. The readings are processed within the
Arduino environment, and if necessary, basic filtering
techniques (like averaging) are applied to remove noise from
the data.
Calibration and Testing: Each sensor was individually
calibrated before integration to ensure accuracy. We
conducted multiple tests in controlled environments to
validate the sensors' performance and reliability. Fig. 3: Alerts and notifications

4. Automation of Motor Based on Water Level

Objective: To automate the water pump operation in the
hydroponic system based on the water level to ensure that
plants receive the right amount of water.
Methodology:
Water Level Detection: An ultrasonic sensor measures
the water level in the reservoir. The sensor data is sent to the
Fig. 2: a) Arduino Uno, b) ESP 8266 Arduino, where it is compared with preset high and low
water level thresholds.
Motor Control Logic: If the water level drops below the
2. Firebase Integration minimum threshold, the Arduino activates the relay module
Objective: Firebase is used as the central database and connected to the water pump, turning it on. Conversely,
notification service in this project to store sensor data and when the water reaches the maximum threshold, the pump is
send alerts when parameters exceed predefined thresholds. automatically turned off.
Methodology: Manual Override: For flexibility, we implemented a
Realtime Database: We used Firebase's real time manual override feature, allowing users to control the pump
database to store sensor data. The Arduino, equipped with via a mobile or web interface connected through Firebase.
an ESP8266 as in figure2 (b) or ESP32 module, connects to
WiFi and sends data to Firebase in real time.
Data Structure: Sensor data is structured hierarchically
in Firebase for easy access and retrieval. Each sensor has a
 hydroponics. We have taken the database of the lettuce plant
which gives the range for the various sensors using linear
regression algorithm by integrating with Machine Learning.

The various values displayed in real-time during plant

growth is shown in figure 6. When there is any fluctuation in
the range of the values, notifications and alerts are sent such
that the user is aware about the growth of the plant. The
various sensors like Water-level sensor, pH sensor, humidity
and temperature sensor have helped increased the plant
growth.
Fig. 4: Motor Farming without soil can help farmers grow many kinds of
plants like leafy vegetables in any arid climates as water is
the major source in hydroponic VF system and it contains
5. Plant Growth Using Hydroponics Setup many nutrients which can help in growth of various crops.
Objective: To promote optimal plant growth through
controlled nutrient delivery and environmental monitoring.
Methodology:
Nutrient Delivery: Nutrient solutions are periodically
circulated through the hydroponic system. The concentration
of nutrients is adjusted based on sensor data (e.g., EC sensor
for nutrient concentration).
Environmental Monitoring: Temperature, humidity, and
light levels are continuously monitored and adjusted if
needed to create the ideal growing environment.
Growth Monitoring: Plant growth is tracked by
recording periodic observations and comparing the growth Fig. 6: Realtime Database Values
rate against expected standards for the specific plant species
being cultivated.
V. DISCUSSION
6.System Integration and Testing: We used IOT for integration of various sensors alongside
Integration: After developing individual components with web application for displaying the real-time values.
(sensors, Firebase, alerts, motor control), the entire system The Arduino board is connected to the device and also to the
was integrated. We tested the integrated system in various various sensors which produce values. This is internally
scenarios to ensure it worked as intended. connected to the motor which helps in water supply for
Error Handling: The Arduino is programmed to handle growth of crops.
common errors, such as sensor failures or connectivity
issues, by either retrying the operation or sending an alert to Using Machine Learning Algorithm i.e., Linear Regression
the user. we calculated the range for various sensors taking the data
User Interface Development: of Lettuce plant. These values were taken for reference
Interface Design: A user- friendly interface was wherein when there is a check on the real-time values that
developed for monitoring the system. The interface displays are displayed in the web application, if any value is out of
real time sensor data and allows users to control the system range, then there is an alert/ notification sent mentioning the
and set thresholds. need for it. This way it makes farmers easy to keep a check
on the plant growth.

Water contains a large number of nutrients which help the

plants in optimal growth, even during dry seasons and arid
locations. This can help growth of crops which can also
enhance farmer income. This way we integrated IOT with
ML such that communication becomes better and growth is
faster.

VI. CONCLUSION
Fig. 5: Plant Growth
The project explores an innovative approach to enhance crop
growth by implementing a hydroponic vertical farming
IV. RESULTS system integrated with IoT technology. This system
addresses the limitations of traditional farming, such as soil
At the end of this project, we were able to achieve the
erosion, dependency on weather conditions, and inefficient
results of how soilless farming works, and the various
resource usage. By utilizing a water-based nutrient solution
parameters that are required for growth of the plant using
and IoT sensors [16][17], the proposed system offers a
controlled environment that optimizes plant growth and [9] Elnaffar, Said, et al. "Remote Farming: Monitoring Hydroponic
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