Arduino's RP2040-Based Plant Watering Kit Aims to Put Your Favorite Pot Plant in the Cloud

Arduino has announced a task-specific entry in its range of development kit bundles, this time aiming to simplify plant-keeping for those with more of a solder finger than a green thumb: the Arduino Plant Watering Kit.

"Love your plants, but also have a life? If you work long hours, travel often or just can’t be tied down to a regular schedule," the Arduino team enthuses about its latest product launch, "the Arduino Plant Watering Kit is for you. It’s a complete kit with all the components you need to set up an automated mini irrigation system that will unfailingly water your favorite pothus, spider plant or monstera on a regular schedule."

The kit is based on the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect, the company's wireless-capable answer to the Raspberry Pi Pico development board, with a bundled screw terminal adapter for ease of wiring. A Grove-compatible moisture sensor breakout, an LED button module, and a relay module are included, along with a 5V submersible pump — designed to be connected to the included 3.3' plastic hose for automated watering.

The Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect at the heart of the kit is designed for use with Arduino Cloud, connecting over Wi-Fi to provide minute-by-minute status reports on soil moisture. The kit's pre-built dashboard, meanwhile, offers a user interface with live and historical moisture readings plus manual control over the pump — which can, naturally, also be triggered based on moisture levels or on a schedule.

One thing missing from the kit is an enclosure, a perhaps questionable bit of cost-cutting when you're mixing admittedly low-voltage electronics with water. For those who'd like to keep things neat and at least vaguely splash-proof, Arduino has designed a housing for the kit's hardware — distributed as 3D-printable STL files.

The Arduino Plant Watering Kit is now available on the Arduino Store at $53.