How To Use the Internet to Water Your Plants [Home Mod]
Keeping a garden lush all summer is a lot of work. You're traveling. You're busy. It's hot out there. But technology offers the equivalent of a remote control watering can that you control from the couch. Here's how to wire up your yard to keep it thriving when you can't get out back to do it yourself. Irrigation at the most base level is just a series of tubes. They're channels and pipes that carry water from one location to another. To automate their performance, the key is controlling the valves. Being the 21st century and all, water valves have evolved beyond the lefty-loosey-righty-tighty hand-turned models that populate most yards. The inclusion of a 24-volt actuator means that the automatic in-line valve offerings from companies like RainBird, Orbit , or Toro will open and close themselves when a charge is applied. These, however, are designed to work with only basic timer systems. They don't think for themselves. To do that, you need a control modul...