In this guide I'll show you how to build an Internet of Things (IoT) grow-box that will share the progress of your plants growing live on the internet via Twitter. > This is a perfect project for the summer holidays or for a weekend project for kids and adults too.

Internet of Seeds Mark II - https://t.co/S0dqewXqXD pic.twitter.com/f6CI7wc0cN
— Alex the Bot (@alexellisuk_bot) June 16, 2017

*Official Raspberry Pi [PiNoir](http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/video-modules/9132673/) camera shooting in infra-red* If you already have a Raspberry Pi camera it should only cost you a couple of pounds or dollars to complete the project. I've started off growing cress in some compost and a plastic saucer, but what will you grow? #### Where did the idea come from? I've been making timelapses with my Raspberry Pi since the first camera module was released several years ago, but I always had the same problem - positioning. I could never find a good way to mount the RPi camera which resulted in my using copious amounts of sticky tape. > To cut a long story short - this often left permanent marks on my windows or lots of sticky residue before falling off or moving. Last year I tried broadcasting seeds growing on the Internet via Twitter. This worked well and was even re-tweeted by the Raspberry Pi Foundation but the camera was just propped up on a peg. It could have moved and ended up and sharing the inside of our house instead. > I decided to hack a stackable storage box which I bought at a store in the UK called Poundland (everything costs £1 which is around a dollar). I fixed the camera onto the storage box with screws meaning we get a fixed position and have created a kind of photo studio.

Hacking on #InternetOfSeeds Mark II with my @Raspberry_Pi - here's a test live-stream of my cress. 0$ approach to creating an enclosure pic.twitter.com/hyujO6EuNV
— Alex Ellis (@alexellisuk) June 11, 2017

This is a budget build, so there were no special jigs or colourful slices of laser-cut acrylic. I used a tiny finger drill I bought on eBay to make mounting holes for the Pi Camera and Pi Zero. Once I knew where the camera's lens was going to be positioned I drilled a hole then widened it with a pair of scissors. > Be especially careful if you are handling scissors or a hand-held electric drill. #### Build your own **Materials:** * Stackable plastic box (£1 / $1) * Raspberry Pi ZeroW w/ SD card * Power adapter * Raspberry Pi camera - colour or NoIR * Assorted screws and nuts to fit Pi and Camera If your power adapter doesn't reach from the plug to where you want to place your grow-box then you can use an extension lead or a power adapter with a longer cord. **Software** The code for the grow-box is written in *Python* using the `picamera`, `tweepy` and `PIL` (Python Imaging Library) modules. The code does the following: * Takes a photo in 1080p resolution * Overlays the current CPU temperature in the top left of the image * Saves the images to the SD card * Tweets the photo including a short message * Deletes the image from the SD card > I've provided a cron configuration to run every 60 seconds between 8am and 8pm every day, but you can tweak that. Before you can get Tweeting you'll need to sign up for a Twitter Application / Developer code so that your Pi can Tweet on your behalf. If you've ever used a project with `tweepy` before then you can re-use the same token and secret. Just fill out the details in a file called `config.py` - you'll find a sample called `config.example.py` that you can copy from. [Fork or Star the code on Github](https://github.com/alexellis/seeds2) so you can follow the README later when you're ready to start the build. #### What next? **Fine-tuning** Once you have everything up and running you may need to change the focus of the camera so that your plants look clear and sharp. There are a number of ways of changing the focus of the lens - either with a pair of pliers or a large eraser. Apply gentle rotational pressure until you feel the glue holding the lens in position give way - you can now turn left or right to bring your plants into focus. A good way to get a live preview of your camera is to follow my [YouTube live streaming guide](http://blog.alexellis.io/live-stream-with-docker/) - it only takes around 5-10 minutes to get started. **Deciding what to grow** Here's some suggestions for what you could grow indoors at any time of year: * Dried peas * Cress * Lettuce or rocket (arugula in the US) * Mustard If you want to experiment you could also try planting pop-corn, lentils or apple seeds. You could test compost against wet kitchen roll to see which yields a better crop. > Update 03 July 2017: Here are pea shoots (Pea Serge variety) which produce edible leaves when young:

Internet of Seeds Mark II - https://t.co/S0dqewFQ65 pic.twitter.com/I1LoHy42Fv
— Alex the Bot (@alexellisuk_bot) July 3, 2017

**Sharing** When you're ready and your grow-box is busy tweeting away - you can share it with your friends and family and keep and eye on when your plant is ready. Here's an example of a Broad Bean germinating by Richard Gee who is one of my [Twitter followers](https://twitter.com/rgee0):

Internet of pulses #InternetOfPulses pic.twitter.com/s2GlGpT8LE
— RGee0 Test (@rgee0T) July 3, 2017

**Extending the project** Here are a few ideas for extending the project: * Record environmental data on each photo If you pick up a [Pimoroni Enviro-pHat](https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/enviro-phat) you can record temperature, humidity, light and pressure at the same time. A [Bosch BME280](https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/adafruit-bme280-i2c-or-spi-temperature-humidity-pressure-sensor) sensor can be extended on dupont wires and placed inside the box to take more accurate readings. * Automatic watering With a [low voltage water pump](http://www.robotshop.com/uk/3v-mini-vacuum-pump.html) and a cheap rain-sensor you can create a feedback-loop and automatically water your seeds when they get dry. * Use a grow-light You could buy an infra-red growing light so you can take photos at night, or get your crop quicker * Use other social media channels If you're a member of a Slack community or have an Instagram account - maybe you extend the code to upload there instead. #### Keep learning If you would like to learn about more Raspberry Pi projects I have a series here: * [Raspberry Pi projects and tutorials](http://blog.alexellis.io/tag/raspberry-pi/) You can also [live stream to YouTube](http://blog.alexellis.io/live-stream-with-docker/) or [record a timelapse](http://blog.alexellis.io/raspberry-pi-timelapse/). If you'd like to learn how to create your own blog and host it on a Raspberry Pi checkout my self-hosted blog series: * [Self-host a Ghost blog](http://blog.alexellis.io/tag/blog/) [Follow me @alexellisuk](https://twitter.com/alexellisuk) and get in touch on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/alexellisuk) or in the comments section below with your questions and suggestions. **Share on Twitter**

Build an IoT Grow-box on a budget for the holidays with your @Raspberry_Pi and Python. https://t.co/gRWtDDOVGB pic.twitter.com/3NEk5oxvIE
— Alex Ellis (@alexellisuk) June 24, 2017

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