Here is the Pi and Camera taped to my grow bed.Īfter a little searching, I found this tutorial for a time-lapse camera in a coffee can using the Pi. Thus, I sought out a python script that would eliminate the need for me to start and stop the script manually. I'm rarely up by 6, and sometimes I'm not home in the evenings. The lights turn on at 6:00am and shut off around 8:00pm. My plants are currently on a 14-hour sunlight cycle. Getting the camera to take stills was easy enough with the quick start guide, but I wanted this process to be fully automated. I strung up some Ethernet cable and taped the Pi and the camera to my grow bed. I didn't have time to go sniffing around IR protocols, I needed a camera now.įinally, I remembered the Raspberry Pi Camera Module.

Once again, I hit a wall, and all the while I was missing my plants' first steps. I tried hacking the IR codes to get an Arduino to do my bidding for me. I have a remote for this camera, and that remote can be used to capture still photos at will. Here we have some basil seedlings planted directly in the grow bed (left) and some seedlings - parsley, thyme, and Romain lettuce - germinated in 3D printed seed pods with the Aerogarden (right).Īfter a failed attempt at hacking an old point-and-shoot camera (I'm pretty sure it didn't work before I got here), it was back to the drawing board.

Growing thyme timelapse