Implementation and Evaluation of an IoT-Based Nutrient Monitoring and Pump Control System for Pakcoy Hydroponics

The advancement of Internet of Things (IoT) technology provides opportunities to improve the efficiency and reliability of hydroponic nutrient management. This study implements and evaluates an IoT-based nutrient monitoring and automatic pump control system for pakcoy hydroponics using an ESP32 microcontroller integrated with pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), DS18B20 temperature, and water level sensors. The system displays local data on an LCD and transmits monitoring data to a web-based dashboard for remote observation. A hystesis-based control strategy was applied to the nutrient pump, where the pump was activated when the TDS values was below 1000 ppm and deactivated when the TDS value reached 1400 ppm. Sensor accuracy testing showd average errors of 0.36% for the TDS sensor and 0.39% for the pH sensor. During a five-day functional evaluation, the system was able to monitor pH, TDS, and temperature conditions and provide automatic pump responses according to the predefined control logic. The results indicate that the proposed system is feasible for real-time hydroponic monitoring and initial nutrient control otomation. However, longer cultivation trials and additional network performance evaluation are required to assess its long-term agronomic impact and operational reliability.

Keywords: Internet of Things, hydroponics, pakcoy, ESP32, TDS, Monitoring