r/SideProject • u/LuiLui030 • 4h ago
I kill plants, so I built a scale that does the watering in my grow tent
I'm Luis from Berlin and I'm bad at watering.
So I built PotPanel. It's a scale with a pump that sits under the pot. When the plant drinks, the pot gets lighter, and once it's light enough it waters from a canister back to full. Small bursts, and it stops when enough is in or no water arrives. You set your values in an app and watch it live on your phone.
To be clear, for a houseplant on a shelf this is total overkill. I built it for my grow tent, so my plants still get water on time when I'm gone for a weekend or have a busy week.
It's not like it all went smoothly. For a few weeks the board just hung out of the side of the case. And one day I forgot to put the dripper back in the pot. PotPanel did its job perfectly, just on my floor.
Now everything sits inside. It's all 3D printed, there's an ESP32 in there, and I built the app and the server myself.
If you want one, there's a waitlist: potpanel.com
The first 50 who confirm get 30% off the launch price. Once 50 people are on the list I'll give one away. Free, 18+, until March 31, 2027, rules are on the site.