What can a smart irrigation system do?

A smart irrigation system makes watering your garden a breeze. But how exactly does this actually work?

The water needs of a garden or irrigation area depend on many factors. For example, temperature and sun intensity, soil structure, plant species and root depth, wind and humidity are important. And most of the time, the main source of water is still natural rain and not artificial irrigation. A smart irrigation system can communicate via the Internet and optimize water delivery based on measured parameters and via Internet control, thereby promoting the health of soil and plants.

Here are the key capabilities a smart irrigation system should have

1. App control and remote access: A smart irrigation system should be accessible via a smartphone app that allows the user to monitor status, change settings and receive notifications no matter where they are.
2. Customizable watering times: The system should support schedules that can be adjusted at any time to suit the individual needs of the garden and plants.
3. Weather integration: A key feature of smart irrigation systems is the consideration of weather forecasts to decide when and how much to water. If rain is imminent, irrigation is reduced or stopped completely.
4. Soil Moisture Sensors: Using sensors to measure soil moisture allows the system to accurately determine when the soil is dry and needs water. This prevents both overwatering and underwatering.
5. Water quantity control: It should provide the ability to precisely control the water quantity to avoid waste and protect the environment.
6. Energy efficiency: to be smart, devices must be connected to each other and constant communication costs a lot of energy. Therefore, they ideally work with solar charging and a long-lasting battery.
7. Compatibility with smart home systems: A good smart irrigation system should integrate with existing smart home systems so that it can work with other devices such as weather stations or voice assistants.
8. Adaptability to different types of plants and areas of a garden: Different plants and areas of the garden have different irrigation needs to which a smart system can be adapted.

How smart is MIYO ?

The MIYO irrigation system in a garden is controlled by the MIYO Cube . This stores and processes all data locally and is connected to the Internet via a standard Ethernet connection and is therefore very easily accessible from a variety of systems. The Cube is connected to the MIYO app on the smartphone, stores the garden status in the MIYO Cloud and receives weather data, and can be controlled by smart home systems or by self-created programs via the open API.

For optimal irrigation, the garden is divided into irrigation areas. Any number of irrigation windows can be created for each area over the course of the week. If a Sensor is used, the target range for soil moisture can be set.

On the garden side, the Cube is connected wirelessly to the valves and sensors. From Sensor it receives information on soil moisture, temperature and sun intensity for the irrigation area. When irrigation is triggered based on the parameters or manually, the Cube opens the valves assigned to the irrigation area.

What are the advantages of MIYO ?

• Blooming garden: with MIYO irrigation can be easily and quickly adapted to the needs of the soil and plants. This means that an essential factor for a blooming garden - irrigation - can always be kept at an optimal level.
• Water saving: thanks to the wide range of settings and the integration of soil moisture measurement and weather forecast, MIYO can significantly reduce water consumption. In periods with frequent rainfall, the savings are over 50%.
• No battery consumption: the energy for sensors and devices is provided by solar charging. Conventional valves, e.g. from Gardena, use at least 3 AA batteries per watering season. MIYO requires 3 AAA batteries for a service life of 5-10 years. The saving of around 12 to 30 batteries per Valve (!) over the service life of the devices is an important contribution to conserving resources and the environment.
• Irrigation zones: with MIYO the garden can be divided into as many irrigation circuits as you like, all of which can be individually adapted to the needs of the plants. This ensures that plants with different water requirements are irrigated optimally and in a water-saving manner.

What can’t MIYO do?

Every garden is different. The differences start with the soil and extend to the microclimate, slope, orientation and even the plants. MIYO cannot adapt to these conditions, but MIYO gives the garden owner a powerful tool to solve one of the main issues, namely water management, efficiently and sustainably.

Switch and let your smart MIYO irrigation system do the work for you!