My thoughts on the matter is a simple system based on Arduino. Will measure need to measure all reasonably variables- I’m thinking rh, temp, brightness, soil moisture sensors. Depends what probes are readily available and cheap. I would say ph as well but from what I understand the probes do not stand up to 24/7 duty.
So I’ll spend some time looking at getting those measurements and charting them, then work on the basic if/then coding. The main reason I’m going with Arduino is that’s what I have on hand, plus the shield modules make it user friendly, but Raspberry would probably also be good- This is my first automation program. I’ve done little blinky light circuits or similar projects with the microcontroller but I don’t have much coding experience at all, so that’s going to be my stumbling block.
After that it’s simply connecting up some SCRs and outlets. Lots of copper. $$$ Going to be a slow project for me. But I’ll keep you updated!