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Watering problems...

So, I have been having issues with my automated watering system.

I had built a moisture sensor from metal screws held in a plastic lid. Using nuts and washers I could hold wires in place rather than trying to solder on to such thick metal.
To prevent surface water completing a circuit, I sealed the heads of the screws with waterproof caulk.
However, after two weeks of good performance, the sensor went doolally and emptied the water source in one go.
I had avoided the usual issue of electrolysis by powering the sensor circuit no more than four times an hour for a few seconds each time. The screws do not appear to be damaged, but readings are consistently showing high resistance, even in waterlogged soil.

Rather than leave my plants at the mercy of the weather, or a malicious water sensor, I have decided to move to an ESP8266-driven setup. This setup uses and ESP8266 to trigger the arduino controlling the pump. Why two microcontrollers? The ESP8266 board only has 3.3v out, but has wifi. The Uno has 5v out, but no wifi. The MOSFET controlling the pump will only work with 5v signals; the rest of my idea requires wifi.

With the ESP8266 involved, I can create a websocket to drive the pump. Using Node-Red on a Raspberry Pi, I can host a service reading from a weather API, or any other data source I deem useful. I still have to design the logic, but the intent is to vary watering times based on temperature and recent rainfall. It will also allow me to continue to use the moisture sensor, but as a data source that can be considered secondarily (e.g. it's been hot today, how are the moisture readings?).

While this is far from ideal (two microcontrollers for a relatively simple job...) it will allow me to retain control over the plants' environment while providing a window to investigate the issues in my moisture sensing.

I will be posting some pictures of the planters soon.
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