Digital Stealth Care · get started
Get started, step by step
What to buy and what to do, in order, for a one-tent grow.
Start small
Three steps, in order
Start with the Pi. Add sensors, then the hub, when you want them. Nothing is thrown away when you move up.
Step 1
A Raspberry Pi and smart plugs
All you need to start is a Raspberry Pi 4 with 4 GB or more (Pi 5 has not been tested yet). Smart plugs switch your fans, lamps, heater and humidifier on a schedule and from your sensors.
Step 2
Add sensors you choose
Bluetooth, Zigbee or Wi-Fi sensors from any maker. Now the room follows real readings, not just a timer.
Step 3
Add the DSC hub when you want it
The hub is optional. It adds wired fan speed, lamp dimming and a hardware failsafe that keeps the room in range if the Pi stops. Nothing you set up is thrown away. Read the hub build guide.
With plugs alone, nothing takes over if the Pi stops. Don't leave a heater unattended on plugs alone; the hub adds that failsafe. What DSC is and is not, on the home page.
Starting without a hub? Choose “No hub” in Setup. The 9.9.1 Setup screen still labels it “not supported in this alpha”: that label is wrong and is fixed in 9.9.2. A full setup without a hub has not been tested end to end yet, so please tell us anything odd.
Coming from a DIY setup?
Coming from Home Assistant or Mycodo?
DSC is its own controller, made for grow rooms, so it does not need either to run. Out of the box it brings air and leaf VPD with stage targets, flowering time and the harvest window from CannaLib, root-zone probes and a 3D twin of the room. There is no YAML and no scripting.
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Join the alpha
The alpha is one SD image for a Raspberry Pi. Every alpha build is free, and yours to keep. Sign up and the download link arrives the day the next build ships.
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Get a brain host
A Raspberry Pi 4 with 4 GB or more is all you need to start (Pi 5 has not been tested yet). The SD image is built for it. Add the official power supply, a case and storage. For a box that is always on, an SSD beats a microSD card.
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Pick a basket
Choose one of the three starter baskets, or check what you already own against the supported gear. Most smart plugs and sensors already in your house will do a job in the tent. Not on the supported list? There is still a good chance it will work; if it does not, put in a device request: we fold requests into the next DSC-KitLib release, and the library is updated regularly.
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Flash, pair, bind
Flash the Pi card, and the hub if you build one (flashing and first boot), boot the Pi, pair each device and give it a job: lamp, pump, canopy sensor, runoff tray. The user guide covers every step. Strains come from the CannaLib catalogue (143,611 strains); new lookups need the internet, and what the kit has looked up stays on the kit. A small built-in set works offline, and a local copy of the catalogue can be installed.
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Add the hub when you want it
The hub is optional. It is the DSC-made board that runs wired fans at any speed, dims the lamps and keeps the room in range if the Pi stops. You build it from the hub build guide, with the schematics map of the power domains and signal lines beside it; the build guides list the parts and the per-pot probes. Add it any time; nothing you set up is thrown away.
Why add the hub
You can start with the Pi and smart plugs. The hub adds the safety layer. The over-temperature failsafe, the sensor watchdog and a clock that keeps the lights right all live in the hub's firmware, so they keep working when the Pi is off.
- If the Pi stops, the hub keeps running its wired fans and dimmed lamps from its own sensors and its own clock, inside its hard limits. With the Pi alone there is no such failsafe, and nothing re-asserts a command that did not land.
- Smart plugs behave differently: each Sonoff appliance plug starts off at power-on and switches itself off if it has not heard from the brain for a set time (heater 60 seconds, heat mat and humidifier 90 seconds, dehumidifier 4 minutes).
- With plugs alone, nothing takes over if the Pi stops. Don't leave a heater unattended on plugs alone; the hub adds that failsafe.
- The hub also gives you wired fan speed and lamp dimming, which plugs cannot do.
The hub is an ESP32 build: the hub build guide covers it, and the build guides cover the per-pot probes.
Starter baskets
Three ways to fill the trolley
The first two each cover lights, climate sensing and a camera or a leak sensor for one tent: add the Pi to either. The third is for when the basics are running. One tent, one LED, an inline exhaust fan, a clip fan, maybe a humidifier or a dehumidifier and a small heater, and hand-watering or a pump on a reservoir: all of it cheap, all of it easy to find, none of it tied to a brand.
Models are named as examples only. We give no prices, because they differ by country and change often. Check what is sold near you, and check that each part suits your local mains supply and plug type.
Walk in, walk out. No Zigbee.
The shop-shelf basket
- Tuya Wi-Fi smart plugs, four-pack
- A Tuya temperature and humidity adaptor
- Two Bluetooth temperature and humidity sensors, for example Govee H5075
- A Wi-Fi camera with a local stream, for example Tapo C110
Most of it is on the shelf at a general hardware or electronics shop. The plugs need their local keys extracted once.
The best fit for DSC
The Zigbee core
- Sonoff ZBDongle-E coordinator
- Three Zigbee metering plugs
- Two Sonoff SNZB-02D sensors
- Sonoff SNZB-05P leak sensor
- HOBEIAN ZG-303Z soil sensor
Mains plugs extend the mesh, alarms arrive instantly and there are no keys to wrangle.
When the basics are running
Add-ons: pick and mix
- PH-W218 reservoir pH and EC monitor
- Tuya NDIR CO₂ sensor
- Heiman smoke sensor
- An IR blaster
The IR blaster is for a lane that is still being built. Buy it only if you want to help test.
Every job in the tent
What covers what
The cheapest off-the-shelf answer to each job, and how it reaches DSC. A fan is a fan and a plug is a plug: if you already own something that does the job, use that.
| Job in the tent | Cheapest off-the-shelf answer | How it connects |
|---|---|---|
| Lights on and off, on the room's own clock | A Tuya Wi-Fi or Zigbee smart plug | Tuya Wi-Fi or Zigbee |
| Canopy temperature and humidity, for VPD | Sonoff SNZB-02D or Govee H5075 | Zigbee or Bluetooth |
| Watering shots | A smart plug and a small submersible pump | Zigbee first, Tuya as the fallback |
| Backup dehumidifier or an extra fan | The same plugs (mind the motor limit below) | Zigbee or Tuya |
| Floor flood and runoff tray | Sonoff SNZB-05P leak sensor | Zigbee |
| Pot moisture | HOBEIAN ZG-303Z or Mi Flora HHCCJCY01 | Zigbee or Bluetooth |
| Reservoir pH and EC | PH-W218 Wi-Fi monitor | Tuya Wi-Fi |
| CO₂ | Tuya NDIR Zigbee sensor or SwitchBot Meter Pro CO2 | Zigbee or Bluetooth |
| Smoke, gas and CO, with a safety cut-off | Heiman HS1SA / HS3CG / HS1CA-E | Zigbee |
| Eyes on the plants, and timelapse | TP-Link Tapo C100 / C110 or any USB webcam | RTSP or USB |
| Variable fan speed | An EC fan with a 0 to 10 V input, a GP8403 DAC and an ESP32 | ESPHome |
Lane by lane
The picks, and the catches
A lane is one way a device talks to DSC, and every lane runs on your own network. Each lane below lists the picks and the catch that goes with each.
Zigbee: the best technical fit
Mains-powered devices extend the mesh, alarms arrive instantly and there are no keys to extract. You need one USB coordinator, once: the Sonoff ZBDongle-E is a low-cost local pick. Put it on a short USB 2.0 extension lead, away from the Pi's USB 3 ports.
| Device | Does | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Zigbee metering plug | Lights, pumps, aux loads, with energy metering | 10 A resistive but only 300 W inductive. |
| Sonoff SNZB-02D | Temperature and humidity, with a screen | SNZB-02P is the version without a screen. The IP65 SNZB-02WD suits a humid tent. |
| Sonoff SNZB-02LD | Reservoir temperature, on a probe | Temperature only. |
| Sonoff SNZB-05P | Water leak: floor or runoff tray | Aqara SJCGQ11LM is the alternative. |
| HOBEIAN ZG-303Z | Soil moisture, plus air temperature and humidity | Needs a day or two to settle. No Zigbee soil probe we found reports EC, whatever the listing says. |
| Tuya NDIR CO₂ sensor | CO₂, true NDIR, USB powered | Avoid the look-alike "Smart Air Box": its CO₂ number is not a real measurement. |
| Heiman HS1SA, HS3CG, HS1CA-E | Smoke, gas and carbon monoxide | Supplementary only. See the safety notes. |
Tuya and Smart Life Wi-Fi: already in the shopping trolley
Many of the smart plug ranges sold in supermarkets and hardware shops are Tuya underneath. DSC drives them over your own LAN, with no cloud in the loop. The honest catch: each device needs its local key extracted once, which takes a free Tuya developer account and about fifteen minutes. The user guide walks through it, and the key only changes if you re-pair the device.
| Device | Does | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tuya Wi-Fi metering plug | Lights, pumps, aux loads, with energy metering | A low-cost plug. It has a countdown timer of its own, which DSC uses as a second safety on pump shots. |
| Tuya twin socket | Two switched outlets, metering and surge protection | Metering is for the whole device, not per outlet. |
| Tuya temperature and humidity adaptor | Temperature and humidity sensor on a mains adaptor | Never sleeps. Check where the sensor sits: in the body, it reads the wall, not the canopy. |
| PH-W218 monitor | Reservoir pH, EC, TDS, ORP and temperature | Hobby probes drift: calibrate monthly and expect about a year from a probe. |
Bluetooth LE: the zero-effort lane
No pairing and no keys. Put the sensor in the tent, match the reading on its screen to the one DSC shows, and bind it. Once bound, its readings feed climate. Batteries are the only setup.
| Device | Does | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Govee H5075 | Temperature and humidity, with a screen | Works out of the box. The easiest pick on this page. |
| ThermoPro TP357 / TP359 | Temperature and humidity | The cheapest option that needs no flashing. |
| SwitchBot Outdoor Meter | Temperature and humidity, IP65 | For a humid tent. |
| Inkbird IBS-TH2 Plus | Root zone or reservoir temperature, on a probe | |
| Mi Flora HHCCJCY01 | Soil moisture, rough EC, light and temperature | The only cheap off-the-shelf soil EC in any lane. Probes corrode in permanently wet media. |
| SwitchBot Meter Pro CO2 | CO₂ | Run it on USB-C for faster updates. Aranet4 Home is the gold standard. |
Cameras: anything with a local stream
DSC reads USB webcams and any camera that offers RTSP, MJPEG or an HTTP snapshot on your own network. Frames stay on the kit.
| Device | Does | Note |
|---|---|---|
| TP-Link Tapo C100 / C110 | Wi-Fi camera with RTSP | Create a "Camera Account" in the Tapo app to switch RTSP on, then block the camera from the internet. Battery Tapos have no RTSP. |
| Reolink E1 Pro | Wi-Fi camera with RTSP and ONVIF | No account needed at all. The base E1 has no RTSP. |
| Any 1080p USB webcam | USB camera | The only path with exposure and focus controls in DSC. |
ESPHome: off the shelf, no soldering
Pre-flashed or click-together ESP32 gear joins the same lane as DSC's own hub and probes.
| Device | Does | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Athom ESP32-C3 plug | Smart plug with power monitoring, ESPHome pre-flashed | 16 A relay. Check the maker's certification for your region. |
| M5Stack ATOM Lite + ENV IV or SCD40 | Click-together climate or CO₂ sensor | Grove connectors, flashed from a browser. |
| DFRobot GP8403 DAC | 0 to 10 V output for EC fans and dimmable LED drivers | This is how DSC sets fan speed instead of just switching it. |
Fans, and the branded smart controllers
AC Infinity, Mars Hydro, Spider Farmer and VIVOSUN controllers do not offer a local interface, so DSC drives the fan or the light itself, not the brand's controller. Buy hardware with a 0 to 10 V or PWM input and let DSC be the brain. The Phresh Hyperfan v2 150 mm has the cleanest open 0 to 10 V input. The AC Infinity Cloudline Pro T6 has an EC motor that takes a 10 V PWM signal from an ESP32.
What to leave on the shelf
- Generic "16 A / 20 A" Zigbee plugs from marketplaces (reports of an unconnected earth pin, no compliance mark and invented current ratings).
- IKEA's new smart plugs, which moved to Matter over Thread.
- Battery Wi-Fi leak and smoke sensors, which sleep and cannot be polled: buy Zigbee for those.
- Wyze, Eufy indoor, Xiaomi, Ring, Arlo, Nest and Tuya-based cameras, which have no usable local stream.
Read before you buy
Four honest notes
This is market research, not a test report
"Works" on this page means the device is supported by the local lane DSC uses, and DSC has a job for it. It does not mean we have run that exact unit. The supported gear page lists what DSC recognises, not what we have run.
Small smart plugs and motors do not mix
Pumps, compressor dehumidifiers, big fans and LED drivers draw a surge at switch-on that can weld a small plug's relay shut. Aquarium-class pumps and LED boards under the plug's inductive rating are fine. A compressor dehumidifier wants a contactor or a plug rated for it. Keep resistive heaters at or under about 1,800 W.
Smart smoke, gas and CO sensors are extra eyes
None of the smart sensors we found carries a smoke-alarm certification. DSC can cut a heater or a lamp when one trips, and that is worth having, but keep a certified photoelectric smoke alarm as the life-safety device.
Mains wiring is an electrician's job
Everything in the baskets plugs into a wall socket. Relay modules such as Shelly, DIN-rail meters and anything else that is wired into mains wiring must follow your local rules and be done by a licensed electrician where the law requires it, and gear without your region's compliance mark can raise insurance questions.
Grow room setup
Grow room setup: the short answer
A grow room setup is lights on a fixed schedule, then temperature and humidity sensing at the canopy, then fans for air exchange, and a humidifier or dehumidifier last. Add each piece once the one before it is reporting, so you can see what it does. The step rail at the top of this page turns that order into steps, from the alpha to flashing and pairing, and the three questions below answer the rest.
What comes first in a grow room setup?
Sensing before switching means every appliance you add is one you can check. Once the sensors report, the free VPD calculator turns a temperature and humidity reading into the number growers steer by, and the PPFD chart by growth stage says what each stage asks of the light. Fans come before appliances: see grow room ventilation, and then the humidity controller page for how the appliances come last.
Grow room or grow tent?
A tent is a small, closed volume, so one set of sensors and a couple of fans can usually hold it. A room has more air and more places for it to hide, so it usually wants sensors in more than one spot. DSC treats each tent or room as a space with its own sensors, targets and journal, and a space can be switched between growing, drying and curing in place.
CO₂ in a grow room: what does DSC do?
DSC reads CO₂ and shows it. The reading comes from a Zigbee or Bluetooth CO₂ sensor, or from the hub's own CO₂ input. It does not switch a CO₂ source today, so there is no CO₂ controller to buy for it. The supported devices page lists the CO₂ sensors DSC recognises. Join the alpha to try it.
Ready when the next alpha ships
Sign up once, and tell us which of this gear you own. The brands testers name are the brands we verify first.