Procedure to get module “Plant_io” and “time” on to Picos Thonny . Web site programs not working .
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Hi Frank,
Are you able to share some more details about your issues?
I was able to download the zip from the guide page: Plant_io Basic Setup Guide | Automatically Water a Seedling Based on Soil Moisture - Tutorial Australia
After running the basic pump test code from the web site using Thonny i received the error:
from Plant_io import Plant_io
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named ‘Plant_io’
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i think the problem is no usb driver on the pico. what the best way to add the usb driver ?
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Hi Frank,
If you can connect and see an output in the REPL then there is no issue with any drivers.
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named ‘Plant_io’
This error means you haven’t uploaded the modules onto the Pico
If you watch the video for a bit it shows how to install the modules
I cant find any references to Plant_io any where in all the Pico or Micro Python documentation or software from Core.I will use a Pi 4 ( overkill i know) to do the same job as the Pico. All a great learning experience. Thanks for all your help.
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Hi Frank,
Have you followed the guide linked here? Plant_io Basic Setup Guide | Automatically Water a Seedling Based on Soil Moisture - Tutorial Australia
Using a Pi SBC will require purchasing an ADC module and reworking parts of the included software.
Are you able to send through more details about where you are having trouble?
as i said before i have set every thing up as per guide. When running scripts for the watering station eg test pump “Plant_io” and" machine" are not recognized so the run fails . A simple print hello world works ok . Its like PyPl files/packages are corrupted.
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Hi Frank,
The Plant_io code unfortunately isnt on PyPi and must be installed manually through downloading the file via the file browser.
Keen to get this one sorted out!
so how to connect to web browser. Even "machine " which is in PyPi library wont down load. Excuse my ignorance
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Hi Frank,
No worries, ask away!
machine is part of micropython itself and doesn’t need to be installed like in the full version of python.
Plant_io requires you download all of the files in a zip, then install them via Thonny.
Just to confirm, have you watched the video in the guide?
did all that a number of times, same results. modules not recognized . even ran it all on a second computer. My pi4 set is working well ,a bit more hardware and coding but great. Pico are my nightmare but i push on.
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Hey @Frank196078,
I have had a go at this myself and have had success following these steps:
- Downloaded the code and resources from the guide
- Unzipped this folder
- Right clicked on ‘test_moisture_sensor.py’ and selected ‘Open With’ then ‘Thonny’
- Once Thonny had opened I connected my Pico to the computer.
- I verified that Thonny was looking for the pico on the correct serial port by navigating from the top menu ‘Run’ → ‘Select Interpreter…’ and then making sure the ‘Port’ field is filled with the correct USB serial device (in my case COM5 although this may be different for you)
- Closed this window with the ‘OK’ button on the bottom right.
- Pressed the stop button to restart the connection to the pico
- Hit the green run/play button to have the code run on the pico
If you try this and get stuck, would you be able to share the point at which you encounter errors and share the output from Thonny?
Hopefully, this doesn’t give you too much more trouble 
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Hi Frank,
From the sounds of it your interpreter is set to Python 3, where it should be the Pico - Sam’s instructions ought to get you going!
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i just happen to get delivery to day of a couple of Pico 2 all the scripts listed in the tutorial worked fine.I even wrote a script to run the pump all worked well.Its just Plant _io module is still not recognized and therefore the scrips listed in CE-Makerverse -Plant_io -main don’t work. Plant_io can not be down loaded under Manage Packages.
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Tried what you suggested all ok till i press RUN; This is the feedback.
MPY: soft reboot
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “”, line 4, in
ImportError: no module named ‘Plant_io’
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Hi @Frank196078
The error that you’re receiving is because there is no Plant_io file saved to your Pico, you would need to downloaded from here and and the specific Plant_io.py file uploaded to the pico. In Thonny you would need to navigate to where you have downloaded and extracted the files, select Plant_io, right click and hit Upload to /, this will upload the file to the pico and should allow you to run the code.
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The Zip down load link you suggests is titled CE-Makerverse-Plant_io -main. Opening the zip file gives me A Code folder & Platform folder (mechanical set ups ) + LICENSE & README. NO where is Plany_io.py. The Code folder is Thonny scripts for testing parts of the overall system. All the scrips need module Plant_io which i cant get.
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i found it i will try ur suggestion thanks
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So running Plant_io .py in Thonny is the total program to run the waterering system ?// EG If want to test the pump and in the Thonny scipt it asked to input Plant_io ( which has been the problem)how do i get that from Plant_io.py. Thanks for your help
