From 2005 to 2050, crop demands will increase by 100% to 110% and 50% of land will not be suitable for agriculture (Monsees, 2019). To address this issue, we developed a cost-efficient hydroponic system. In phase 1 of our project, we compared the growth of plants in a long, shallow system and a deep, short system. All p-values were over 0.05, indicating that there is no difference in plant growth between the two different tub sizes.. During phase 1 we faced problems with consistently measuring the pH which led to the wilting and deaths of some plants due to over absorption of nutrients. We decided to focus on pH in our phase 2 project with two main goals: to design a cost-efficient hydroponic system that is sustainable to grow fresh basil and to develop a pH sensor with the use of Arduino Uno that provides accurate, instant readings. The sensor monitors and records the system's pH, notifying users when the pH is not in its optimal range of 5.500-6.500. The sensor was connected to a spreadsheet and LED lights outside of the hydroponic system that lit up when the pH was too high or too low, allowing for modifications to be made. This system offers an alternative method of monitoring of pH, while still being financially accessible.

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