We write the guides we wish existed
when we built our first grow systems.
sudo.farm is a knowledge platform for people who think in systems. We cover hydroponics, IoT sensors, and farm automation, all from the perspective of builders who document what they actually built.
[ 01 ] Story.md
Who we are
sudo.farm was built by people who had a weird combination of skills: comfortable in a terminal, interested in growing food, frustrated that no good resource existed for both at once. The guides we publish are the ones we needed when we started our first grow systems.
The first setup, a Kratky tub with a $6 aquarium light, worked. That was the problem. Once the lettuce started growing, the questions multiplied. The answers were scattered across Reddit threads, YouTube comments, and GitHub repos that hadn't been updated since 2019. No single source covered both the growing side and the electronics side.
We write for beginners without condescending. If you can follow a GitHub README, you can follow our guides. We document real costs, real timelines, and real outcomes, including the failures. Our goal is to get you from "I've never grown anything" to first harvest, not to sell you an enterprise subscription.
We write for beginners without condescending. A beginner is just an expert who started recently.
[ 02 ] Method.md
Why sudo.farm guides produce results
Real builds. Real costs.
Every guide documents actual cost, actual parts, actual outcomes. Not "approximately $50–$200 depending on your setup." If a Kratky system cost $18 and produced lettuce in 23 days, that's what the guide says.
Both layers in one place
Most hydroponic blogs ignore the electronics. Most maker blogs ignore the agriculture. sudo.farm covers both in the same guide: the growing mechanics and the sensor wiring, written by people who did both in the same afternoon.
Open-source first
We feature FarmBot OS, OpenFarmTech, OpenAgToolkit, tools with active communities and no licensing fees. No affiliate-stuffed recommendations for proprietary gear you don't need.
[ 03 ] Team.md
The builders behind the guides
Kai Chen
Founder & Lead Author
Kai Chen
Founder & Lead Author
Software engineer turned urban farmer. Kai built his first Kratky lettuce setup in a Brooklyn apartment in 2021 — and spent the next year documenting every failure and fix.
[ 04 ] Audience.md
Who builds with sudo.farm
Urban Makers
Have a balcony or spare corner. Comfortable with Arduino or Raspberry Pi. Want to build something that actually produces food, documented and repeatable.
// "Show me the parts list and how to wire it."
Self-Sufficiency Seekers
Want year-round produce without daily tending. Not necessarily technical, but will follow clear instructions. Need real yield expectations before committing.
// "I need it to mostly run itself."
Developers & Tinkerers
Homelab crowd applying electronics skills to agriculture. Want firmware details, MQTT setup, open-source repos, and the sensor calibration values that forums skip over.
// "Give me the ESP32 code and tell me what to plant."
[ 05 ] Content.md
What we cover
DIY Hydroponics
Kratky, DWC, NFT, and ebb-and-flow, each with a documented build log, real parts list, and total cost. Jo's first Kratky setup cost $18 and produced lettuce in 23 days.
Explore DIY systems →Smart Irrigation & IoT
ESP32 sensors, automated irrigation, MQTT dashboards. The homelab approach to growing food. Alex's $22 sensor setup has been running for three months without intervention.
Explore IoT guides →Beginner Farming
The structured path from zero experience to first harvest. Jordan's $50 DWC lettuce setup in a Portland apartment, documented step by step from seed to plate.
Start the beginner path →Start exploring
167 guides organized by topic, level, and cost. All written by builders. All free.