By default, Agent Aqua uses Open-Meteo weather forecasts for your plot's coordinates. If you own an EcoWitt weather station, you can connect it to get live on-site readings instead. This can improve accuracy, especially if your microclimate differs from the wider area.
Why connect a weather station
Open-Meteo forecasts are accurate for most gardens, but they're still general weather data for your location. An EcoWitt station gives you real, measured rainfall and conditions right where your garden is. If you're in a sheltered spot, on a hillside, or in a frost pocket, live data can make a difference.
Aqua can tell when the ground is wet from actual rainfall rather than forecasted rain, which helps it avoid overwatering. And live humidity and temperature readings can refine its watering decisions.
Getting the information you need
To connect an EcoWitt station, you'll need three pieces of information from your EcoWitt account:
- Application key: a unique identifier for your application.
- API key: a secret key for authenticating requests.
- Station MAC address: the hardware address of your weather station device.
Log into your EcoWitt account online and navigate to the settings or API section to find these. If you can't locate them, EcoWitt's support documentation usually covers where to find them.
Connecting the station
On your plot, open Configure and look for Weather station. Tap or click to add a new station. Enter the three values from your EcoWitt account, then save.
Once saved, the station will be used in place of Open-Meteo from the next daily check.
Removing the station
You can disconnect the weather station anytime and return to Open-Meteo forecasts. Just open Configure → Weather station and choose to remove or disconnect it. Future daily checks will revert to forecast data for your coordinates.
Troubleshooting
If Agent Aqua can't connect to your station:
- Double-check that all three values (Application key, API key, MAC address) are correct and copied without extra spaces.
- Check that your EcoWitt station is powered on and connected to the internet.
- Try removing and re-adding the station with fresh values from your EcoWitt account.
Learn more about how Agent Aqua uses weather data in how the daily check works.