Hello everyone! I recently purchased the Tuya TS601 soil moisture sensor, and I must say, I was really excited to get it up and running. However, the setup process wasn’t as smooth as I had hoped. I decided to share my experience in case someone else is going through the same thing or is considering purchasing this device.
First off, the sensor itself is pretty compact and looks well-made. The idea of being able to monitor my plants’ soil moisture levels without having to physically check them is amazing. I was looking forward to integrating it into my smart home ecosystem, so I tried setting it up with both Z2M and ZHA. Unfortunately, neither of these platforms recognized the sensor correctly. The device showed up as TZE200_9cqcpkgb and TS601, which I later found out is a common issue with some Zigbee devices.
After some research, I stumbled upon the Zigbee2MQTT documentation, which mentioned that the TS601 should work with their platform. I followed the instructions, but I still encountered some hiccups. The sensor was detected, but it wasn’t reporting accurate moisture levels. This was a bit frustrating, especially since I was really hoping to use it for my indoor plants.
I reached out to the community here, and to my relief, several people had similar experiences. One user suggested checking the firmware version of the sensor, which I hadn’t considered before. I updated the firmware, and to my delight, the sensor started working much more reliably. It turns out that a simple firmware update was all it needed to function properly.
Now that everything is up and running, I can’t recommend this sensor enough for anyone looking to monitor their plants’ soil moisture. It’s a fantastic tool, and with a little troubleshooting, it integrates seamlessly into any smart home setup. I’m really glad I didn’t give up on it and hope this post helps someone else avoid the same pitfalls.
Happy gardening and happy automating! 
