Hello! Looking to improve my Arduino skills

My name is Ryan and I've been playing with Arduinos for years now but now I'm wanting to get a bit more serious. I've been fascinated by electronics since I was a kid in the mid 80s and hung out at Radio Shack and took apart every broken radio and TV I could find, but my interest never got very far because I didn't have anyone to teach me. I got into programming and have worked as a programmer my whole life. About 8 years ago I was in a Radio Shack looking for a project to do with my kid, and found an Arduino kit, which was a game-changer.

That kid didn't really take to electronics, but I was hooked. I've made lots of projects and collected a huge amount of components and I've learned a ton about electronics. Now kid #2 is growing hydroponic hot peppers and he's interested in building an automated system. I've done an automated garden in the past and it wouldn't really be a problem except this time I've made the horrible decision to Do It Right and I've run into problems, which I'll post about in the appropriate forum.

I love talking about this stuff and I hope to help people who are starting out and also learn some things from those who know more than I do. I've already learned so much from the YouTube channel, which is easily the best of its kind I've found! Thank you!