Tag: flowers

Categories
Connected Objects

Give your plants a voice with the Daisy app and sensor

It’s said that talking to plants will help them grow both faster and stronger, but what most gardeners would actually enjoy more than talking to their plants is having their plants talk to them. Unless someone is an expert, the process of caring for all types of different plants would be made so much easier if each said exactly what they needed at all times.

Although the Daisy sensor and app doesn’t actually give your plants a voice per se, it does the next best thing. By sticking the sensor into the plant’s soil, the combination temperature, light, and water sensor uses Bluetooth LE to send pertinent alerts to a user’s smartphone whenever a plant needs water or is generally stressed.

The app also catalogs all of the greenery in a user’s collection, providing technical information through easily accessibly wiki pages and allowing personalization with customizable names and pictures. The Daisy PRO is available for those with larger plants and trees in their care, and retails for $69. For everyone else, two standard Daisy sensors goes for $34 with an expected delivery in June 2015. The campaign is looking for $50,000.

The Daisy is an engaging way to interact with the responsibilities placed on gardeners or just average people taking care of some green in their home or apartment. While other products like the Daisy.si actually waters the plants itself, the Daisy app actually provides users with valuable information which may prove to be more beneficial in the long run.

Categories
Home

GreenVase keeps indoor plants watered for up to three weeks

Studies show that having plants in the home can improve productivity and mood. Plants are a welcome addition to any room, but like any other living thing, require some maintenance. Without the proper amount of water, plants will wilt and die.

With GreenVase, watering is no longer a worry. This vase consists of three parts, a soil pot, a water tank and a rope. With four settings, it will keep the plant watered for up to three weeks. Plants that need tons of water get it on the highest setting, while more finicky plants won’t get over-watered with the lower settings.

It’s interesting to see a product like this that doesn’t involve Bluetooth or a smartphone app. The rope is what distributes the water to the soil. It’s incredible that the GreenVase can keep plants watered for up to three weeks. It must be said that smart planters, like the Daisy si, can monitor moisture levels and distribute water accordingly. However, if the plant never moves and the temperature remains relatively stable, there’s really no need for manual watering. GreenVase may not be as accurate as smarter waterers, but it doesn’t really need to be.

Backers can have their very own for a donation of $29 for estimated delivery in May 2015. GreenVase is looking to raise $101,000 by mid January on Kickstarter.

Categories
Accents

Garden@Home offers modular planting boxes to stack and save space

Living in a city has many advantages. Museums, theaters and concert halls are only steps away and everything is open late. While cultural events are ubiquitous in a city, nature is much harder to come by. Garden@Home is a small garden system for those who only have a little space in which to grow plants. Featuring poles, shelves and a support dripping system, you can have several boxes of different kinds of plants and flowers. Some boxes sit above others and their water drips into the lower plants. The basic set holds four planters, but there is also an extension set of two planters available. Garden@Home comes in a variety of color palettes.

The biggest complaint among city dwellers is the lack of nature. Many flee to parks in the spring, summer and fall, but stay in for the winter. Garden@Home is a great system for those who like lots of plants in their apartments, but lack space to house them all. If installation is as easy as the campaign claims, this would make a great addition to any tiny studio. For the smallest set coming complete with two planters, backers must donate $55 CAD (~$48 USD) for estimated delivery in May 2015. Garden@Home is hoping to raise an ambitious $115,000 (~$101,200 USD) on Kickstarter.

Categories
Sensors/IoT

Daisy.si waters houseplants when you’re not on home turf

The Premise. People love to have plants in their houses and offices. However, sometimes it’s hard to know if you’re watering those plants too much or not enough. Sometimes we have to guess, which can have deadly consequences… for the plants that is.

The Product. Daisy.si is a smart plant watering device. This small product has two prongs that rest in the soil. The LED light on top indicates if the soil is fully wet, moist or too dry and also shows battery information as well as how much light the plant is getting. The device then uses this information to gauge how much water it should dispense to the plant. A long tube goes from the moisture source into the soil. A program allows the user to adjust watering settings from their phone or computer. They can either choose to water the plant manually or use the auto-detect function. Daisy.si runs on a battery that lasts up to two years.

The Pitch. Daisy.si’s video shows the device being used in a number of different settings with lots of different kinds of flowers, herbs, vegetables and the like. The creators from Slovenia use a bit of broken English throughout the rest of the campaign to describe the prototyping process as well as showing the accompanying program’s interface. Daisy needs to raise $18,000 in its 45-day Indiegogo campaign.

The Perks. For only $30, early backers can enjoy the Daisy.si with free shipping worldwide at a regular price of $33. Reward tiers go up to $303 offering different quantities of the product, but not much else. There is no estimated delivery date specified.

The Potential. The Daisy.si is perhaps the most sophisticated plant watering system around. Others claim to be as smart, but fail in their delivery like Jobe’s Smart Watering System that really only acts as an IV drip for plants. Daisy.si not only detects moisture, but sunlight as well which is a necessary detail to take into account when caring for plants. All in all, Daisy.si’s versatility in moisture detection and its ability to be controlled remotely make it a great product for green-thumbed backers.