We all know how important it is to grow plants, both indoors and outdoors – you get extra oxygen, they clean the air of bugs and reduce dust levels. You help out the local wildlife, look after the bees a bit, and have a great space to relax outdoors.
Who wouldn’t want something that looks great, helps you chill out, and means you don’t have to vaccum as much?
However, plants can be a bit of a chore to look after, which is why there are plenty of devices on the market to make it simpler and way more fun for us technogeeks.
Here are five awesome gadgets for geeky gardeners everywhere:
1 – EasyBloom Plant Sensor
Why spend weeks reading up on what kind of soil you have, the microclimates in your garden and what plants to plant where, when you can have a web-based tool that does it all for you?
Just pop the EasyBloom sensor in the soil you want to plant in, and over 24 hours it will record the sunlight, humidity, temperature and soil drainage. Then, you just plug it into the USB port of you computer, and let it correlate the data with its web database, and suggest the perfect plants to plant! Trial and error is for losers!
2- Power Plant Growing Machine
This amazing little pot is a result of NASA technology, which lets you grow plants indoors with no messy soil. The roots of your plant are sprayed constantly with nutrient rich water to make them grow big and strong with virtually no maintenance from you whatsoever. They are particularly great at growing delicate herbs in.
3 – Thirsty Light
Did you know that the number one reason for the death of a plant is overwatering? The Thirsty Light makes sure you only water your plant when it needs it – and reminds you when you forget.
It looks a little like a chefs thermometer, with a brass probe and green bulb on top, which blends quite well into the plant. The probe senses the moisture levels in the soil, and when you need to water, lets you know with a flashing LED in the bulb. You’ve gotta love technology!
4 – The AeroGarden
Ever wanted to successfully grow your own vegetables and herbs indoors? Well, the AeroGarden makes it easy.
It’s essentially a super clever plant trough that delivers exactly the right amount of nutrients, water and light to the plants depending on what you’re growing. It lets you know when it needs more water and nutrients, and will grow you a crop in less than half the time it takes in a regular pot. Perfect if you’ve managed to kill every plant you’ve owned (probably by overwatering!).
5 – Husquvarna Solar Automower
Who likes mowing the garden? No one, of course (unless you’ve got one of those really cool sit-on mowers, that is). Well, now you can have it done for you, with no manpower required.
Just outline the edge of your grass area with a wire, and let the Automower do its job. You get about 40 minutes cutting time before it returns to charge itself, though on sunny days, the solar panels on the back of the Automower can give you an extra 20 minutes. Due to the solar panels, the mower uses far less energy than any other conventional mower. Kind to the environment and your electricity bills, what more could you want?
So there’s my round up, more USB ports than you could shake a stick at, well, a stalk at.
About the author: Jasmine Ayres is a passionate gardener and technogeek, and loves it when these two worlds combine. She is a botanical blogger and highly recommends Ambius for anything from health infusing office plants to the latest scent marking technology.
Credits: Photos courtesy of Tony Buser and Danielle Scott respectively.