WSJ: gadget tells you plant needs water, more sun or fertilizer.
LOL! We can all have green thumbs now… imagine an app that tells you that your plant is not getting enough sun…
WSJ: Some people talk to their plants. One of my plants has started talking to me.
Electronically, that is. A new gadget called the Parrot PARRO.FR +1.40% Flower Power, which I stuck into one of my flower pots, is sending wireless messages to my smartphone about how my Christmas cactus is doing.
Using electronic sensors, the device tells me when the plant needs more water or if I’ve been drowning it, whether it gets too much sun or too little, when it needs fertilizer and whether the air is too hot or too cold.
It turns out my Christmas cactus wasn’t getting enough light, the Flower Power told me via its iPhone app, so I moved it closer to a window.
The Flower Power is one of a growing list of attempts to bring the ancient, low-tech hobby of gardening into the digital era. For people who regularly kill their plants this gadget may sound like a godsend. No longer will you have to guess what’s ailing your drooping begonia or why the ficus tree has been losing its leaves.
To use the Flower Power, you insert its forked prong into the soil a few inches from the plant you want to monitor. You also need to download the Flower Power app to your iPhone or iPad. (It doesn’t yet work with Android-based devices.)
Chez Froggie 