Here's All the Tech I Use to Grow a Better Garden

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Gardening season is approaching faster than it might seem, and like a lot of modern gardeners, I get an assist from technology every year. I use tech to help raise seeds into seedlings, plant them outside, produce a harvest, and still have a whole life outside of the garden. From weather stations and soil monitors to apps and calendars, here's all the tech I'm dusting off right now to start getting ready.

A weather station

It begins with the basics. I have a Tempest weather station in my front yard, and a few smart temperature gauges in the backyard. Although you can easily pull weather information from a local weather station (you’d be surprised how many neighbors have them; locate them at Weather Underground), I still find it incredibly helpful to know the real microclimate of my yard. I know when rain, hail, snow is going to hit, and the actual temperature at any time, whether I’m at home or away. For outdoor temperature monitoring, I’ve yet to find sensors that are as hardy as the Aqara or Switchbot. 

Soil monitors

The temperature outside is important for planting, since you shouldn’t place plants outside until the overnight temps are stable above fifty degrees, but soil temperature is just as important. There’s never been great soil sensors before now, but this year I’m trying the ThirdReality Smart Soil Sensor in a few locations.  I’m also excited to try the new Moen soil sensors.

Not only are the sensors going to tell me when my soil is warm enough for planting, they can give important humidity data to my smart watering system—I’ve used a Hydrawise for three seasons and I’m incredibly happy with it. Hydrawise looks and acts like a normal drip or sprinkler control, but it has a wifi module that will connect to your phone and a local weather station and it uses the data to decide whether to water that day, and how much. It's great to be able to control my drip system from my phone, and get detailed reports on how much water was used. 

Garden apps

That’s all helpful to know when to plant, but I start seeds inside, and I use a bucket of different tech tools to help. First, there’s the planning stage. You don’t start all your seeds at once, you seed so the seedlings they produce are ready at about the time they can go out into the ground outside. Keeping track of what to plant when can be overwhelming, so I use Seedtime to create a planting calendar—its app and desktop interface are incredibly helpful.. 

A seedsheet in excel, and the trays they represent Credit: Amanda Blum

The seed trays themselves hold 50, 72, or 128 seedlings, and you don’t put a label marker into each cell, which would be time consuming. I use a method taught to me by Meg Cowden of Seed to Fork, and use Google Spreadsheets to keep track of what is in each tray. The trays are numbered and marked with a front and back, and the spreadsheet details what is in each cell of the tray. When I go to plant, I bring my phone with me, or sometimes I print out a sheet. 

Automations and controllers

I’ve discussed at some length how I plant seeds and what I use, but I rely on technology to ensure I’m keeping my seedlings on track. For instance, seedling heat mats ensure the soil in the trays is warm enough for seeds to germinate, but you need to control that heat because if the temperature gets too high, seeds get baked. I use an Inkbird controller to do so. It includes a probe to put into the soil, and then from your phone (or the controller), you specify a temperature range. The controller will turn the heat mat on and off to ensure it maintains the right temperature. 

I’ve also learned (the hard way) that too much humidity can lead to viruses and other problems in my seed-starting room, so with an Aqara temperature and humidity sensor, I use a Google Home automation to kick on the overhead fan when humidity gets too high. The fan’s air benefits the plants, too, which form stronger stems with a breeze. 

Calendars, voice assistants and reminders

Outside, the Monty compost monitor reminds me to turn over my compost occasionally when the worms aren’t doing their job. It sends notifications to update me on the status of my compost, which is quite helpful. Truly, reminders are the key to much of my garden success. I have an entire Google calendar that is solely for garden reminders, such as when to plant specific seeds outside, check on plants, or put trellises up. Those reminders stream to my Google Nest speakers and my voice assistant will speak up to let me know if I forgot something. Most importantly, the calendar can be repurposed year to year.

Security cameras

I’ve been surprised how much I engage my smart cameras around the yard; yes, they catch critters who can cause damage (I’m particularly aware of neighborhood cats setting up in my garden this year, due to their ability to transmit bird flu), but it’s even helpful during a storm to check on how some fragile plants are doing. I’m excited to test the new Petal cameras coming from Bird Buddy, which use solar power and are installed at plant level. They use AI to report how your plants are faring. I hope to use these to capture weekly updates of my yard from the camera’s positions. I use these photos in wintertime, to decide what to plant each year. 

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