At last! Perhaps something that will keep me from killing plants!
Sensor battles senseless houseplant death | CNET News.com:
Plants can't bark. That's why Matt Glenn founded PlantSense.
The San Francisco-based start-up has developed a 10-inch, stake-shaped sensor that obtains information about light, moisture, soil composition and other factors that can affect plant growth and health. The sensor is placed a few inches into the soil and connected to a computer, via a USB interface, where it downloads the information to PlantSense's Web site.
PlantSense can then tell users what they're doing wrong (too much sunlight, not enough fertilizer, etc.) as well as provide recommendations on what plants might grow best in a particular microclimate in a home or garden. Subscribers to the site can also keep records of the health histories of various plants and microclimates in their house and yard on the site.
"What we have developed is a plant lifecycle development platform," he said, co-opting some of the buzzwords he likely used while working at Cisco Systems and Xircom.
Killing plants is one of America's favorite pastimes. In 2003, Americans spent $18 billion on indoor and outdoor plants, not including grass. That's $160 per household, on average.
Roughly 14 percent of plants die in the first few weeks after being bought, and another 18 percent die within five months. That 32 percent mortality rate partly explains why Americans also spent $23 billion on fertilizer and plant food in that same year.