EasyBloom plant sensor review
15.8 years ago computer, EasyBloom, electronics, gadget, garden planning, product review
I will admit, I have a weakness for electronic gadgets, when I got wind of the EasyBloom I just had to try it out. The EasyBloom plant sensor is a device with built-in sensors to measure light intensity, humidity, temperature, and moisture content in your soil. It has three basic modes: Recommend, Monitor, and Water.
With the Recommend setting you place the EasyBloom into a location you want to grow something, let it sit there for at least 24 hours, plug it into your computer, and it will provide a detailed analysis of your planting area and provide a list of plants that would thrive in that location.
The Monitor setting allows you to diagnose problems with a particular plant. You first define the type of plant you want to monitor, turn on the device and place it next to the not so healthy plant, water, return 24 hours later, and plug it again into your computer. It will use the data stored in the sensors to give you a diagnosis to what the plant’s ailment might be.. Of course, this will not diagnose various pest or disease issue but can let you know if you have planted a little too early, in the wrong location, or are not watering enough (or too much) based on your soil structure.
Finally it has the water setting which the name should imply, will notify you when you need to water your plants.
To test this thing out I had three locations in mind to take measurements, each of which would provide a huge diversity of readings.
First, I put the EasyBloom in my grow box in the Recommend mode. I have complete control over the temperature and lighting I definitely could confirm the devices accuracy and I expected to see decent diversity of plants recommended. After placing the device in my grow box for almost 24 hours (see missing results below)
Overall the readings were nearly exactly what I expected though I was hoping to get a full sun rating, guess I may need to add an extra bulb to the box. Even with my conditions it did recommend 176 plants that I could grow inside it to maturity, though I am going to demand a rematch after adding a little more light
Second, I brought the sensor and set it up next to my office window. Currently I am growing Lemon Verbena I transplanted from my garden. I wasn’t concerned about moisture content so for this reading I didn’t include the moisture sensor and here were the results that were returned.
After this result I felt a little better about my grow box since it at least it was beating of an eastern facing window sill. With this result the program recommended 92 shade loving plants with Lemon Verbena not being one of them, though I have been providing some supplemental light to the plants.
Finally, I used the EasyBloom on my southern facing fence line plot (where I normally grow my cucumbers and tomatoes) This is where I wondered of the usefulness of EasyBloom to actually give good information about planning a garden in the offseason. Though I can not grow tomatoes outside right now due to cold, would it still let me know that it was still possible. Well here are the readings:
When I put the sensor outside it was raining pretty hard so passed the “weather proof” test. Though it did clear up the next day which is reflected in the “Full Sun” light reading. This was the obvious winner with 3458 plants recommended with the over 5000 in their database.
In conclusion, I will be the first to admit that the EasyBloom would not be on the necessity list for gardening tools, but for a beginning gardener it could provide some valuable incites to help your first few years be much more successful. For nerds/geeks like me it is a pretty cool toy, that I will be sure to be using in testing new lighting and grow box designs in the future.
Tags: cheap, growbox, led, outdoor plants, tomato plants, vegetables
15.8 years ago
Now thats one fancy little gadget- LOL I probably want one! Thanks for the review!
15.8 years ago
This appeals to the control freak in me for my garden!
15.8 years ago
Oh goodness. The design of the sensors are just a little too cutsie for me. I’m not sure I could put the thing anywhere in the garden without cringing. Is this a personality flaw that the design would prevent me from even considering such a thing?
15.8 years ago
Daphne, well they do include 3 different colors of petals (green, blue black) is that helps. I switched to the much more manly black shortly after taking the picture. You could always remove the petal all together to possibly make seeing it in your garden a little more bearable.
15.8 years ago
I already bought this product, though, like Daphne, I really wish it would be more camoflouged in my garden (i’m not into ‘cute’ things or decorations in my garden). I actually bought two so far: I liked mine so much I bought one for my dad for Christmas. He grows tomatoes, but that’s pretty much all he’s ever attempted to grow vegetable-wise. We love it and talk about all the things we want to plant, if only we had more space! I’m more into flower-gardening, but was blown away that it said I could grow blueberries and asparagus where I live (I had no idea). I planted a bare-root blueberry bush a couple of months ago where the easybloom said it would do well. I’ll update you as to how that turns out. At $5 a pint, I’m thinking the gadget will pay for itself if this blueberry plant works out 😉 My dad took his sensor up to WA last month to help my 9-year old nephew with an ecology project. My nephew loved it ( he thinks it’s a toy ;)so my dad bought him one, too. It’s totally becoming a family-thing! My sis-in-law says he’s constantly wanting to order seeds, which I think is awesome for kids. Oh, that’s another of my complaints is that I can’t order the plants the sensor recommends from their website. One thing I did learn from their customer support is that it can’t measure light from grow lights like you mentioned. I learned this when I was about to return the sensor because I got zero recommendations in my windowless office because there wasn’t enough sunlight. I asked if I could use grow lights and they said I could use them to grow the plants, but that the sensor doesn’t work with ?? something about different light waves and uv light that lost me a bit. Anyway, I’m excited to start growing more veggies and really love your site! Thanks a ton, Jen.
15.8 years ago
OH MY GOD as someone with both gadget and gardening impulse control issues, I must have this.
15.8 years ago
TCVG, thats cool. I have a question on LED lights and the Blue to Red percentages… I have seen that it depends on what plant you are growing as too what percentage you want of blue to red. I am hoping to grow some tomato plants indoors. do you know what ratio of LED colors i should use? if it’s easy for me, does it make sense to switch up the percentages during the various growth cycles? thanks0gustad
15.5 years ago
CNet reported "…; doesn't help with geographic zones or seasons for outdoor plants; doesn't measure soil pH; data doesn't remain on device after uploading; no option to save data to a hard drive." So I reconsidered. Obviously you all are using for outside gardens successfully.
14.7 years ago
“I already bought this product, though, like Daphne, I really wish it would be more camoflouged in my garden (i’m not into ‘cute’ things or decorations in my garden).”
The reason it’s not camouflaged is because it would be hard to find in a garden and it states on their website the reason why it is white is because white reflects sunlight so the electronic device does not take sun/heat damage (obviously they weren’t out to copy Mac’s “cute” concept). Either way, this is a great device that helps beginning gardeners up to horticulturist. The device is not made to take specific scientific data, but it can at least provide a help in what needs to be done to assist with your plant’s needs.
14.3 years ago
I followed your blog for three days and I must say that I begin to love your message. How do I subscribe to your blog now?
14.3 years ago
Welcome to the blog, you can subscribe at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheCheapVegetableGardener
14.1 years ago
[…] Have some on your list just starting out with gardening (or has been very unsuccessful in the past) how about the PlantSmart Digital Plant Care Sensor? You simply turn the device on and place it in your problem area for 24 hours and plug it into your computer and it will provide important info on temperature, humidity, and light intensity. Too see a full review of the EasyBloom (same product different name) here. […]