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Dreaming of a gorgeous plant-filled paradise in your urban pad but don’t have a green thumb? Don’t worry, find the support you need in your trusted mobile, thanks to a slew of apps that can remember all the finicky plant care details for you!
The benefits of plants for our mental health are well-known. Well + Good, for instance, mentions improved concentration, a boosted capacity for caring, and the soothing effect of feeling connected to nature.
So while tending to your pet plants is often a reprieve from digital screens, these unexpectedly fun-to-use apps offer a helping hand to both established plant parents and the “horticulturally hopeless” to get their patch of home greenery thriving.
Planta
Planta gets what it’s like to see your new houseplant start to wilt, even though you doted over it! How do we know this? Well, it invites you to join two million users on “the journey to keep plants alive!”
And it wants to help, for instance with smart care reminders: “Are you not sure when it’s time to water your plants? Planta knows when! Based on what plant, where in the world, weather, light in the room and more. Just add them to the app and get notified when it’s time to water, fertilize, mist, clean (yes, it’s a thing) and repot!”
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Unsure which plant you have? Planta’s cool identification tool lets you scan your plant for an instant plant-type diagnosis with lots of tips to help you know more about it. And you can track progress in a plant journal.
Reviewers are keen on this app with an Instagram caption of “Never kill a plant again!” One App Store reviewer shares: “I love planta. Can't recommend it enough. It keeps track of everything for you and has detailed information about all kinds of different plants. It lets you set up each room with a light level, plants' distance from the windows, whether or not there's AC... and then it will tell you if your plants are in the best room for their needs!
Download Planta on the App Store or Google Play.
Plant Life Balance
This app’s name has its finger on the zeitgeist with a nod to the work and life balance challenges, the trend for creating an apartment jungle, and all the wellness-led reasons newbie plant parents may be turning to plant care to start with. Anything from a bid to boost mood and productivity to, trim stress levels, glow-up home decor or purify air.
This app offers a fun way to “green your home with your phone!” According to an explanatory paragraph on the Plant LIfe Balance app on Google Play, app users can “Choose from one of ten ‘living looks’, then drag and drop your favorite plants into your room to see how they will make your space healthier and more relaxing.”
You can also rate your living space for plants, choose your plants from a downloadable list of over 100 recommendations, and shift and resize your plants in your space. It’s rating system is backed by scientific research from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia on the health and wellbeing benefits of plants.
Download Plant Life Balance on the App Store or Google Play.
PictureThis
Are you a parent, a pet parent or both? PictureThis is an app that quickly lets you identify plants and learn if they’re toxic to humans and animals.
This app can identify over 10,000 species of flowers, trees, succulents and other plant types thanks to its AI-led engine and regular input from plant experts.
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With a reported tens of millions of users, it is also rich in resources helping you determine if a plant is sick, and learn about options at hand for nurturing it back to health.
Of this feature, one App Store reviewer says: “Love the “diagnose” feature as well!! Has helped us identify different diseases and root rot and gives advice for care. Turns out we planted some (hardware store purchased) basil that had some infection in the roots that seeps into the soil… Would never have known without this app!”
Download PictureThis on the App Store or Google Play.
From Seed to Spoon
From Seed to Spoon makes it simple to grow your own fruits, vegetables and herbs in your backyard or balcony. The app’s originators explain how this app came to be: “We started growing food in 2015 because we wanted to live healthier lives, eat more nutritious food, and save money on groceries. We quickly became obsessed and built our Free From Seed to Spoon app to make it easy for everyone to grow their own food!”
Between raising thei four kids and working their day jobs in software and nursing, they learned to code and built their free app to spread their knowledge.
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This app lets you filter plants by health benefits, and offers recipes, organic pest treatments and information on beneficial insects.
Download From Seed to Spoon on the App Store or Google Play.
Vera
Billed as “a plant care management app that helps you and your plants thrive!” to be a successful plant parent, Bloomscape’s Vera is a plant care tracking tool offering a simple, user-friendly interface for documenting your houseplants.
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Using Vera is a bit like keeping a plant journal where you can write out your thoughts about your foliage and document photos of them. You can do this when clicking on the plant pages area. It’s also possible to customize schedules for watering and fertilizing your plants. Each page also comes with simple guides for keeping your green friends healthy.
Download Vera on the App Store or Google Play.
