Mini-Plant Sensor

The Mini-Plant Sensor works just like the original Plant Moisture Sensor but is ¼ the size, operates for a year on a coin cell and is half the price.

This sensor monitors the moisture level of your house plants. Like the rest of the Sensible Living sensors, it requires the Desktop Application and Receiver (sold separately) to let you know when there is a problem.

If you’re like me you get busy and don’t notice that the plants need watering until they turn brown. Just push the pins of the sensor into the soil of the house plant and it will report back the status on a 1 to 10 scale. The scale is arbitrary and non-calibrated but typically at levels below 3 the plant needs watering. Depending on the type of plant and your potting soil this will very but it’s a good rule of thumb.

If you click on the chart image in the display above it shows a little over three months of data from one of our house plants (Lady Palm). As you can see, for the Lady Palm, it needs watering every 10 days to two weeks.

I have the Desktop app notify me when the moisture level hits 3 or below and sends a text message to my cell phone below 2.5. (You can see the alert flag in the "Card View" since the moisture level has just hit 3). Like the rest of the Sensible Living sensor family it is designed as a low-power, battery operated, sensor that sleeps most of the time and wakes up once per hour (default setting) to send it’s status. The Sensible Living Receiver and Desktop application are designed to work with the Mini-Plant Sensor. The Desktop Application can then be configured to send you a message if the plant/sensor ever gets too dry.

This latest version includes a Beacon mode to make it easier to tell if the sensor will work from that location. Place the sensor upright near your plant and short the probe pins together for up to 1 minute. Then go to your desktop app or similar program and watch for messages from the sensor. Within a minute the sensor will begin transmitting every 2 seconds. If you see the messages your golden. If not try another location. Sometimes just moving the sensor a foot or so will solve the problem. In other cases you may need to move the plant closer to the receiver. Once you are satisfied with location and operation, remove the jumper and it will return to transmitting once per hour to preserve your battery.

Note: The Bonsai photo was kindly provided by one of my customers, Nathan Tia who does beautiful bonsai plants and photography.

Also available on this site:

• Receiver
• Mini-Plant Sensor
• Mini-Temperature Monitor
• Mini-Water leak detector
• Mini-Tilt Sensor
• Mini-Light Sensor
• Mini-General Purpose Sensor
• Temperature and Humidity Monitor
• Refrigerator/freezer temperature monitor
• Quad AC Current monitor (monitors up to four circuits simultaneously)
• Wireless MQ2 Combustible Gas sensor
• General Purpose Sensor board
• Motion Sensor
• Range Extender

Why did you make it?

We are notorious for forgetting to water the plants. I finally built this sensor to solve the problem. I also use these to monitor my seedlings in February and March until they are ready to plant out doors in the spring. BTW there is a version that monitors five sensor probes at once for the indoor garden. All of these were built to address specific needs around my home and for my family.

What makes it special?

The Wireless Mini-Plant Sensor is a small, inexpensive wireless sensor that works for more than a year on a single coin cell battery. (Requires the Wireless Desktop application and receiver.)

Arduino Enthusiasts

If you are interested in playing with wireless sensors this is an inexpensive and easy way to get started. These sensors are ATTIny85 based. They are a little more difficult to program than their bigger brothers (no monitor or boot loader) but still simple once you get the hang of it. Use the ATTINY85 (External 8MHZ clock) board package. Contact me for schematics and sketches.