And wouldn't it be nice if there were apartment sized sprinklers to water your plants for you, hooked up to a little water tank - no more plant sitting!

I have killed so many plants I refuse to have them in my house anymore. I could really use this

will it work if you have a stubby thumb

come to think of it, is there anything of this sort for pets? Like a food dispenser that can be set to automatically clear away old food remains and dispense fresh food into a dish; same goes for water. That way, pets aren't at the mercy of, say, their i-banking owners, who probably aren't around during normal feeding times (or ever, for that matter!).

good idea

good idea..I sure could use one of those

This reminds me of the Goldman Sachs trading floor in London. There was a dinner cart that made the rounds and reminded you to put food in your mouth before you forgot.

This can be easily achieved using software (in your PC or PDA or phone).No need for special device.

Far out! I like the way you think! I was just looking for what category to put my version of this idea under when I stumbled across yours. Nice one :)

Buy artificial plants. Problem solved.

If you morons are too irresponsible to water a simple potted plant, you shouldn't be given the responsibility. Don't be fooled into thinking it's a "green thumb" "black thumb" issue. I've maintained plants since I was a young boy, it's not difficult. Just because plants don't beg at your feet like a dog or cat doesn't give you an excuse to just not feed it.

But sure, what the hell, go throw money at a problem YOU create and nurture within yourself.

Systems like this are used on golf courses. They use capacitive sensors that use the soil as a dielectric and as the moisture content changes, so does the capacitance. One of my friends at school did this for a class project, he interfaced the sensor with a computer, which controlled a valve to let water into the soil. Consequently, don't microwave wet soil to dry it out, it doesn't smell so hot. It's been done, it's not hard.

This would be workable, especially in a research faciility. The controller is simple enough. Different plants require watering from different locations and fertilizer dispensed optimally at different times. Proportioning fertilizer with the water shouldn't be a problem. Maybe only researchers could afford the system, but it wouldn't be that far fetched for owners of orchids and other sensitive plants.

So in effect, a small computer like a PDA would actuate a small pump like that used for electric garden sprayers, coupled with an electric valve manifold. The electric garden sprayers are positive displacement pumps, so they can easily proportion both water and fertilizer.

Excellent Idea! It would be a bit high end, but it could be expanded easily for use in greenhouses for maintaining each plant type in their nursery automatically. Potentially, this could reduce labor and increase plant growth rates.