You might want to consider some of these gadgets for keeping your plants healthy this winter.
There’s something magical about the winter season — cold weather, cozy fireplace, seasonal menus, and the possibility of a blanket of snow enveloping your town. But you know who definitely hates this time of the year the most? Plants. For eons, plants have been at the mercy of the seasons. But these days, there are tons of different kinds of technology that we can use to help plants not just survive the season but thrive.
From making sure they’re not freezing to having the right amount of moisture, there are endless ways to spoil our plant babies. To give you an idea of what options you have, we’ve rounded up some of the most highly rated plant gadgets that you can buy today. To bring this list together, we’ve considered everything from the needs of plants at different stages to remote access via apps and gadgets that will work with different budgets. We also looked into the possible needs of indoor gardeners who may be looking to care for decorative plants, vegetables, or flowers.
So, if you’re ready to spend some cash on your indoor plants for the winter season, here are some popular gadgets out there that you should consider before the cold sets in. To learn more about our selection process, you can go to the end of the article, where we discuss methodology.VIVOSUN Seedling Heating Mat
When it comes to seedlings, they require more stability than a fully grown plant because they’re more sensitive to temperature changes. With VIVOSUN’s Heating Mat, you can keep your propagating seedlings toasty. Designed to improve germination rates, the mat itself comes with a 5.9-ft power cord and a carrying bag. Aside from being treated with flame-retardant, it also has insulated layers to make sure that the heat is evenly distributed, and that roots aren’t damaged in the process.
Even if you accidentally spill water on it while watering your plants, it has an IP67 rating, which makes it waterproof, too. But while this means you can easily clean it, VIVOSUN mentions that it’s still designed primarily for indoor use. For the heating mat itself, you’ll be looking at $14.99 for the 10″ x 20.57″ model, but there is an ongoing deal wherein it’s only $11.99.
For reference, VIVOSUN shares that this is the recommended size for the standard trays. Depending on your nursery size, you might want to consider some of its other variants as well, such as the 3″ x 20″, 20″ x 20.75″, or 48″ x 20.75″. Apart from helping your plants grow, the VIVOSUN Heating Mat can also be repurposed for other things during the warmer months of the year, such as being used to keep reptile terrariums warm or work with your home brewing experiments.XLUX Soil Moisture Meter
Making sure that your plant’s soil is moist enough is an age-old problem — some plants like it wet, others prefer it really dry, and the rest like it in between. For seasoned plant parents, you can sometimes tell simply by looking or shoving your fingers into the soil. For the rest of us, we need a little more help to make sure we don’t over- or underwater our plants with tools like the XLUX Soil Moisture Meter.
For this to work, all you have to do is insert the probe into the soil. Next, wait until it rates the overall moisture from dry (1 to 3), to moist (4 to 7), to wet (8 to 10). If you’re not sure what the ideal moisture zone for your specific plant is, the box comes with a nifty plant-watering guide for your reference. And the best part? No need for batteries.
On Amazon, you can get one soil moisture meter that is 26cm in length for $12.98 (or a pack of two for $19.99), which more than 59,400 gardeners have given 4.4 stars. For indoor gardeners with deep pots, there’s also a 40cm version that costs $14.99. That said, if you find keeping your plant’s soil hard to keep at the right moisture levels, you have the option to get plants that can survive without soil at all, like air plants or pothos vines that have the ability to grow comfortably even with only water.
