Plant Tells You What it Needs via Twitter

Twitter, the social networking site that allows you to keep your friends updated on what’s going on in your life in 140 characters or less, is all the rage these days – and not just for actual humans. The Tweet-a-Watt blew the competition out of the water in the Greener Gadgets Competition, and now a new gadget allows your houseplants to communicate with you electronically, letting you know when they need attention.

Pothos the houseplant has over 2,300 followers on Twitter, who wait with bated breath for earth-shattering updates like “URGENT! Water me!”

From Discover Magazine, via The Huffington Post:

Granted, all it wants is water, but when plant owners are forgetful or just don’t have a green thumb, their green friends often go thirsty. The solution? Botanicalls, a device that sends wireless signals to Twitter. It’s made of soil moisture sensors that transmit information (too much moisture? too little?) through a circuit board to a microcontroller, just like a mini-computer.

The software has settings that allow you to program specifically for the type of plant and the unique qualities of the soil, and the language sent to Twitter can be customized—so the message can vary in tone from the polite “please” to the urgent “I’m desperately thirsty”—or, as Mr. Ikea Plant will tweet, “I’m wicked thirsty.”

Check out a sample of Pothos’ updates below:

So, now computers can allow our houseplants to talk to us. Kind of creepy, kind of amazing.

Link [Discover Magazine] via [The Huffington Post]

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