Gadgetory

with plant sensors weather monitors automatic sprinklers and robot lawnmowers you can learn about your environment and get some automated help to make it thrive I've got a couple of steps to help you pick the right piece or pieces and help you make a smart outdoor buying decision step 1 pick the right category for your needs we've got plant sensors here these go into the dirt near your flowers in your garden they're gonna give you info on your plants vitals and can send you notifications and care advice helping you rule out all that accidental negligence that's causing you to kill all of your dang plants we've got irrigation controllers these you're gonna put on your wall right where you have your existing irrigation controllers only they're gonna be much smarter than that we've also got weather monitors these will do things like monitor the air pressure and the air quality so if you have a specific love of meteorology or you want to closely monitor a specific area of your outdoors or of your home they can be pretty helpful step two once you pick your category try out the app with a lot of them you're gonna be able to try out the app for free and take a tour before you have to spend any money on the device with anything that monitors data check to see if those charts and graphs are specific enough for what you're looking step three look up the specifics does this thing measure everything you would want it to measure is it weather proof you think everything in the smart garden category would be weather proof but surprisingly it's not check how it draws it to tower and how long the batteries last and also check what kind of signal it has if your device is a Wi-Fi device make sure your router can reach the corner of your yard where you gonna put your plant sensor if your device is bluetooth know that you're gonna have to be pretty close to the thing in order to get any readings if you're using something else like ZigBee or z-wave those will have a pretty long range but you're gonna have to hook a hub up to your router like you would on this plant link plant sensor with the right check on your side you can learn about your environment you can help it thrive and you can make your smug neighbor jealous when you make your be the one that looks better for more be sure to check out my full buying guide and all of our other smart home buying guides on CNET calm