Frequently Asked Questions

Your PlantSense probe and its USB-C cable, the free PlantSense Connect app, and a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network. That's everything — no hub, no wiring, no tools.

Charge the sensor over USB-C, then press power — the LED flashes white, then blinks blue. Open PlantSense Connect, create your account, and let the app pair with the sensor over Bluetooth. Give it your 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi details, place the probe in the soil, and identify your plant. The Quick Start Guide walks through each step.

PlantSense Connect — free, with no subscription, ever. It's coming soon to the App Store for iPhone, with Android on the way. There's also a web dashboard at app.myplantsense.com you can sign in to from any browser today.

Yes — a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network. The sensor uses it to send readings to the app, so you can check in from anywhere. Bluetooth is used only once, during first-time setup.

Four things: soil moisture (volumetric water content from 0 to 100%, via a corrosion-resistant capacitive probe), air temperature, air humidity, and light (reported as peak lux). The app also shows the sensor's battery level and Wi-Fi signal.

Weeks on a single charge. The sensor sleeps between readings — one every 90 minutes to 3 hours — to stretch the battery, and recharges over USB-C. You'll get a notification when it's running low, with plenty of time to top it up.

Yes. The electronics are sealed and water-safe, and the capacitive probes carry no current through the soil so they don't corrode — water your plant as usual with the probe in place.

Push it into the soil near the root zone. In a small pot, angle it in as you insert it so the sensing section stays down in the root zone as the soil settles.

See every plant's health at a glance, then open a plant for live dials (moisture, temperature, humidity, light, battery, and Wi-Fi), its species care info, and history charts for every metric. Tap any dial to jump straight to its chart.

Yes. Add as many sensors as you like. Each plant gets its own dials, history, care ranges, and alerts, and they all live together in one list — from a windowsill herb to a whole home full of greenery.

Yes, at app.myplantsense.com. Sign in with the same account and you'll see all your plants and their history on a larger screen.

Yes, using PlantNet. Take a photo and it names the species, then loads that plant's ideal care ranges automatically so your dials and alerts are set up correctly from the start.

On iPhone, yes. Pick a plant and its health and key readings appear right on your home screen, in light or dark mode.

Readings arrive every 90 minutes to 3 hours. The sensor sleeps in between to preserve battery — which is plenty for plants, whose conditions change gradually.

A push notification when a plant needs water, and one when a sensor's battery is running low.

Yes. Each plant has its own min/max thresholds for moisture, temperature, humidity, and light. Identifying the plant sets sensible defaults; adjust them in the plant's settings to make alerts stricter or more relaxed.

It works that out on its own from the moisture readings — no logging required — and does the same for charging. From the pattern it estimates what's next, like "Water in ~3 days."

Yes. Use Calibrate Dry and Calibrate Wet in the app to set the two ends of the moisture scale for your specific soil. Most plants never need it, but it's there when you want extra precision.

2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. The sensor doesn't use 5 GHz, so if your router broadcasts both bands, choose the 2.4 GHz network during setup.

First-time setup only. The app uses Bluetooth to find the sensor and hand it your Wi-Fi details. After that, the sensor reports over Wi-Fi on its own.

A 1-second white flash means it just powered on or restarted. Blinking white means it's connecting to Wi-Fi; blinking blue means it's ready to pair (no Wi-Fi saved). Yellow means it's paired to your phone — solid while the app is actively connected — and blinking purple is calibration mode. Solid green for about 5 seconds means setup worked and the first reading just went through. Blinking red means it can't reach your Wi-Fi; a brief solid red means it connected but couldn't reach the PlantSense server. No light is normal: the sensor sleeps between readings and wakes every 90 minutes to 3 hours — press reset to wake it. The small red/green light beside the USB-C port is the charger (red charging, green full), not an error.

Yes. PlantSense runs on ESPHome and works with Home Assistant, both locally and in the cloud. It's built on open standards, so your data stays yours.

In PlantSense Connect, sign up with your email — or continue with Apple or Google.

No. PlantSense Connect is free, with no subscription, ever. The app, the web dashboard, and updates are all included.

You do. PlantSense is built on open standards, and your data is yours — both locally and in the cloud.

Email [email protected] or visit the support page. We're glad to help.