Sprout

Inspiration

Many people struggle to keep plants alive because they forget to water them or accidentally overwater them. We wanted to create a simple, affordable system that helps anyone monitor their plant’s needs. Our goal was to make plant care easier by giving users clear information about soil moisture and reminders when it’s time to water.

What it does

Sprout is a smart plant monitoring system that tracks soil moisture and displays the data on a dashboard. When the soil becomes too dry, the system alerts the user so they know their plant needs water. Sprout also records the last time the plant was watered, helping users better understand their plant’s care routine and avoid both overwatering and underwatering.

How we built it

We built Sprout using an Arduino and a soil moisture sensor to measure the moisture level in the soil. The sensor continuously reads the soil conditions and sends the data to a connected dashboard where users can view the plant’s status in real time. The system analyzes the moisture readings and triggers an alert when the soil becomes too dry. We also implemented a simple tracking feature that records when the plant was last watered.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges was calibrating the moisture sensor so it could accurately detect when the soil was truly dry versus slightly moist. We also had to make sure the data could reliably update on the dashboard in real time. Another challenge was balancing simplicity with functionality, since we wanted the system to remain easy to use while still providing useful information.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud that we were able to build a functional system that solves a common everyday problem. Sprout successfully monitors soil moisture and provides clear notifications when plants need water. We also implemented a dashboard that allows users to easily visualize plant health and track watering habits.

What we learned

Through this project we learned how to integrate hardware sensors with software dashboards to create an IoT-style system. We gained experience working with Arduino hardware, reading sensor data, and sending that data to a visual interface. We also learned the importance of sensor calibration and designing systems that are both simple and practical for everyday users.

What's next for Sprout

In the future, we would like to expand Sprout into a full plant health monitoring system. This could include additional sensors for light levels, temperature, and humidity to provide a more complete picture of plant conditions. We would also like to add automated watering using a small pump so the system can water plants automatically when the soil becomes too dry.