EasyBloom Plant Sensor

CNET Editors' Rating

3.5 stars
    Overall score: 7.8 (3.5 stars)

Very good

Average User Rating

4 reviews

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EasyBloom Plant Sensor - OVR EasyBloom Plant Sensor - FT EasyBloom Plant Sensor - BK EasyBloom Plant Sensor - SD
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CNET Editors' Review

CNET Editors' Rating

3.5 stars Very good
    Overall score: 7.8 (3.5 stars)
  • Design: 8.0
  • Features: 7.0
  • Performance: 7.0
  • Service and support: 8.0
  • Reviewed by: Elsa Wenzel
  • Released on:
  • Reviewed on:

The good: EasyBloom measures light, temperature, and humidity to recommend how to treat and place plants; fun-looking and simple hardware; well-designed Web site features plant-recommendation database and lets you log data and notes.

The bad: EasyBloom's database is limited; doesn't help with geographic zones or seasons for outdoor plants; doesn't measure soil pH; data doesn't remain on device after uploading; no option to save data to a hard drive.

The bottom line: The EasyBloom system helpfully measures how environmental conditions affect your plants, but its database could provide more advice beyond houseplants.

Review:

EasyBloom is a digital babysitting system for a garden. It consists of a flower-shaped, USB-enabled plant sensor gizmo, and an online plant-matchmaking database. People with green thumbs might not need it, but this product could be attractive if you'd like some high-tech help to keep your plants alive and thriving.

The $60 EasyBloom comes from PlantSense, a start-up founded by a former manager of wireless products at Cisco. The product includes sensors with dielectric capacitance technology used on the NASA Mars Pioneer mission to measure soil drainage.

Setup and design
Downloading and installing the EasyBloom software took less than
... Expand full review

EasyBloom is a digital babysitting system for a garden. It consists of a flower-shaped, USB-enabled plant sensor gizmo, and an online plant-matchmaking database. People with green thumbs might not need it, but this product could be attractive if you'd like some high-tech help to keep your plants alive and thriving.

The $60 EasyBloom comes from PlantSense, a start-up founded by a former manager of wireless products at Cisco. The product includes sensors with dielectric capacitance technology used on the NASA Mars Pioneer mission to measure soil drainage.

Setup and design
Downloading and installing the EasyBloom software took less than 5 minutes in our tests on both Windows XP and Vista computers. Once that's done, just plug the flower-shaped gadget into your PC's USB port, which triggers an EasyBloom Web page to open in your default browser. Supported operating systems include Windows Vista or XP. (Compatibility for Mac OS 10.5 or newer is set for release in 2009.)


After using EasyBloom to monitor a Devil's Ivy for 24 hours, we learned that it was perfectly happy in its window location.

We like the well-designed Web site, which features plant profiles from seed companies, although it might be nice to have an option for managing plant data on a local hard drive. That would be helpful in places lacking an Internet connection, like a back yard or greenhouse.

The device consists of two main pieces. The top part resembles a flower, with decorative plastic petals hugging a light sensor above a Start/Stop button, an air intake sensor, and the USB plug. It would look at home in the Brady Bunch household.


Plugged into a plant, the EasyBloom sensor measures light, humidity from soil, and temperature.

The other piece, the stem, fits into the top component and has two prongs for sticking into a plant's soil. A gray stand, which can be screwed to a wall for hanging, lets the top piece rest upright. The company thoughtfully includes a AAA battery, as well as a USB cord for connecting the EasyBloom sensor to tight spots with USB ports.

Although not made from recycled materials, this product gets a few "green" points for shipping nestled within a recyclable and compostable PaperForm tray, rather than polystyrene. The outer cardboard box is also recyclable.


The equipment ships inside a box with a compostable PaperFoam tray.

Features

The Web site helps you narrow down plants by color, bloom season, foliage characteristics, height, soil type (from acidic to well-drained), and so forth. We liked its simplicity, which shouldn't scare off technophobes.

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Average User Rating

3.0 stars out of 4 user reviews

Rating Breakdown

  • 5 star: 2
  • 4 star: 0
  • 3 star: 0
  • 2 star: 1
  • 1 star: 1

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Most recent user reviews

Showing 3 of 4 reviews

5.0 stars

"Brilliant tool for the newbie gardner" By tishsparr

Pros: Ease of use, loads of valuable information and plant suggestions. Another great feature is being able to purchase many of the recommended plants from their website...loved that!

Cons: At this time, there really isn't any cons that I can think of. But have just started using.

Summary: Again, ease of use is the number one thing that I love about the Easy Bloom. The second thing that I loved was the amount of information I was given. I was never sure how much sun certain areas were getting, but this dispelled any questions I had. Lastly, I ... Expand full review

2.0 stars

"EasyBloom Pro's and CON'S" By Tew

Pros: I like the way it gives you a rundown of the basics that can be processed on a computer.

Cons: Depends on online database to process information.
No way to store the information on a computer so you can keep records on a plant, Lacks software that makes you independent.

Summary: While this is a hybrid of a light meter, water meter etc. , It requires that you have an internet connection wherever you use it, otherwise you will not be able to retrieve your readings. I have been burned before buying products that you assume the manufacture will be in business ... Expand full review

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