Design of Automatic Watering System Based on Arduino 

• Example of automatic watering system using Arduino 

• Larger scale (greenhouses for crops) 

• Food self-sufficiency during dry season 

• Detects soil moisture levels

• Can be installed in plant nurseries, urban parks, homes, offices

This article proves that the problem of insufficient and inconsistent watering of plants is an issue as other individuals have researched this subject and attempted to create their own solution creating a system using Arduino. 

Smart Home Garden Irrigation System Using Raspberry Pi 

• Water slowly drips to root of plants

• Expensive for small area coverage 

• Soil moisture/light/ultrasonic sensors 

• Goal: minimize waste water for homes

• Accessible by app 

This is another similar example to the article above, being another source that shows people creating a watering system using Raspberry Pi. This shows how other people have also sought out solutions to this problem. 

Homeowners' Tree & Shrub Investments Rise Nearly 50% During the Pandemic

• People finding more importance of trees/plants

• Investing in exterior and buying trees/shrubs but nearly half of homeowners unsure how to properly care for them 

• Increased consumption during COVID-19 when people could not go out 

With the events of COVID-19 people were quarantined into their homes without much opportunity to go out. Being kept in like this means less time outdoors, with this more people looked towards the solution of bringing the outdoors to them. Bringing on an increased consumption of plants with most people unsure of how to keep these plants alive and how to care for them. This article proves relevant contributing to our points of individuals purchasing plants without knowledge of how to care for them.  

Millennial-Driven Trends Breathing New Life into Live Plant Shrub & Tree Market

• Recently (2018) plant market drived by millennials 

• For "plant parenting"/décor/trends/cleaner air 

• Provides information of who are markey may be 

Adding onto the article above, this source proves that there has been an increase of plant consumption as well as some specification as to who exactly our market is. This being millennials with the interest of buying indoor plants.  

Plant Water Saving System Works like Clockwork, it Transpires. 

• Plant circadian rhythm: regulate rate of photosynthesis, transpiration (flow of water to stem/evaporation from leaves)

• consistency plays critical role in water consumption, more efficiently 

• influences how much water plant uses/growth 

Like humans, plants also have a circadian rhythm or a biological clock in which they should regularly receive the resources and nutrients they need such as water and sunlight. Consistency in plant care is crucial and influences the growth of the plant. This contributes as to how consistency when keeping plants healthy is an important thing to consider. 

Houseplant Statistics in 2023 (incl. COVID & Millennials)

• 7/10 millennials call themselves "plant parents"

• The average plant parent has killed 7 houseplants

• 66% of American Households one at least one houseplant

• benefits to houseplants 

• 67% of adults grow or plan to grow edible plants 

You can see there are a lot of Millennials that have plants in their home and the average amount of plants killed is 7, which tells us that many have faced problems throughout their plant-growing journey. 

How We Use Water

• nationally 30% of water is used outdoors

  • can vary from region to region

• managing water is a challenge

• nothing much on water usage for plants

Although there is not much information on the amount of water used for house plants we can still see that a large amount of water, nationally, is used outside. Much of the water might be used for lawns but it could still mean outdoor plants.

Watering Indoor Plants

• houseplants lost b/c of overwatering or underwatering due to watering schedule

• best method - check soil

• some plants require less water

• proper water techniques needed

• mineral-free water

People have killed their plants due to overwatering and underwatering their plants. The best method for knowing when to water a plant is checking the soil with your finger to see if soil is dry, suggesting the plant needs to be water. However some plants do require less water in which they may not need to be consistently watered. There are proper watering techniques people need to water their plants but are not knowledgeable on this. Mineral-free water is the best when watering plants so no soluble salt builds up. 

How to water Houseplants:

• most common way people kill plants - overwatering

• factors influence frequency of watering: type of plant, temperature, humidity, light, pot size, plant size, potting mix, and drainage

• check soil

There are factors that influence the frequency of water such as the type of plant, temparture, humidity, light, pot size, plant size, potting mix, and drainage that need to be considered when watering your plant. There plants that have differing watering needs depending on their growth stage and type. While you can simpy look up the plants watering needs people may still kill off plants because of not properly watering their houseplants. 

Beyond Self-Tracking and Reminders: Designing Smartphone Apps That Support Habit Formation :

• relying on reminders supports repetition 

• hinders habit development 

• behavior change apps focus on tracking, self moitoring, and social support

• support for trigger events and implementation intentions were lacking

While current reminder smartphone apps don't help with developing habit formation. We could use the information the author provided to make our product help users develop habit formation instead of only focusing on just tracking and self monitoring.