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DIY on how to make your plants Twitter


Engadget hit on this one, and it's technically possible to do it with a Windows PC, but considering that Mac users are greener than most folks, and lovers of both plants and cool tech DIY, we're posting it anyway. Botanicalls, which is a project to help your plants make phone calls, has posted a how-to guide on getting your plants to twitter when they need water, got water but not enough, or are even being overwatered.

The whole rig requires an Arduino board, and it's not exactly for Mom to do on her own (unless of course your Mom is an electrical engineer, which is entirely possible), because it also will walk you through making your own moisture sensor. Once you've got everything plugged in, the Arduino software will talk to the unit via USB and ethernet, and a terminal script will actually send the Tweets out. Unfortunately, despite a quick search on Twitter, I wasn't able to find any plants actually tweeting, but if you have one, let us know.

Engadget hit on this one, and it's technically possible to do it with a Windows PC, but considering that Mac users are greener than most...
 

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hypotheek

I think this is a great post. But if you want to use it on a site like http://www.hypohypo.nl or http://www.goaze.nl i do not see the proffit. You would completely need to re-design the whole site to use this. Uhmmm manybe not for now.
Greets

April 07 2008 at 10:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
homan2

Nice, now all your friends and fam will be able to track the status of your Pot farm.

It really needs a reverse sensor that twitters when your water is running low for hydroponic systems.

February 26 2008 at 12:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Pick

http://twitter.com/pothos is one owned by Botanicalls (found that out on Slashdot)

February 26 2008 at 3:48 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
brian cometa

this is awesome! maybe now i can keep my plants alive! btw, "The Secret Life of Plants" looks cool.
-brian
corewerkz

February 26 2008 at 1:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Derek Martin

If you think this is cool, do yourself a favour and read "The Secret Life of Plants". Despite the fact that it was written in the 70s, it will *blow* your mind.

February 25 2008 at 9:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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