Translated by Nick R
The gardening activities carried hand in hand with technology make an excellent combination. Especially because thanks to the internet and platforms, such as social networks, we can inform ourselves and learn more about plants, gardens, pests, and many other aspects related to the plant world.
That’s why in this article, we’ll talk about 9 apps that will support you greatly with your plants or crops. Whether you want to identify a plant and know how to take care of it or if you need a calendar to keep track of your crops.
You’ll see what a great compliment they are and how much you can get out of them!
Table of Contents
Why install gardening apps?
Here are some general benefits you can obtain by using gardening apps to take care of your plants.
- If you were given a plant as a gift or saw one that caught your eye, but you don’t know what its name is, you can quickly lookup information through an app.
- If you see that your plants are wilting or have the presence of an insect, but you don’t know exactly what it is. By simply uploading a photo of the plant some apps work as pests and diseases detectors.
- If you want to start planting in your garden and keep track of your crops through a calendar, with reminders and notes. You can keep your journal through gardening apps.
- If you want to get inspiration to arrange your garden or look for new plants to include at home, you can employ one of these apps.
- If you need to know how to care for your plants and what benefits you can get from them, some apps will give you advice based on your location and the specific needs of your garden or home garden.
Apps that will help you identify plants
The following apps are those whose main objective is to help you quickly identify the plant’s name so that you can get more information about it.
PlantNet
A community of botanists and computer engineers designed this application in which you can identify thousands of plant species through photographs uploaded directly from your cell phone.
It’s available as a web and mobile application, so you can download it for free, both for Android with a weight of 15 MB and for iOS with 54 MB. It’s translated into more than 20 languages and must be used with an internet connection.
How does PlantNet work?
You simply need to upload a photo of the plant, either taken directly from within the app or the phone gallery. Then the application will ask you to specify whether it’s a flower, a fruit, foliage or a bark (for example, the trunk of a tree).
Then it’ll indicate the botanical name of the plant as well as its popular name. You’ll be able to view photos uploaded by other users and share your own images to contribute to the community by enriching the database for future searches.
Additionally, the application contains a menu in which you can browse and discover plants of different species and areas around the world. For example, if you want to see a list of plants native to Asia or rather a selection of invasive plants or weeds.
LeafSnap
It’s an online plant encyclopedia where you can find information about a plant you are looking for by simply uploading a photo of it. Thanks to its advanced artificial intelligence, it has a 95% accuracy rate and is able to recognize 90% of all known species of plants and trees present on Earth.
This App is suitable for Android with a 21MB weight and for iOS with 82.5 MB. Besides, it’s available in 20 languages and needs internet to operate.
It’s also free, but you’ll get several ads while using it, so you can pay a premium subscription just to get rid of the advertising.
How does LeafSnap work?
You’ll have to upload or take a photo of the plant you want to investigate, and the app will ask you to select whether flowers, fruits, leaves, or wood are predominant. Afterward, it’ll tell you which plant it is along with its species, genus, family, common name and general uses (ornamental and medicinal).
If you want to obtain more data about a plant, the application allows you to extend the research through Wikipedia, Google or GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility). Then, you can select any of these tools and, without leaving the app, broaden the information.
Likewise, you can view an extensive gallery of photos of the plant you searched for, and it’ll also give you the possibility of framing your picture and sharing it through social networks.
PictureThis
It’s probably one of the best-known applications because it is one of the most complete. It’s capable of identifying more than 10,000 species of plants and has an accuracy of 98%.
You can get it from the Play Store with a 37MB weight and from the App Store with a 112MB. It’s translated into more than 20 languages and also requires an internet connection to work.
You can download it for free, but it offers you a free trial period for only 7 days. After that, if you want to continue using the application, you must pay for a subscription.
How does PictureThis work?
Just like the previous applications, to identify a plant, you only need to take a photo with the application or upload one from your files. It’ll quickly show you detailed information about the plant, such as description, history, data of interest, care list and common questions.
Additionally, PictureThis has other benefits such as diagnosing problems that your plant may be having. So you can also add photos of the injured part, and the application will indicate the problem and how to solve it.
With the subscription, you can access books and guides on gardening topics. Also, if you want a more detailed diagnosis of a plant, you can ask for help from an expert. It even gives you the option to identify weeds and learn how to control them.
Finally, you can add images of the plants in your care and keep track of their watering and fertilization through a calendar. This way you’ll keep your own collection of plants monitored within the application.
Apps to take care of your plants and know about their properties
Now we continue with 3 TOP recommended apps for you to get specific information about your plants so you know how to care for them or obtain their benefits.
MyRemedy
It’s an application for specialized research on medicinal plants and learning about all their properties. On it, you’ll find the best natural alternatives to solve or combat health problems.
It has more than 140 medicinal and therapeutic plants that you can share with your contacts through social networks. However, it is only available for Android and weighs 40 MB.
It’s completely free, so it may display an ad or two, but not in an invasive way. The good thing is that you can use it without the internet and you won’t have any inconvenience.
How does MyRemedy work?
When you enter the application, you’ll find a wide variety of medicinal plants in alphabetical order. By selecting the plant you want to consult, the App will display a brief description with its information, properties, uses and precautions.
If you want to research plants labeled as therapeutic, the App will show an extensive menu with conditions such as acne, insomnia, dry skin, and cough, for instance. So you just have to choose the ailment that is affecting you or that you want to have more information about, and the application will tell you which plants are good to treat it.
It even has a relaxation option; in which it lets you listen to the sounds of the forest for 10 minutes or the river for 20 minutes. You can also mark your favorite plants to keep them in mind.
Moon & Garden
As we did in our article on how to care for your garden according to the moon, we want to discuss lunar phases’ impact on plants. Therefore, taking guidance from the lunar Astro to know when to carry out certain tasks in your garden will give you surprising results.
That’s why no application is better to keep track of this task than Moon & Garden. Available for Android with a size of 47 MB and for iOS with 119 MB.
Although it’s free to download, it has advertisements, but they are not invasive. Few features can be used without the internet, so we recommend you to have a good connection while using it.
How does Moon & Garden work?
This app shows you a calendar that includes activities to do in your garden or vegetable garden according to the moon phase. It will be quite specific with the type of work (planting, pruning, harvesting, transplanting, and so on) and with the nature of the crop (flower, fruit, foliage).
It also shows what you should avoid doing, the suggested hours, as well as the weather forecast so that you don’t have any trouble. You can take notes if you need to and have your own photo gallery. The application has a forum where you can interact with other users and post questions and advice. In addition, you see the option to share images and watch plants posted by other people.
On the other hand, you can generate a sample layout of your garden in which you may include which fruits or vegetables you are growing. This will help you schedule reminders and keep track of your activities.
Garden Info
This application features a large menu of plants and displays a lot of information about their physical features and care. It serves as a manual for beginners in the world of gardening.
It is only available through Play Store and is 68 MB in size. It’s completely free to download but includes advertisements; however, it can be used quite well without an internet connection.
How does Garden Info work?
It’s a fairly helpful guide when it comes to gardening. For example, if you want to learn about fertilizers it shows the tools you need, the types of fertilizers existing, and even how to fertilize according to the season.
The same goes for other matters such as sowing, soil, pruning and lawn maintenance. You will also find a lot of information about pests and plant diseases and some treatments to combat them.
As we mentioned before, it has an extensive number of plant cards. In these, you’ll find specific data on more than 200 plants, their description and their watering, light and fertilizer needs. You will also know what pests or diseases they might be vulnerable to.
Finally, as an additional feature, it offers you the option of creating alerts to remind you of important tasks for the care of your plants.
Apps to look after your vegetable garden
To conclude, we would like to share with you the apps that are more focused on the care of your vegetable garden and will help you in the process.
Maceto Huerto (“Maceto Vegetable Garden”)
It’s a useful and practical app to manage and maintain your home garden. You don’t even need to have previous knowledge since the same application has a section in which it explains how to start your garden.
The App weighs 5.6 MB and can be downloaded at no additional cost only through the Play Store. It can be used without an internet connection without missing any property. Also, it’s available in both English and Spanish.
How does Maceto Huerto work?
You can search for the fruit, vegetable, or herb you want to read about, and the application will show you all the steps and materials you need to plant it. It’ll also give you tips for maintaining your potted plants and recommend what to plant according to the month.
It has an advice section that guides you through topics such as compost, vermicompost (compost from organic waste, particularly with the help of earthworms), and organic remedies for plants’ pests and diseases.
It also has a live chat option to dialogue with other users to solve doubts. There is also a column with links to different videos about vegetable gardens that may be of interest to you, although clicking on a video will take you out of the application and redirect you to YouTube.
Plantix
Although Plantix is also suitable when you have gardens, it’ll be ideal and of great help in our homemade vegetable gardens. Especially because many times it’s difficult for us to deal with pests and diseases because we are not able to identify them, due to a lack of knowledge on the matter.
This application emerges to detect problems in our small crops. It’s 12 MB in size and can be downloaded for free from the Play Store. It requires an internet connection, or its tools won’t function.
How does Plantix work?
To receive a diagnosis, you’ll either have to take a photo from the app or upload one that shows the affected part up close. One thing to consider is that Plantix doesn’t work with ornamental plants; it only focuses on problems related to fruit, vegetable or herb crops.
However, if you need to, you can ask other users about problems with your flowers, and they’ll help you solve them. For this, the application has a community Q&A forum.
Once the application identifies the pest or disease the plant is suffering from, it’ll tell you what the symptoms are and suggest chemical and biological products for treatment. Afterward, you’ll be able to add the plant you researched to your crops and thus have a record of pest or disease control.
Huerto en casa (“Vegetable garden at home”)
For our last suggestion, we couldn’t miss this app. Even though, for now, it is available in Spanish only. That’s because through this app you can learn how to have your fruit, vegetables, and aromatic and medicinal plants in your home garden. In addition, it also has a section on the medicinal plants’ uses.
So let’s hope for the English version to get released soon. Meanwhile, you can try our previous recommendations or adventure to learn some Spanish on your way to becoming a gardener.
It’s available only for Android with a size of only 11 MB. It’s free to download and, interestingly, has very little advertising. You can even use the app without an internet connection without any problems.
They are about to implement features such as plant identification, pest identification, and support that will require a subscription to unlock them.
How does Huerto en casa work?
This application has a guide on 119 crops. You can access each of them to acquire information on when and how to plant, which plants keep near a certain crop, and which ones can be harmful.
It’s very precise about germination time, harvest period, soil type, and the amount of watering and light a plant needs. In addition, it shows you a FAQ section through which you can solve any doubts.
It also offers a section on organic fertilizers where it teaches how to prepare your own home compost, whether you want to use potato peels, banana peels, worm humus, etc. Besides, you’ll see a list of different diseases or ailments of the human body, for which it’ll tell you what plants are helpful to solve those problems.
Now that we have shown you all these valuable applications, what are you waiting for to give them a try? You just need to choose the one that best suits your needs, or you can even have more than one. It really doesn't take long to download them, and you'll get a lot out of them.
