Long before the lockdown kicked in, I moved to a small town at my sister’s place to continue my work from home. The place has a big farmyard with lots of flowers, plants, and pot-plants. I chipped in to sow some more. But, I have limited knowledge of plants, seedlings, transplants, manure, pests, etc. So, I read a lot about it on communities and Reddit.
Turns out there are gardening apps that could be helpful to curate my backyard more beautifully. Moreover, there are apps that could help me identify plants, set up water and harvest reminders, etc. Here are some of those apps on both Android and iOS to help you garden better.
Best Gardening Apps
1. Gardroid
Gardroid, as the name suggests, is Android-only and specifically for people who are into vegetable farming. It’s a normal garden journal app that does a commendable job and has a huge list of vegetables. To know more about a vegetable, tap on it shows you all the related information such as the germination phase, soil pH level, suitable temperature, etc. Now, you can directly add this vegetable to the “My garden” section. This section keeps a check on watering days, duration, germination date, etc. This really helps if you have multiple plants and struggle to keep a track of them.
Moreover, the app also shows you vegetables that are ideal to grow in a particular season. For instance, it’s hot summer May in India and as per the app, it would be ideal to grow Asparagus, Cabbage, Wheatgrass, etc. Overall, I liked the app and I was glad that there’s no unnecessary community and social media stuff. However, they could work on the UI a bit. The app also has a premium version priced at $2.99 that expands its directory to fruits, flowers, and herbs.
Overview:
- Huge list of vegetables along with useful info like germination phase, suitable temperature, etc
- “My garden” section to journal your vegetables and watering days
- Categories to suggest vegetables according to month and season
Who is it for?
Mostly, vegetable farming. If you plant a lot of vegetables in your backyard.
Download Gardroid
2. Gardenate
Similar to Gardroid, Gardenate is a paid garden management app. As soon as you open the app, the homepage consists of the vegetables you can plant in the particular season as per your location. As compared to Gardroid, the information about vegetables is better laid out and more descriptive. In case you plant a vegetable, you can add it to your garden. My favorite thing is that the app syncs with your mobile calendar and sends you a reminder when it’s time to harvest the plant.
Gardenate is a fairly intuitive app but lacks a few features when compared to the competition. The app doesn’t have a water reminder or the water date. Moreover, the list of vegetables and the built-in information about it is not intensive as compared to Gardroid. I didn’t find water days, soil pH level, germination days, ideal temperature, etc.
Overview:
- Keeps a track of your vegetables in the garden
- Sends you a reminder via the mobile’s calendar about the harvest date
- Suggests vegetables to grow according to the location and season
Who is it for?
People on iOS who cannot have the Gardroid app. For Android, Gardroid is a better alternative.
Download Gardenate (Android | iOS) ($1.49)
3. GardenTags
To start off, GardenTags is Instagram for plants. You have to register in the app before you can continue. The home page of the app consists of photos of plants uploaded by people around you. However, the main purpose of the app is to help identify plants around you based on pictures. You just have to click a picture of the unknown plant or upload one and it will scan the image to pop-up a few suggestions from its database. I tried it on about 6 plants in my garden and it worked quite well with most of them like bougainvillea, aloe vera, pencil cactus, etc.
Additionally, you can search the app’s encyclopedia for any plant you wish to know about. I liked the display of the information in GardenTags in comparison to the Gardroid app. All in all, it’s more of a plant searching app bundled with social media and community posting. The journalling portion is paid at around $5/month.
Overview:
- Plant search option by means of photo
- Huge encyclopedia to browse and know about plants
- Community-driven platform to share and meet other gardeners
Who is it for?
Plant enthusiast who want to explore around and know more gardeners
Download GardenTags (Android | iOS)
4. Flower Checker
Flower Checker is a more advanced and paid alternative to Garden Tags. It provides expert help for identifying a plant. In case you are having difficulties with plant identification, you can upload up to 3 images of it on Flower Checker. These images are scanned and identified by botanists. They usually reply within an hour but you have to wait up to 24 hours for an answer.
Apart from the plant identification, there’s nothing much in the app. Having said that, I didn’t like the credit system within the app. For each answer, you need to use 1 credit and you get 3 credits for free at the start. Post that, you have to pay almost a dollar for a credit.
Overview:
- Plant identification by certified botanists
Who is it for?
If none of the apps can help you find a plant, Flower Checker is a good solution.
Download Flower Checker (Android | iOS) ($0.99)
5. PlantNet Plant Identification
Again, PlantNet is a plant identification app similar to FlowerChecker and GardenTags. It is fairly popular than the other 2 and there’s a legit reason for it. I tested the same plants which I tested previously with Garden Tags and PlantNet had better recognition. It could identify all 6 of the plants and this is more due to the community contributing to better the algorithm. Additionally, if you don’t sign in the app, it keeps you away from posting your searches on its social media and forum. However, you should still share your results with the app as it helps build the app’s algorithm better.
In addition to that, you can also validate the already identified plant to even further better the app. PlantNet also provides a huge amount of information about the plant posted on its forum. This information is aggregated from the community, Wikipedia, etc. All in all, the app has a much-advanced plant recognition and is a must-have for an enthusiast.
Overview:
- Advanced plant, weed, berry recognition
- Huge database providing intensive information about every plant
- Community-driven posting where you can help others identify a plant
Who is it for?
Anyone who wants to identify flowers, fruits, berries, etc.
Download PlantNet (Android | iOS)
6. GrowIt
Similar to Garden Tags, GrowIt is a popular social media platform for gardeners. Popular, is being modest, it’s #2 Trending in House & Home apps. The popularity of GrowIt is due to the huge community it possesses. It lets you connect with the people and plant shops around you for planting needs.
It also has forums wherein you can ask questions about soil, pests, fertilizers, etc. A small portion of the app is dedicated to planting identification. You can upload pictures of unknown plants and ask the community to help you identify it.
Overview:
- Community-driven plant identification
- FAQs and forum to ask questions about pests, weeds, fertilizers, etc
- Helps you identify plant shops around you
- Inbuilt journal to add your garden and plants
Who is it for?
If you have moved to a new area and want to connect with similar-minded people and find new planting shops.
Download GrowIt (Android | iOS)
7. Gardenize
Gardenize is another garden journal app. It lets you add plants to your own garden area. You can also have multiple garden areas and distribute your plants between those garden areas. You can manually create events as well to send you reminders about it. The app, though automatically, reminds you about the harvest time.
The app can also sync your data between devices and hence you have to register and sign in on the app. The most disappointing part is the social media aspect which is pushed a lot within the app. It’s a problem with plenty of apps in this list.
Overview:
- Multiple garden areas and plants among them
- Upload pictures of the plants to keep a track
- Create events to set reminders for particular dates and sync between devices
Who is it for?
If you have a huge backyard and different garden areas, the app has got you covered. Moreover, it’s a good one for people who have huge trees or orchards.
Download Gardenize (Android | iOS)
Closing Words
I have omitted a few apps like Plantifier, PlantNet because either the UI is too old or they aren’t of much help to gardening at home. For plant identification, I found the PlantNet and GardenTags to be ideal. For journal management, Gardroid is a good option on Android and Gardentae for iOS. In case of issues or queries, let me know in the comments below.
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