Almost every plant I buy will die. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I give them water, daylight, but still, they die on me. With the VegTrug I can actually monitor the health of my plant and it will tell me when I need to water my plant, if it needs more sunlight, or if the plant needs anything else. Who does not want that? Let’s see if the VegTrug can keep my plants alive.

Introduction & Specifications

Being able to have a healthy plant is quite hard. Especially if you live on your own for the first time, this is something that you easily forget. With the VegTrug, you can raise any plant (if it is in the database) without any effort. Let the sensor tell you if the plant needs water, light, or anything else. In the database are over 3200 plants! That’s amazing. Here are the specifications of the VegTrug.

Specifications
Brand:	Xiaomi
Model:	VegTrug
Software:	Android 4.3+, iOS 9+
Bluetooth:	V4.1
Material:	Plastic
Waterproof:	IPX4
Input Voltage:	DC 5V
Battery:	1x DC 3V CR2032 Coin Cell Battery
Application:	VegTrug Grow Care
Plant Database:	+- 6000
Light Monitoring:	0 - 100000lm ± 100lm
Sensors:	Moisture, Light, Temperature, Nutrition
Weight:	130g
Size:	2.5 x 1.3 x 13.2 cm
Package:	1x Xiaomi VegTrug, 1x CR2032 Coin Cell, 1x User Manual

Unboxing

On the VegTrug packaging, we find a lot of information. On the front, we see the VegTrug plant sensor due to the see-through plastic. We also see the features, like sunlight, moisture, temperature, and fertilizer in 5 different languages! That fills up the front of the packaging. On the back, we find some more specifications, like the battery, IP rating, and more. Also in 5 different languages. Inside, we find the manual, warranty information, and, of course, the VegTrug sensor itself.

Hardware & Design

I’ve never seen a plant sensor before, but I like the design of the VegTrug! It looks good in the plant and, if you don’t like it, you can stick it behind the plant so nobody will know you are cheating with the VegTrug sensor. For me, as a tech-lover, I want people to see and tell them about the features and functions of the VegTrug sensor.

Due to the design and the IPX4 rating, the VegTrug can handle the water you use to water your plant. Which is essential of course. The whole bottom section is below the soil, just the white top will stay out of the soil.

Battery Life

To use the VegTrug, you need to insert a CR2032 coin cell battery. There is one included in the VegTrug already when you receive it. You need to open the VegTrug and take out the plastic battery protector. When that is done, the battery is connected and working right away. You can connect it to the VegTrug Grow Care application now.

It is hard to say how long the VegTrug lasts on a single coin cell. I think and feel like the VegTrug will last at least 1 full year (365 days) on a single coin cell battery. If it goes out of power, you can easily replace the battery yourself and continue to use it for another year.

Stop buying new plants. Get the VegTrug and keep your plants healthy and alive! CLICK HERE to buy yours.

Software

The software, VegTrug Grow Care, is a simple but effective application. You get a clear overview of how your plant is doing without having to press all kinds of buttons or navigate between menus. Making an account and settings up your VegTrug is rather simple too. I like that that made it simple to use and it is clear to see what your plant needs. Really helpful application.

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If you are an Android user, CLICK HERE to download the VegTrug Grow Care application.
If you are an iPhone user, CLICK HERE to download the VegTrug Grow Care application.

How To Connect?

Connecting the VegTrug is super easy! Once you set up the VegTrug Grow Care application and you activated your account, you have to click on the “+” sign in the top right corner. The VegTrug application will start looking for the sensor automatically and will establish the connection without you have to click anything. This process will be done within around 10 to 30 seconds. After that, you can add your plant and you are good to go!

Stop buying new plants. Get the VegTrug and keep your plants healthy and alive! CLICK HERE to buy yours.

Adding Your Plant

I have no idea what kind of plant I have in my house, but the VegTrug will help you pick the right plant. It works really well! It will ask you a few questions, like how it grows, the shape of the leaves, the side of the leaves, and the point of the leaf. Super simple and everybody can answer that. I tried it with my plant and it works really well! With the first try, I had found my plant and it was good to go. Really smooth experience. Amazing how I was able to find the plant within a database of over 6500 plants!

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Features

A smart plant sensor, like the VegTrug, must track the basics of the plant’s health, like moisture, fertilizer, sunlight, and temperature. Luckily, it tracks all of that and you get a clear overview per plant. If your score is not good enough, you can click on the score and click on “More Information” to get tips and FAQ on how to make it better for the plant. Simple and effective.

Moisture

This will measure the moisture in the soil, which is critical of course. It all depends on how you water your plant, if you water your plant, and how often you do that. With the VegTrug Grow Care application, you also get instructions and tips on how to optimize your watering tactics. This will give you new insights on how to water it correctly and even correct it if you did it wrong. I clearly need to work on the moisture levels of my plant…

Soil Fertilizer

Fertilization of your plant is important, but how do you know if do it correctly? Personally, my girlfriend has done it twice for this plant, and it is clearly too much. We are way over the fertilizer numbers for this plant species, but I hope that time will fix this. Here, when you click on it, you will be taken to the FAQ of this section with helpful answers to questions. A new insight for me was that beer can be used as a fertilizer!

Stop buying new plants. Get the VegTrug and keep your plants healthy and alive! CLICK HERE to buy yours.

Sunlight

The same goes for sunlight. You need to make sure that the sunlight sensor is not blocked by the leaves, which is the case in with our plant. The readings are not completely accurate in this case. With the sunlight measurement, you see if your kind of plant is getting enough sunlight or that you need to move it to a brighter or darker place.

Temperature

The temperature sensor measures the temperature in the air. This is also critical for plants. It can not be too warm or too cold. When you place it in your living room, you might need to heat it up or cool it down if you want your plant to survive. Our plant now is fine with a wide reach of 15 degrees Celsius to 32 degrees Celsius! Our room temperature is always between those numbers, so we don’t have to worry about the temperature at all.

Database

One of the most outstanding features of the VegTrug is the huge database of plants they have. Currently, as I’m writing this, there are 6551 plants in their database! That is massive. With their clever way of selecting which plant you have, you can easily find the plant you own and take good care of it. Of course, this is a growing database, and I like to see more and more plants added so that everybody is able to grow their plant in a healthy way with technology.

Stop buying new plants. Get the VegTrug and keep your plants healthy and alive! CLICK HERE to buy yours.

Others

There are more features that are handy and fun to use, like the Daily Report, or the Plant Diary. With the Daily Report, you can a day by day overview of the statistics of your plant and see if it is improving, or getting worse. If you are really into growing your plant in a healthy way, this is a very useful feature.

Another great feature is the Plant Diary. This is just like a normal diary, but for your plant. You can add notes and photos in there to track the progress of the plant. Fun to play around with and see how your plant is evolving with technology.

You can also see the battery status of the VegTrug, which is handy if you don’t want to run out of power. Mine is still at 100%, so I should be good for at least another year (I hope).

Conclusions

The VegTrug is a really cool and actually helpful piece of technology. With the VegTrug, I’m actually able to grow plants and see how the plant is doing/feeling and what it actually need. Now, I’m just giving my plants some water if it starts to hang, which is not the right approach of course. With the VegTrug, you have access to a massive database of 6500+ plants, which is incredible. I really enjoy growing my plants since I have insights into the soil, sunlight, and temperature. I feel like I’m learning how to maintain a plant as it is supposed to go. Very happy with this small but intelligent device.