CES 2025 Showcases AI-Powered Plant Care Innovations, Including LeafyPod Smart Planter

I can't wait try out these 3 great plant tech gadgets that I saw at CES 2025

Indoor gardening appliances are getting smarter. (Image credit: Plantaform; Future) AI was everywhere at CES 2025, with many companies deploying machine learning algorithms to make their product lineups smarter, including in plant tech where it's being used to accompany gadgets like incubators and plant pots to help you know more about your leafy friend's health status. One of the biggest new plant incubators using AI to help with real-time monitoring and automating control settings such as the temperature, humidity, brightness and nutrition level is Daedong's AI Plant Box, which won a CES Innovation Award for making such a good-looking urban farming product (it looks a lot like a fridge with four different trays for plants). Another dazzling AI plant gizmo showcased at the event was LG's new floor-standing lamp that doubles as a grow light. Compared to the AI Plant Box, this offers a much more subtle design by incorporating a tray underneath the lamp where you can store plants and is fitted with sensors so you can monitor them using the LG ThinQ app. There were plenty of other smaller plant innovations being displayed at the event - including NeoPlants' new bioengineered Power Drops that can boost the effectiveness of your plant's natural air purification to absorb more harmful pollutants like Benzene, Toluene and Xylene, which I'll try out on one of my plants soon - but it's these following three plant gadgets that stole the show for me. My favorite plant gadget from CES 2025 is hands down this planter from Kickstarter that's now available to pre-order for $148 in the US. The LeafyPod plant pot has a self-watering system that you can automate and customize depending on how long you're away, which is ingenious for anyone who's away from home for long periods of time. One of its most thoughtful features is that the top-down watering system also recycles any excess water, making it extremely useful for those guilty of overwatering their plants. To make these types of adjustments, the plant pot is fitted with light, temperature, humidity and soil sensors that can relay information back to an accompanying control app. The app can not only give you real-time updates about the soil moisture, temperature, humidity and amount of light the plant is getting, but also weekly reports about how to best care for it. Where AI makes things interesting is that LeafyPod claims its algorithm can learn your plant's routine and optimize it over time, eventually taking full-time care of your plant for you. The image above might be a bit blurry because it's a screenshot from TechRadar's TikTok account from our time at CES 2025, but it's also because there's fog being released inside this new planter to nurture the plants living inside. Essentially, like hydroponics, which uses water instead of soil to grow plants, this new incubator from Plantaform uses no soil to feed plants. Instead, it lets out a fine mist using what's known as fogponics to give water and nutrients to the plants it's growing. This egg-shaped incubator costs $500 in the US and works with plant pot capsules that carry the different seeds, for plants like herbs, vegetables (except root veg) and flowers, which you use to plug into the Plantaform device. By scanning a QR code on the pots, an app can set the environment and will even automatically adjust this depending on the room's climate, making it (almost) completely hands-free. Gardyn's hydroponic garden grow system isn't exactly new - it's been around since 2020 - but what is new about this hybridponic grow tower is the app that the company claims has smart machine learning algorithms to better optimize how the plants within it are cared for. It has a five-gallon / 18-litre self-watering system with LED lights and cameras (as well as other sensors) to help monitor your plant's health. This allows the app to offer a 'vacation' mode for when you're away from home as well as various other controls over the temperature, humidity and water usage. Two of my personal favorite features of the app are the ability for it to take time-lapses of your plants for your homemade David Attenborough documentary collection and the what look to be very helpful plant coach tips for caring for your plants. The all-new Gardyn Studio, which can store up to 16 plants instead of Gardyn Home's 30, costs $499 in the US.

New Smart Planter at CES 2025 Lets Plants Shout When They Need More Water or Light

Expertise Home | Home Tech | Home Energy | Energy | Climate Change | AI | Appliances If you weren't blessed with a green thumb, don't fret. There's still a way for you to keep your houseplants alive and thriving -- that's the promise behind a new smart planter unveiled at CES 2025 and set to release this spring. The LeafyPod -- which initially launched on Kickstarter but is available for preorder now -- is an AI-powered planter that teaches you how to properly care for your plant. It also gives a literal voice to your beloved Marble Pothos or Ficus, allowing them to ask (via mobile app) for more water, sunlight or adjusted humidity when the conditions are suboptimal. Read more: CES 2025: What Is the Huge Tech Show and What Trends Do Experts Predict? Once you download the LeafyPod app on your phone, you will be prompted to choose the type of plant that is in the planter, then the planter will begin to learn how your plant and the soil react when it is watered. After the first few waterings, the smart planter will create an ideal watering routine for the plant and alert you if it needs more light or to be moved due to temperature or humidity changes. The water reservoir in the planter can also hold up to four weeks of water so if you leave for a vacation, the plant will still be cared for while you're away. The sleek LeafyPod is currently on sale for $140 and is available for pre-order. It is expected to ship this spring according to LeafyPod's website. To learn more about caring for houseplants, read about the best spots in your home to help them grow and learn which houseplants will help purify the air.

We Found the Ultimate Gadget for Deadbeat Plant Parents at CES 2025

Expertise Home | Home Tech | Home Energy | Energy | Climate Change | AI | Appliances Keeping plants a live is a big struggle for some us. Pros say overwatering is one of the biggest mistakes but there are dozens of ways you can send your ferns and ficuses to the great gig in the sky. A sleek new planter, unveiled at CES 2025, aims to help those who are green with greenery by giving plants a voice to holler when they're not getting enough sun or too much water. The LeafyPod -- which launched on Kickstarter but is available for preorder now -- is an AI-powered planter that teaches you how to properly care for your plant. It also gives some agency to your beloved Marble Pothos and other plants, allowing them to ask (via mobile app) for more water, sunlight or adjusted humidity when the conditions are suboptimal. Read more: Top Don't-Miss Things to See at CES 2025 So Far Once you download the LeafyPod app on your phone, you will be prompted to choose the type of plant that is in the planter, then the planter will begin to learn how your plant and the soil react when it is watered. After the first few waterings, the smart planter will create an ideal watering routine for the plant and alert you if it needs more light or to be moved due to temperature or humidity changes. The water reservoir in the planter can also hold up to four weeks of water, so if you leave for a vacation, the plant will still be cared for while you're away. The sleek LeafyPod is currently on sale for $140 and is available for pre-order. It is expected to ship this spring according to LeafyPod's website. To learn more about caring for houseplants, read about the best spots in your home to help them grow and learn which houseplants will help purify the air.

CES 2025: This Smart Planter Will Care for Your Houseplants While You're Away

Finally, a reliable smart plant sitter for my precious houseplants. There are endless crafty ways to keep plants watered while you're away from home: You can wick water from jugs, upend wine bottles into your planters, or simply pay the neighbor's kid to come by. The problem is that all of these methods are imperfect, and all too often, you come home to plants that are over-watered, under-watered or neglected completely. This week at CES, LeafyPod introduced smart planters that don't simply hold onto a month's worth of water -- they promise to take better care of your plants than a plant sitter. Self-watering planters have been helping plants the last few years by keeping water in a reservoir at the bottom of the planter, allowing the plant to intake what it needs, but this is also limited -- you usually get just a few weeks of watering. LeafyPods can hold a month of water, and rather than allowing the plant to slowly intake water on its own, the planters use sensors that monitor humidity, light, and temperature and then apply water to your plant -- only as much as it needs. If you're worried about cords, the LeafyPod is wireless and cordless. The battery promises to last for six months, and is recharged via USB-C. LeafyPod uses AI (of course it does), and will spend a few weeks learning your plant's habits and needs, and then will take over. When home, you work in tandem with LeafyPod. The app will identify the type of plant, and then make specialized recommendations to you specifically for that plant, whether it needs more light or humidity, or is too cold. Every single plant in my stewardship has specific needs, and they're used to how I water. I know the signs of trouble for each of them, and I've never been able to find a plant sitter that replaced me. I always assume I'm coming home to a few dead plants, and I'm rarely wrong, no matter how well meaning people are. For me, LeafyPod has a lot of potential. It also has some obvious limitations. First, there's the price. Each LeafyPod is about $75, and you'll need a LeafyPod Bridge (also around $75) for your flock of pods. Second, the planters only come in one size: small. The internal dimensions of LeafyPod are 5.1 inches by 4.1 inches, which means even medium-sized plants are out of luck. Lastly, LeafyPod is decidedly modern looking, so you'll need to make these all white planters work with your aesthetic. Still, I can see the upside of trusting LeafyPod with particularly spendy houseplants, rather than risking it with a housesitter. Even if you're home, I like the idea of something monitoring my plants and catching things I don't, like lighting needs and temperature issues. LeafyPod is on pre-order sale, with plans to ship in April 2025. One planter plus the bridge is $148, two planters and the bridge is $228, and three planters plus a bridge is $308.

Finally, Your Plants Can Tell You Why They're Dying With This Genius Product

Expertise Home | Home Tech | Home Energy | Energy | Climate Change | AI | Appliances If you weren't blessed with a green thumb, don't fret. There's still a way for you to keep your houseplants alive and thriving -- that's the promise behind a new smart planter unveiled at CES 2025 and set to release this spring. The LeafyPod -- which initially launched on Kickstarter but is available for preorder now -- is an AI-powered planter that teaches you how to properly care for your plant. It also gives a literal voice to your beloved Marble Pothos or Ficus, allowing them to ask (via mobile app) for more water, sunlight or adjusted humidity when the conditions are suboptimal. Read more: CES 2025: What Is the Huge Tech Show and What Trends Do Experts Predict? Once you download the LeafyPod app on your phone, you will be prompted to choose the type of plant that is in the planter, then the planter will begin to learn how your plant and the soil react when it is watered. After the first few waterings, the smart planter will create an ideal watering routine for the plant and alert you if it needs more light or to be moved due to temperature or humidity changes. The water reservoir in the planter can also hold up to four weeks of water, so if you leave for a vacation, the plant will still be cared for while you're away. The sleek LeafyPod is currently on sale for $140 and is available for pre-order. It is expected to ship this spring according to LeafyPod's website. To learn more about caring for houseplants, read about the best spots in your home to help them grow and learn which houseplants will help purify the air.

I Really Don't Want an AI Pot to Turn My Plant Into a Tamagotchi From Hell

Apple software beta tester, "Helps make our computers and phones work!" - Zach's grandparents Every few weeks Johnny Cash, Freddie Mercury and Jack Black all get a drink of fertilized water at my house. They're all plants, by the way, and they're all very thirsty. My wife and I have filled our home with big plants, small plants, purple plants, white plants and a few fuzzy plants, too. With all that in mind, I need you to understand that the LeafyPod from CES 2025 petrified me when I saw it. The thought of this AI-powered plant pot filled me with dread akin to that of working at a pizza restaurant during the Super Bowl. Read more: Some of the Wild New Products We Saw at CES 2025 The LeafyPod is an AI-powered planter that can give your plants an actual voice via a mobile app so they can ask for more water, sunlight and other things in order to stay healthy. It basically turns your plant into a Tamagotchi. Now imagine you have about 20 plants that are all in these pots, all notifying you that they need more water. Suddenly they're telling you that they need more sunlight. Soon they will let you know the temperature is a little chilly for their liking. That's up to 60 notifications, not to mention any future notifications you'll get. The thought of being flooded by those alerts makes me queasy, and that's just with a fraction of the current plant collection in my home. What if you don't have enough of something to give your plant, like light? Some people don't have any unobstructed south or west-facing windows that can let sunlight stream in. With LeafyPod, there's a voice attached to that plant, and it's pleading for more light like it's a hungry child. Imagine the plant begging you for something you can't give it. I don't even know this plant, and I feel horrible for it. These pots, which intend to help keep your plants alive, also don't have a way to tell you if your leafy, green friend is afflicted by some sort of fungus or bug infestation that's stunting growth. You might be able to spot fungi, but some insects are so small and devastating, like thrips, that you can watch your plant deteriorate before you suspect any creepy crawlers. While technology can enhance our lives, this pot feels to me like an unnecessary nightmare compared to low-tech alternatives, chiefly planters with a self-watering pot and a water gauge. These pots come with a water reservoir and a meter to show you how full the water is. When the meter says the reservoir is empty, you give the plant some water. We have dozens of plants in self-watering pots and they make taking care of these plants easy. As for light, we have many plants in unobstructed windows, but my wife also uses a Mother growlight. The light is wide enough to cover a large portion of our plants, and it costs a little more than one of these AI-powered pots. And this might be sacrilege, but all of our plants are in ambient conditions -- regular conditions you'd find in any home. We don't run de/humidifiers and we don't have specialty cabinets. We just have plants in our house out in the open, and they're fine. I'm sure these AI-powered pots would tell us certain plants need more humidity, but you wouldn't guess it by the way these specimens are growing. The possibility of constant notifications from this pot alone sounds like a minor form of torture to me, and the inclusion of AI and expensive technology into this pot feels misguided when low-tech options that give you the same results exist. If you are even considering this pot because you don't think you can't take care of a plant: Try a ZZ plant. Someone I know -- who is definitely not me -- didn't water one or give it much light for a few months and it was fine.