Click and Grow. Half a year - normal flight

In this post I will tell you about my experience with using the Click and Grow device, about the joys and disappointments that comprehended me.
For more than six months, the device remained for a month unattended in the office, moved from window to window, ached and stood in the draft, but it still works and is still in bloom at the time of writing the post.

Please read the report and take a look at the photos taken on the phone.

Prehistory

The device is positioned as an opportunity to grow plants autonomously without constant human supervision. Know only add water once a month and change batteries every six months.

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Somewhere in May of this year I was presented with a Click and Grow smartpot. The purchase was made in the store Enter, delivered it from the warehouse to the store for a couple of days. Eagerly, I brought it to work in the morning and opened it.
The package consists of two cartons with pictures, inside of which lies the device itself. It looks exactly as in the photo from the site:


There is a photo and a description of the flower on the outer cardboard, a brief manual on the installation and use of the device on the inside.

TTX

The technical characteristics of the device have already been written here , so I will not delve into the parameters and bring in photos, only briefly touch on this issue:

The pot has a light indicator, inside there are five LEDs that blink in a certain situation:

• Green - normal operation
• Blue - run out of water
• Red - low battery
• Yellow - cartridge incorrectly inserted
• Purple - error when installing batteries, remove and re-insert

Inside the instruction is presented, here it is:



During the installation, it turned out that the blue indicator does not work for me. It's a shame, but I decided not to carry it under warranty, since I really wanted to launch the device that I had been waiting for a while. In principle, those are critical, when the water ends, this is well heard, the pump inside starts to make the sounds of a dying Darth Vader and ask for water.

The pot is a base station and cartridge. The station is a water tank with a slot for four AA batteries. By the way, they are not included in the kit. The cartridge is the pot itself, probably with some kind of memory card, where irrigation information is stored, and a compacted earthen mixture (similar to peat in consistency) with seeds already planted in certain places. Inserted into the station and starts to work. There is no power button, just when all the conditions are met, it will go.

Growth

Having done everything according to the instructions, I put the pot on the window and began to wait. The fact that it works is visible immediately, sometimes the pump buzzes and the plastic lens mists up, which needs to close the cartridge before the seed emerges. a week later shoots appeared. Seeds germinated actively and quickly, which pleased me.
After some time, mold appeared. First, she covered the entire substrate, and then the shoots. As a treatment, I acquired Fitosporin-M, watered the soil through a pipette, after two weeks everything went away.
Then came the little insects, like a mite. Here it was no longer a case of harmless means and I had to buy an insecticide (which I don’t remember) and spray the plant. Once was enough.
Next, the plant is sick, it is not clear what, the leaves brightened and curled, tried to heal, but without success. As a result, new healthy branches grew and everything became normal.



Watering it really requires a bit, the first refueling was enough for two months, and then he began to drink everything in a week. I do not know how it is embedded in iron, but the flowers are clearly beneficial. Batteries lasted for six months.

Total

pros

• The plant is really quite autonomous, I left for a month and it stretched all this time almost without supervision.
• It's really easy to care for him.
• There is no fear that the cleaner will break the watering mode

Minuses

• the device is expensive, replaceable cartridges cost a third of the cost of the pot
• one indicator does not work for me, the support never answered my letters
• and yes, it still requires care

And conclusion

As a result, I was satisfied, for the next year I plan to buy myself a new cartridge and use it further. I advise you to buy if you forget to care for the plants on the window, but you want to please the eye with beautiful flowers, or just love automation. The device itself looks very beautiful in the interior, the flowers also look quite organic. And if you leave the window open in summer, the bees will arrive!

PS I will be glad to answer questions!