Ever since owning my own home, I seem to have taken to filling every available space with a plant. It began with buying Monstera Deliciosa and then a devil’s ivy. I loved the look of both of them so much that it wasn’t long before I caught the propagation bug and started making new plants for other parts of the house and as gifts for friends and family.
Then I started running into some problems: yellowing leaves, brown spots, and waterlogged pots. I searched the web and tried a few things but with no success. I needed help! It came, as most things do now, in the form of an app called Blossom. I use it on my iPhone, although it is available on Android too. The latter is better equipped with a light-level feature that helps you find the ideal spot for a plant. I really wish I had that feature!
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This is part of a regular series of articles exploring the apps that we couldn’t live without. Read them all here.
Every part of the app is an absolute pleasure to use. There is an abundance of information available, but it is well presented and organized, with box outs perfectly laid out with app users in mind. The app has genuinely made caring for my plants infinitely easier.
The first step on the journey towards plant perfection is to add plants to your ‘garden’. This can be done by searching by plant name, but I much preferred photographing my plants and letting Blossom work out what they were.
This is perfect for a plant novice like me who has trouble remembering English words, let alone long Latin ones. The effective image search function easily identified every plant in my house. Access to over 30,000 plants, flowers, succulents, and trees means Blossom is unlikely to fall at this hurdle.
With all your plants identified and saved, Blossom then produces a personalized schedule for watering, fertilizing, and repotting. I love to be organized, so having a plan for what I need to do makes me feel like I’m being wrapped in a warm blanket.
Plants are not robots, though. They can’t be minimized into a set of perfectly curated instructions that, if followed, will result in high-level plant care. Over time, owners get to know their plants. They know what they need as well as when they need it. This hands-on knowledge is invaluable and helps fine-tune the care given. Blossom does a great job of integrating these nuances into the core of the care plan. Watering activities can be snoozed, or the time between repeating actions can be adjusted.
If I’m honest, though, plant care wasn’t really why I started using the app. I needed help to stop my plants from dying. If I had an expert horticulturalist on hand 24/7, I would have used them, but the Blossom app has proved to be the next best thing.
By simply photographing the problem, I identified several diseases and issues with my plants. This process has proved much easier than describing the problem to Google only to be led down numerous rabbit trails before stumbling on a solution. Blossom is quick, accurate, and effective, with plenty of care tips that have made a difference to the health of my plants. I’m not saying it’ll sort all your plant problems out, but it will help.
With all of my plants now doing well, I’m on the lookout for new ones. Don’t judge me. Can you ever have too many plants? Okay, maybe you can, but I’m not there yet. Through its advanced search filters, Blossom is helping me find the best plants for specific spots in my house. I can specify the type of plant I want, the temperature in the area, the light level, and how easy or difficult it is to care for. Blossom gives me all the plants I might like to consider, resulting in a more confident plant purchase.
Having plants in my home and caring for them is one of my favorite things. I was getting along okay on my own, but I feel more supported and better educated now that I’ve got Blossom to help.
Eugen Boglaru is an AI aficionado covering the fascinating and rapidly advancing field of Artificial Intelligence. From machine learning breakthroughs to ethical considerations, Eugen provides readers with a deep dive into the world of AI, demystifying complex concepts and exploring the transformative impact of intelligent technologies.
