Imagine that you live a very busy life, and don’t pay as much attention to your plants as they might like. Now imagine that when your plants need watering, that they can just call you up on the phone. That is the new reality of Botanicalls.

I first learned of the project in 2007 at the Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA. There was a large table set up with plants, and an old school telephone. You could answer the phone and listen to the plant relay its message, “Water me!”  It blew my mind. Here’s the picture I took at that event, you can see they were popluar:

What is it, and how does it work? And how did it come to be? Botanicalls evolved from people wanting to integrate the aesthetic and environmental benefits of houseplants into their very busy high tech lives. So a group of four researchers put together an electronic circuit board kit that you build your self and install into your houseplants. The plant then has the ability to call your phone and let you know if it needs water.It can even send you data on moisture content. Here’s a photo of the actual device from .Martijn on flickr:

So that’s the concept behind “Botanicalls Classic” The newest version of the product allows your plant to “tweet” its status on Twitter.com. I think it’s awesome! General Hydroponics’ Twitter is following the original Botanicalls plant, Pothos. You can see the plant ask for water, “Please water me!” and you can see it express its gratitude, “Thanks for watering me!” 

Am I alone in imagining that you could create a program that could measure the EC of your resevoir, and if the PPM dips below a certain number, get your plants to call and tell you “Feed me!”???? Endless possibilities!

Click here to buy your own Botanicalls kit from Maker Shed. Click here to learn  more about the Maker Faire. Read more about Botanicalls on Yahoo News. And please check out the Botanicalls site where they’ve got some great videos and how-to links. And please follow GH on twitter, and Pothos too!