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Life & fun · June 27, 2017

GreenPiThumb – A Raspberry Pi Gardening Bot

Using the Raspberry Pi to water plants automatically

GreenPiThumb – A Raspberry Pi Gardening Bot launched on June 27, 2017 with 537 votes, #14 of 3,107 launches that month and more than 99% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 9 years on.

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In plain words

GreenPiThumb is a gardening bot built on Raspberry Pi that automates plant care. It is for hobbyists and makers interested in combining gardening with home automation. The system monitors soil conditions and controls watering, light, and other environmental factors automatically. It stands out for being an open-source project that demonstrates practical IoT applications for indoor gardening.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

This is the story of GreenPiThumb: a gardening bot that automatically waters houseplants, but also sometimes kills them. The story begins about a year ago, when I was struck by a sudden desire to own a houseplant. A plant would look nice, supply me with much needed oxygen, and imply to guests that I’m a responsible grown-up, capable of caring for a living thing. But I’m a programmer, not a gardener. If I had a plant, I’d have to water it and check the plant’s health a few times per week. I decided it would be much easier if I just spent several hundred hours building a robot to do that for me. If the plant lives to be 80 years old, I come out slightly ahead. Like…from mtlynch.io

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