Blogs / Discoblog

Your Plants Have More Twitter Followers Than You—Literally

Ok, for anyone not on Twitter, it’s time to reevaluate: These days, even plants are doing it. And successfully, too—Pothos has 2,300 followers, and when it tweets, it almost always gets what it wants.

Granted, all it wants is water, but when plant owners are forgetful or just don’t have a green thumb, their green friends often go thirsty. The solution? Botanicalls, a device that sends wireless signals to Twitter. It’s made of soil moisture sensors that transmit information (too much moisture? too little?) through a circuit board to a microcontroller, just like a mini-computer.

The software has settings that allow you to program specifically for the type of plant and the unique qualities of the soil, and the language sent to Twitter can be customized—so the message can vary in tone from the polite “please” to the urgent “I’m desperately thirsty”—or, as Mr. Ikea Plant will tweet, “I’m wicked thirsty.”

Co-creator Kate Hartman now feels guilty when she doesn’t water her plants because everybody will know. It’s like the Little Shop of Horrors has gone high-tech. Not to mention more polite: The plant also sends “thank you” tweets once it’s been fed.

Related Content:
Discoblog: Twitter to Replace World History in England Schools
Cosmic Variance: Karl Rove is Following Me on Twitter

Image: Flickr / jazzmasterson

March 26th, 2009 11:35 AM Tags: computers, plants, Twitter
by Rachel Cernansky in Technology Attacks! | 7 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

7 Responses to “Your Plants Have More Twitter Followers Than You—Literally”

1. 1.   Chris Says:
   March 26th, 2009 at 12:31 pm

   i’ve heard of people talking to their plants, but now they talk back?!? mercy!

2. 2.   One Penny Sheet » Twittering Plant Knows How To Get What It Wants Says:
   March 26th, 2009 at 5:40 pm

   [...] followers on Twitter than I do (even though I am at least as personable) — and all it does is tweet about how thirsty it is: Ok, for anyone not on Twitter, it’s time to reevaluate: These days, even plants are doing [...]

3. 3.   Changing Places » Blog Archive » On Twitter, no one knows you’re a plant Says:
   April 8th, 2009 at 12:45 pm

   [...] via Your Plants Have More Twitter Followers Than You—Literally | Discoblog | Discover Magazine. [...]

4. 4.   Talking to Plants May Make Them Grow…Particularly If You’re Female | Discoblog | Discover Magazine Says:
   June 23rd, 2009 at 11:12 am

   [...] Related Content: DISCOVER: Psychedelic Space Plants DISCOVER: The Plants That Eat Animals Discoblog: Plants Twitter When Thirsty [...]

5. 5.   rvtwt Says:
   August 4th, 2009 at 1:57 am

   It looks to me like you

6. 6.   addicted to bad Says:
   October 15th, 2009 at 7:57 am

   So its the soil thats tweeting, not the plant.

7. 7.   Like Humans, Plants Fare Better When They’re Among “Family” | Discoblog | Discover Magazine Says:
   October 15th, 2009 at 3:27 pm

   [...] Related Content: DISCOVER: Plant Migration Tied to Climate Change Discoblog: Your Plant Might Have More Twitter Followers Than You [...]

Leave a Reply