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How do you use the Planty Gardening app?
Download the app, create an account, enter your garden box(es) and start sowing. Follow the steps and reminders and you'll garden like a pro in no time.
This page includes 2 sections:
This page includes 2 sections:
- a comprehensive explanation of how to use the app
- specific questions you may have
The app helps you sow, take care of, and harvest your plants - all in real-time.
The app sends you a notification when it's time for the next step and
The app sends you a notification when it's time for the next step and
- helps you check if everything is going well
- gives you step-by-step instructions about what you need to do
- counts down the days until the next step for you
Curious to see what that looks like in practice? Then I'll walk you through it:
How do you set up the app for your vegetable garden?
If you're familiar with smartphone apps, then you probably know a lot of this already. Most of it is self-explanatory.
It is good to know that the app is 100% customized to work with our Planty Gardening system, materials, and seeds. Not sure if the app is right for you? Then read this page first.
Okay, if you're looking for a comprehensive user's guide, here you go:
It is good to know that the app is 100% customized to work with our Planty Gardening system, materials, and seeds. Not sure if the app is right for you? Then read this page first.
Okay, if you're looking for a comprehensive user's guide, here you go:
Step 1: Download the app
There are currently 2 versions. They function the same way, but are specifically developed for 2 different operating systems:
The iOS version for iPhone and iPad
The iOS version for iPhone and iPad
Step 2: Create an account
Open the app and create your account. If you already have a Planty Gardening account, use that to log in.
When choosing a user name, use letters and numbers only - so, no symbols, spaces, or emojis.
Trouble logging in or registering?
Then head to the troubleshooting page here.
When choosing a user name, use letters and numbers only - so, no symbols, spaces, or emojis.
Trouble logging in or registering?
Then head to the troubleshooting page here.
Step 4: Add your vegetable garden to the app
Adding your garden boxes to the app can be done in 2 ways:
- Tap the 'Add garden' button at the top of the 'Today' screen.
- Click on 'Your garden' at the bottom of the screen. If you haven't added a box yet, you'll see an empty screen with the same button.
Select your garden box or grow bag
All of our garden boxes are included in the app, as well as some additional size options.
Note: There are garden boxes with and without legs and/or a trellis. Choose the kind you have. That's how you'll get the right advice so you can decide which vegetables to put where.
Give your garden box a name
Be creative - and practical 😉
Is your garden box a different size?
You can solve that by combining garden boxes. For example, add two 90x90 cm boxes to the app if you have a 90x180 cm box at home. Put a 60x120 cm and a 90x120 cm box in the app if you have a 150x120 box at home.
Tip: Give those boxes a clear name so you can remember which garden box is where. For example 'kitchen left' and 'kitchen right'.
All of our garden boxes are included in the app, as well as some additional size options.
Note: There are garden boxes with and without legs and/or a trellis. Choose the kind you have. That's how you'll get the right advice so you can decide which vegetables to put where.
Give your garden box a name
Be creative - and practical 😉
Is your garden box a different size?
You can solve that by combining garden boxes. For example, add two 90x90 cm boxes to the app if you have a 90x180 cm box at home. Put a 60x120 cm and a 90x120 cm box in the app if you have a 150x120 box at home.
Tip: Give those boxes a clear name so you can remember which garden box is where. For example 'kitchen left' and 'kitchen right'.
Placement
Make sure your garden box is placed in the same direction both in your Planty Garden and in the app: the front should face south so it will get the most sunlight. South is always the bottom edge of the app. So, a rectangular garden box may need to be turned around.
Make sure your garden box is placed in the same direction both in your Planty Garden and in the app: the front should face south so it will get the most sunlight. South is always the bottom edge of the app. So, a rectangular garden box may need to be turned around.
Step 5: Getting started 💪
You sow your square patches 1 by 1. Do this in the app and in your real garden box.
This is how you sow a vegetable patch:
1. Choose a patch
In the tab 'Your garden' select your garden box or grow bag. It includes 1 or more vegetable patches. An empty square patch is gray a plus sign. Click on the plus to start sowing.
2. Select your vegetable
You can find all our seeds in the overview. At the top are the types of plants that are the best match for that square patch at that moment. Patches at the front are best for smaller plants than those at the back of the garden box.
1. Choose a patch
In the tab 'Your garden' select your garden box or grow bag. It includes 1 or more vegetable patches. An empty square patch is gray a plus sign. Click on the plus to start sowing.
2. Select your vegetable
You can find all our seeds in the overview. At the top are the types of plants that are the best match for that square patch at that moment. Patches at the front are best for smaller plants than those at the back of the garden box.
Below you'll find our other seeds and the reason why they're not the best choice. Maybe it's not the right time of year, not the ideal spot in the garden box, etc. You can still choose them, but it's just not what the app recommends.
The app knows everything about our Planty Gardening seeds. We offer vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The more plant varieties you have, the more you can sow all year long and the more varied your harvest will be.
Read more about our seeds here
All of the life stages our seeds go through are included in the Planty Gardening app. For other vegetables or plants, you can reserve a space in the garden box, but you won't get any advice about those.
The app knows everything about our Planty Gardening seeds. We offer vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The more plant varieties you have, the more you can sow all year long and the more varied your harvest will be.
Read more about our seeds here
All of the life stages our seeds go through are included in the Planty Gardening app. For other vegetables or plants, you can reserve a space in the garden box, but you won't get any advice about those.
3. Follow the instructions
The rest is self-explanatory: the app shows you how to sow, step by step. When you're done, the plus sign disappears and you'll see a seed in the gray square patch. The app keeps track of the number of days until the next step.
The rest is self-explanatory: the app shows you how to sow, step by step. When you're done, the plus sign disappears and you'll see a seed in the gray square patch. The app keeps track of the number of days until the next step.
Step 6: Respond to the notifications
Every few days you'll get a notification: 'One of your plants needs attention'.
If you go to your garden box in the app, you'll see an exclamation point in 1 of the patches. Click on it and a question appears: “Already see something coming up?" You check in your garden box to see if you do.
If so, you get to go to the next level, follow the steps for that level, and the count down to the next steps starts.
If you go to your garden box in the app, you'll see an exclamation point in 1 of the patches. Click on it and a question appears: “Already see something coming up?" You check in your garden box to see if you do.
If so, you get to go to the next level, follow the steps for that level, and the count down to the next steps starts.
And what if something goes wrong?
Then the app - and you - discover what the issue is. The app asks you questions and, based on your answer, gives you advice.
For each vegetable, the count down shows you how many days until the next level.
If the weather is nice, the plants will grow faster and you can click on the next level sooner. If the weather is bad - or if it is still early spring or late fall - you'll probably click 'no' more often and the app will add a few extra days to the count down.
If the weather is nice, the plants will grow faster and you can click on the next level sooner. If the weather is bad - or if it is still early spring or late fall - you'll probably click 'no' more often and the app will add a few extra days to the count down.
Daily to-do's
Besides checking your plants, you'll get a few to-dos.
These help you remember to water, go on a snail hunt, things like that. They look like this in the app:
These help you remember to water, go on a snail hunt, things like that. They look like this in the app:
Will you find yourself drowning in notifications?
No, it's not that bad. Radishes go through 6 stages in total if you harvest longer. So you get 6 to 8 notifications over a 5-6 week period.
There are more stages for tomatoes more because you pre-sow them indoors first. You let the seedlings grow into strong little plants indoors, have to get them used to the outdoors, and then move them out in your garden box. The app shows you how to do all of that:
The app even shows you how to cut off side shoots - also known as suckers - and what you do with unripe tomatoes at the end of the season.
All in all, it takes just 1 season to learn how to grow all our vegetables and herbs. At least, if you decide to sow and grow all 40 of them 😉
All in all, it takes just 1 season to learn how to grow all our vegetables and herbs. At least, if you decide to sow and grow all 40 of them 😉
You're a pro Planty Gardener in no time
You'll have learned so much in just a few months, you won't even need the app's alerts anymore. You can just use it to choose which seeds to plant or see what you can (still) sow at that moment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure, sometimes questions come up.
Here are the most common ones about the Planty Gardening app. And answers too 😉
Here are the most common ones about the Planty Gardening app. And answers too 😉
If you're looking at the 'Your garden' screen you'll see that each garden box has a name. Clicking on it will take you to that garden box's settings. You can do 3 things:
- Change the type of garden box:
Just click ‘Change'. For example, you can add a trellis. - Change the name of your garden box.
- Delete your garden box.
Just click on the red trash sign in the upper right corner.
Does your garden box have a long side and a short side?
If so, you'll see a second screen where you can change the orientation of your box. But beware: if you change the position when there are already plants in it, they won't be in the right position anymore and will overshadow their neighbors. Or vice versa.
If so, you'll see a second screen where you can change the orientation of your box. But beware: if you change the position when there are already plants in it, they won't be in the right position anymore and will overshadow their neighbors. Or vice versa.
If you used the Planty Gardening app last year, then there are probably already a few garden boxes in it. Even if they're empty now, they still have last year's data included in them: for example, the last kind of vegetable grown in that patch.
But in a Planty Garden, you prepare the garden boxes for a new season. That means scooping the soil mix through the entire garden box to make it nice and airy again. Then you add nutritious plant food and top it off with a fresh bat of soil mix if it looks low. By mixing everything up, you're essentially starting from scratch. So it doesn't matter what you grew in which patch last year.
How do you indicate this in the app?
Select the name of the garden box and choose 'New season'. You'll see a pop-up confirmation appear:
But in a Planty Garden, you prepare the garden boxes for a new season. That means scooping the soil mix through the entire garden box to make it nice and airy again. Then you add nutritious plant food and top it off with a fresh bat of soil mix if it looks low. By mixing everything up, you're essentially starting from scratch. So it doesn't matter what you grew in which patch last year.
How do you indicate this in the app?
Select the name of the garden box and choose 'New season'. You'll see a pop-up confirmation appear:
If you want to add an existing plant that's already reached a later level, here's how:
Click on the patch you want to add it to. Choose the species and click on 'Choose level' under the 'Sow' button. This takes you to the timeline of the plant and you choose the level of yours. Follow the instructions to make sure you chose the right level if you're not sure.
Click on the patch you want to add it to. Choose the species and click on 'Choose level' under the 'Sow' button. This takes you to the timeline of the plant and you choose the level of yours. Follow the instructions to make sure you chose the right level if you're not sure.
Click on the patch with the plant you want to update. If there is an exclamation mark then do the checkup first and then click on the patch again.
Now you see the levels of the plant at the left of the screen. At the top is the current level and below that are the levels to come. To the right of ‘Upcoming' is the button ‘See all'.
If you click on it you will see the entire timeline - see the middle screen. Select the desired level for your plant.
This will take you to the right screen. If necessary, follow the instructions to make sure you chose the right level.
Now you see the levels of the plant at the left of the screen. At the top is the current level and below that are the levels to come. To the right of ‘Upcoming' is the button ‘See all'.
If you click on it you will see the entire timeline - see the middle screen. Select the desired level for your plant.
This will take you to the right screen. If necessary, follow the instructions to make sure you chose the right level.
At the moment, it's not possible to share your vegetable garden with someone else within the app. It's on our wish list though.
However, you can log in on multiple phones. So multiple people can keep track of 1 Planty Garden at the same time.
Just be sure to always refresh the app. Otherwise, you won't see the updates someone else made to your shared garden. Go to the 'Your garden' tab and swipe down: you'll see it think for a moment and then the screen will refresh.
It's not ideal, but we're hoping we can change it soon.
However, you can log in on multiple phones. So multiple people can keep track of 1 Planty Garden at the same time.
Just be sure to always refresh the app. Otherwise, you won't see the updates someone else made to your shared garden. Go to the 'Your garden' tab and swipe down: you'll see it think for a moment and then the screen will refresh.
It's not ideal, but we're hoping we can change it soon.
To move a plant, press on the square a little longer on the patch the plant is in, choose 'Re-order'. In the next screen, press the square patch where you want the plant to go:
Sure you can. Here's how:
Press on the name of the garden box and choose 'Re-order'.
Now hold your finger on the 3 dashes next to the garden box. You'll see it turn into a kind of bar which you can drag up or down: just drag it exactly where you want it.
Press on the name of the garden box and choose 'Re-order'.
Now hold your finger on the 3 dashes next to the garden box. You'll see it turn into a kind of bar which you can drag up or down: just drag it exactly where you want it.
Yes, you can. Go to the patch you want, click on it to get to the seeds, then scroll all the way down. Under the heading, 'Other' you'll see the option 'Reserve spot'.
Click on it and it will take you to a new screen where you can indicate which vegetable you want to reserve the patch and when you want to receive a reminder to sow it. If you don't choose a date, the app sends you a reminder on the earliest possible day you can sow.
Click on it and it will take you to a new screen where you can indicate which vegetable you want to reserve the patch and when you want to receive a reminder to sow it. If you don't choose a date, the app sends you a reminder on the earliest possible day you can sow.
Sure. Tap on the square patch you want and scroll all the way down to seeds. Under the heading 'Other' you'll see the option for ‘Custom plant'. Click on it and add whatever plant you like. You won't receive any guidance or notifications about that patch.
There are 6 garden box and garden table* sizes in the app, plus the MM-Mini grow bags. The app knows everything about the patches in these boxes and takes them into account: location, height, suitable seeds, etc.
For now, we won't be adding more size options. With these sizes, with a little creativity, you can make almost any size box, by combining them and/or blocking compartments by reserving them. If it still doesn't work out, I offer you my humble apologies 😉
*Garden tables are elevated boxes with bottoms and legs.
For now, we won't be adding more size options. With these sizes, with a little creativity, you can make almost any size box, by combining them and/or blocking compartments by reserving them. If it still doesn't work out, I offer you my humble apologies 😉
*Garden tables are elevated boxes with bottoms and legs.
No, a trellis always goes on the north side of the garden box. That's the best spot anyway and the app is programmed accordingly.
Yes, sure. But if you've been growing your own food for a few years now, you probably don't need the chat bot. If something comes up, you'll probably just want to make your choice right away:
- just continue (skip the steps or not)
- remove the plant (by pressing on the square patch and then choosing 'Remove')
- or just watch it for a while ('Delay')
The delay button can be found at the top right of the screen:
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