Grow a Plant With Batteries, Software and Sunshine [PICS]

Lacking a 'green thumb?' Click and Grow is for the beginner gardener. You water it once and forget about it.

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The Click and Grow flower pot and plant cartridge work like a printer and toner. The pot contains electronics, sensors, batteries, a pump and a water reservoir; the cartridge contains seeds, nutrients and software (in a microchip) for growing the plant. There are currently 13 varieties of flowers and plants, and the selection is continuously growing. Right now the available selection includes painted nettle, lamb's ear, marigolds and more. You can also grow edible things such as basil, thyme, sage, tomatoes and chili peppers.

Founder Mattias Lepp tells Mashable all you have to do is add water and batteries (not in the same place) -- everything else is done by the sensors and software. You'll also have to find a sunny place for your plant to sit, or at least somewhere it can absorb the sun's rays, sunshine or not.

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The idea for Click and Grow began three years ago, Lepp says, while reading an article about a NASA mission in which plants were taken into space. He began fusing technology with gardening in his own backyard in Estonia to see if he could grow plants with little or no care in a harsh climate. He made several iterations of the planter and one very cold winter, he says, the device he created was able to grow tomatoes 'very quickly.' The company grew from there and officially launched one year ago.

Lepp said Click and Grow should also cut down on the waste that comes from single plants being purchased in plastic containers that then get thrown away. The potting container is reusable; though the cartridges need to be replaced for each new plant.

'It's just a cool device to have on your office table,' he added.

The plant container costs $59 and the cartridges (with plant seeds) cost $19.99. You can buy them on the company's website or at Brookstone or Amazon.com.

There are a number of other desktop gardening pots, some that combine USB technology to make indoor gardening easier by remind you to water the plant. But Click and Grow seems to be the front-runner in terms of making gardening simple for those who forget, or don't have time, to water plants.

Check out these photos of some of the plants that can sprout from Click and Grow and tell us, is this product on your wish list?

Click and Grow

This is the Click and Grow pot before the plant sprouts.

Click here to view this gallery. This story originally published on Mashable here.



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