This Smart Planter Pulls Water Out of Thin Air

There are plenty of things in your home that don’t need to be “smart,” but planters are actually a pretty good use case for the technology. A lot of us struggle to keep plants alive, because we aren’t giving them the care that they require — it is easy to forget to water them one day, then overcompensate by watering them too much the next day. WALTY 2.0 can help and it takes things a step further than just providing notifications, as it has the ability to pull water out of thin air.

WALTY 2.0 just launched on Kickstarter and it is clearly a passion project. This isn’t just another big corporation using Kickstarter for marketing, but rather a genuine attempt to fund an innovative new product. That becomes apparent when you see the 3D-printed planter body and electronics enclosure, and some basic off-the-shelf electronics like the LCD screen. But there is a certain charm to that and the concept certainly has merit.

The goal here is to eliminate manual watering entirely, without resorting to plumbing an irrigation system. It is perfect for forgetful apartment-dwelling plant parents. It works using the same technology that causes the outside of your glass to get wet when you dine on a patio: condensation. Inside WALTY 2.0 is a condenser, similar to what you’d find in an air conditioner or refrigerator. When humid air touches the cold surfaces of the cooling fins, condensation forms and starts to build up.

In an air conditioner or refrigerator, that moisture would be a useless — and sometimes detrimental — byproduct of the cooling process. But in WALTY 2.0, it is the entire point. Under ideal conditions, it pulls enough moisture from the air to water a plant. A control interface built into the planter lets the user set the frequency at which the condenser runs, as well as the length of time it runs. That, with the help of built-in temperature and humidity sensors, should let the user water their plant on an appropriate schedule. There are even some RGB LEDs to liven up the experience.

But, of course, there are some potential issues. The most obvious is that WALTY 2.0 relies on humidity. Here in Phoenix, it wouldn’t work at all for most of the year. Even in places with significant humidity, levels can vary from day to day and that may make it difficult to maintain a consistent schedule. It is also worth considering efficiency and power consumption, as running a condenser just to supply some water seems a little wasteful.

However, this is still a very interesting product and if you want to back the WALTY 2.0 Kickstarter campaign, you have until August 26thto do so. Ultra early birds can get a WALTY 2.0 in white for $120 and it should ship in December.