What is Smart Care?

Smart Care is an AI based machine learning that allows for more accurate management of nutrients for your Rise Gardens.

How does it work?

We collected a vast amount of nutrient data from existing Rise Gardens and built an algorithm that is based on assortments of plants, different ages and varieties that train this AI to ensure that your Rise Garden is receiving the most accurate amounts of nutrients based on what's growing and growth stage of your plants.

How do I enable Smart Care in the Rise Gardens app? 

Once Smart Care goes live (approximately mid March 2021), you will be prompted to switch over. Follow the instructions on the screen and it will guide you through how to enable it. If you choose to opt out, you can simply go to your care dashboard and click the care settings button. This will open a settings page where you can choose to add nutrients with the new Smart Care. Once you have selected this, press the Run Care button on your Dashboard and it will walk you through the steps of adding nutrients. There are no sensor inputs as Smart Care only needs to know which plants you are growing.

How important is to be accurate and up to date with the plants in my garden with Smart Care enabled?

In order to use Smart Care, all you need to do is select it from your care Settings on your dashboard. Because it is only based around what plants are in your app’s garden, you must make sure that your app’s garden matches reality. Be sure to move any plants from your nursery down into your garden, and remove any plants that you have harvested. You will get a condensed screen showing you all the nutrients you need to add that week, and you add them into your Garden the same way you always have.

What are the steps to take to avoid overdosing nutrients when making the switch to Smart Care?

The best way to save your plants is to start fresh. Remove as much of the water as you can from the Water Tank and each tray level, and run Smart Care again. BE SURE YOU HAVE SELECTED THAT YOU CLEANED YOUR GARDEN ON THE APP. This will start your plants off fresh and make sure there are no unknown nutrients in your water left over from sensor Care.

Once I switch to Smart Care, can I switch back to the sensor? 

We do not recommend switching back and forth between Smart Care and sensor care as that can have some negative impact on your garden (i.e. overdosing nutrients). However, if you are using your sensor and want to use Smart Care while you wait for batteries, or something doesn't seem right, you can switch over to Smart Care.

Same goes for Smart Care; if you want to do a quick check with your sensor to see if you are on track, you can switch to sensor care for a quick reading. As long as you are not continually switching back and forth, your nutrients will still be on track!

Why is Smart Care better than the traditional sensor care? 

Relying on sensors to add nutrients can be tricky as their accuracy depends entirely on the calibration and they need specific storage environments in order to stay calibrated. This created the need for a more reliable and consistent method of adding nutrients. By only needing to know your plants, we were able to provide a way of adding nutrients that did not rely on a third party sensor that can become uncalibrated and run out of batteries. We also did not want to keep charging people for replacement sensors and calibration kits as it disrupts the easy-to-use hydroponic gardening model we are trying to achieve.

What if my sensor needs calibrating? 

As we phase out the sensor you will still be able to purchase a calibration kit from us that is good for 3 calibrations (~9 months of usage if you calibrate every 90 days).

What do I do with my old sensor?

As with all electronic devices, we strongly recommend locating your local e-waste center to properly dispose of your sensor. If you live in Illinois, the sensor can be classified as a “Computer” for e-waste sites due to its display screen and internal components.

What testing have you done to make sure it works? 

We have already launched this technology with our Personal Rise Garden and have done extensive research in our own laboratory to make sure it will work. As we continue to run tests and collect data from people with higher quality sensors, we will continue to improve this method of adding nutrients. So it will only get more accurate as time goes by!

Should I keep my sensor just in case? 

There is no need to keep your sensor if you want to switch over to Smart Care. However, we understand that some people may want to invest in a higher quality sensor, or just enjoy knowing more details about their Garden, and so we have kept the ability to use a sensor to add nutrients. 

What about pH? Will my pH be accurate? I always have issues with PH being too high? 

Due to the inaccuracy of our current sensor, a lot of people have been prompted with pH issues even though their plants are perfectly healthy. Because tap water can range in its quality it is very hard to nail down a solution that fits everyone. We have developed a method of calculating pH based on how much water you add to your system, instead of what your pH currently is. This new method requires understanding a bit more about your water chemistry, so we have made a quick 1 minute test that you can perform on your water to get more balanced pH levels. By entering in info about your tap water, we can guide you to balancing your pH.

What happens if my sensor breaks moving forward? 

We will be supporting replacement sensors and calibration kits until May 15, 2021 for those who just got their sensor, or still want to use it. However, we will be phasing out our support for the sensor and support will discontinue May 15, 2021.