Hailey KLevel 7 76 Reviews
An aesthetic I have long admired is the person who has at least 10 plants in every one of their rooms. It is crowded but snug, and makes the room feel alive. Knowing myself, I felt I could never really be that type of person, as I have little experience with plants or really keeping anything alive (myself excluded). A few years ago, I made a new friend, and she was really into house plants. She encouraged me to get one and I eventually did, a small pilea. It was easy enough to maintain, but I knew I did want to get another plant eventually. Along came my neon pothos, which was easy enough to maintain at first, but my old habits kicked in and I became lazy and forgetful. And unlike my pilea, this one was not so forgiving. It steadily began losing leaves and became super wilted. My poor plant was on its last legs!
Along came the Krado leaflet Thingdrop. Now here was a product that fit my needs perfectly! It was a bit expensive for a Thingdrop, but since it promised to help monitor my plants and help prevent them from getting sick, this was a worthwhile investment as I was getting started on my plant journey. A little before my package arrived, I got a letter in the mail from Krado with some postcards and a handwritten note! That was such a kind thing to do, and it made things feel even more special. When I did get the actual package, my old habits kicked in and I neglected to set it up for weeks. When I finally got the motivation to get started, I now had three houseplants. Setup wasn't too difficult, just a bit confusing. There were no instructions on how to get started in the boxes, just a message about the recyclable packaging. The soil probes had also become loose when I opened the first package, which isn't a big deal thankfully. There is a QR code on the insert inside the box, but I must have missed it since I went back to their website to try and figure out what the app was called. Eventually I did find it, but I do hope future iterations of the packaging will have a better welcome letter with more detailed directions.
Speaking of directions, upon downloading the app and activating my account, I was at a loss for what to do. From what I recall, there was not really a tutorial, and the app left you on your own to figure out how to add a plant. You can add a plant pretty easily (it can even identify your plant via a picture, which actually worked perfectly for me), but it does not automatically ask you to add a sensor to it. Instead, you activate a sensor in the profile section of the app and the app pairs it. From there you can add the sensor to any plant you want. That process is a bit off to me, and it created a less than ideal start. I had a bit of trouble with pairing my first sensor, but I adjusted my WiFi settings at that did the trick. I give huge props to any smart device that can connect to its app in under 15 seconds. It was super fast, and once I did my first sensor, doing the other two were a breeze!
I have now been using leaflet for around a month, and it's definitely keeping me on my toes. It turns out I was watering my plants much less than I should have. I am happy to report that with more frequent watering my pothos is making a comeback- a new leaf even appeared the other day! This was a first as this plant had only ever lost leaves. So it seems this sensor is working its magic, and I am excited to see how well it works after several more months of use. I am currently charging a sensor for the first time, so hopefully reconnecting a sensor is no big issue. The sensors did not come fully charged but they seem to have a great battery life.
As for the mobile app, as I mentioned before when I first opened the app, I was confused on what to do. Combining that with an unappealing user interface, it was not the most ideal first few days while I figured out how the app worked. Pretty recently the app got a big UI overhaul, and I love how it looks now. There are so many more explanations for things, and helpful tips for watering and how to raise the temperature of the plant. I would like to see more in-depth tips on watering, such as how much to water for a plant of a certain size. There is also a tab for learning more about plants, which I have yet to dive into but plan to do that eventually. I still think the process of adding a sensor could be improved, but overall, I love the way the product is going.
I think this product is actually changing my plant habits for the better. While I do not immediately jump to water my plants as soon as I get the sensor notification, I definitely water them more now, keeping them healthier. Finally, I would like to bring up the price of the product. For the pack that I got, it is normally $200 for the kit and $16/month for a subscription. That is quite the downpayment for six tiny sensors! The website says soil, fertilizer, pesticide, and more included when you purchase a subscription, but as I did not get any of those extras I cannot comment if they help with the overall value. (EDIT: From the amazing customer service I have been informed that products are sent as needed when the devices alert the company that your plants need help. That is really cool actually!) Even so, I do not know if I could justify an almost extra $200 a year for a subscription on my plants. I am not that plant crazy yet! But for what I got with the Thingdrop, I am very happy and cannot wait to keep using my leaflets!
Tier TwoLeaflet
