5 gadgets I'm buying this spring to grow my green thumb (and they're on sale)

Indoor plants are the hardest for me to keep alive, and the conditions in my house, which is shaded by tall trees, certainly don’t help. I have a money tree in the corner of my living room that barely gets light, so I tried this clip light to supplement that. 

You simply clip it to the edge of the pot and can adjust the gooseneck to any angle. There is an automatic timer setting for three, six, or 12 hours, as well as four brightness settings, so you’re not frying your plants’ leaves. 

So far, my money tree has been thriving in its dark corner, so I will be buying more of these for other houseplants. 

I either always water my plants too much or too little, so this moisture meter is going to come in handy. By sticking it in the pot or ground, it tracks a plant’s soil moisture and air temperature in real time, so you know to water it or to hold off. 

An accompanying app also provides planting instructions for common plants, such as aloe vera, ivy, ficus, and more, that show optimal temperature and soil moisture benchmarks that you can follow to ensure your plant is growing as it should. 

Weeds have become my biggest enemy, and they seem to always win. To save my back and knees from bending on the ground hours on end pulling weeds this spring/summer, I will be trying this stand-up weed tool. It works by positioning the two serrated tines over the weed, stepping down with your foot, twisting the handle, and extracting the weed. 

At only 2.2 pounds, I’ll be able to tackle all the ground elder that has taken over our landscaping with ease (hopefully). 

My outdoor herb garden did well last summer, and I fully plan to do it again this year, but just in case the rabbits and chipmunks end up eating the fruits of my labor, I want to grow herbs indoors too. This indoor hydroponic garden from AeroGarden uses energy-efficient LED grow lights to grow up to six herbs and vegetables at once. 

It has an adjustable height light up to one foot as the plants grow taller, and uses seed pod kits to grow instead of messing around with the right type of soil. 

Living in the Midwest means unpredictable weather, and to stay on top of droughts, I plan on using this smart sprinkler. It allows you to tailor your watering routine with five frequency options — every day, odd days, even days, interval (every 2-30 days), and custom (every Monday, etc.) — to perfectly suit your gardening needs. 

The watering schedule can also be set based on local weather data, including weather, soil moisture, and temperature, via the app. The water timer will delay watering by 1-30 days during rainy days and increase watering during droughts, ensuring your outdoor plants never get over-watered or under-watered.