"spirk" wrote in message
...

Hi my name is Evan and I am a design student trying to come up with a
product to help beginner to expert gardeners with the process of
growing plants, fruits in a garden or greenhouse. It would be best to
explain my idea by giving you an example of how you could use it.

The user opens up the box to find the Hand held device with a color LCD
touch screen, seeds for several different plants, earphones and location
markers with embedded RFID chips. The handheld device would also have a
docking station to connect to a computer. The idea is that when the
user starts planting fruits, flowers, ect. They would then place a
RFID in the ground right with the seed.(An RFID is a chip that stores
information you enter, and then can retrieve the information later
wirelessly.)

The user would input what plant he just put the RFID chip next to.
Now when the user ever comes back to that plant he waves his device
over the plant and up pops a history of the plant, how to take care of
it, the history of the users interaction with that plant, ect. The
device would also be able to play mp3 files, which would allow the user
to hook up to the internet and download instructional lessons, different
methods of planting, care, ect. The device could even give visual
references for the user.

This idea is just not limited to outdoor use. You could use the system
for greenhouses, or even inside the house with "smart pots." Maybe you
have smart pots that have RFID integrated chips. The main thing I want
to concentrate on is building this idea into an entire system for home
gardening.

I would really appreciate any answers to the following questions, and
any comments about my idea

What is your biggest problem with gardening and the gardening process?

What is the hardest thing to remember when gardening?

Do you document plants as they grow?

How do you remember what plants you planted?

What are the most common things you need to remember when taking care
of a garden, ie nutrition, type of fertilizer, ect.

What are the most important things you need to do before starting to
plant seeds for your garden?

Are there different ways you need to treat plants that you grow outside
then in a greenhouse?

Thanks for your time, this will really help me out.


--
spirk
Greenhouses are extremely hostile places for anything electronic.
Most people I know wouldn't need the information, they know it and one of
the reasons they garden is the mental challenge of learning something
different. But you will probably find others who would be interested - Good
luck

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)