A plant journal records what a sensor reading cannot: what you changed, why, and what you noticed later. A date, an action and a short comment are enough. For example: “Moved the basil to another shelf; compare growth in photos in three days.” A record helps reconstruct events, but does not by itself prove what caused a change.
You can start with your own plant in a personal account: a name is enough, with no hardware required. Follow the plant journal and Telegram guide for setup and reminders.
Try the journal without any hardware
Open the plants in the GrowerHub demo farm. Plants and a history of virtual watering are already provided.
- Choose a plant card and open “Journal”.
- Filter the plant history by date or search your notes by words.
- Choose “Add entry”, keep the “Note” type, check the date and time, enter a comment and choose “Save”.
- Choose “Download journal” to get a text file containing that plant’s records.
This is your own demo farm in the regular application. Your test note does not change anyone else’s plants or operate physical equipment. Guest changes last 24 hours; choose “Save demo farm” and sign in to keep working on them later.
What to record
| Entry type | Useful information |
|---|---|
| Observation | What changed, the plant’s location and what to check next |
| Watering | Measured volume, watering method and a later observation |
| Care | Repotting, pruning, substrate changes or feeding |
| Harvest | Date, weight or count, variety and notes |
| Photo | An image from your gallery and a short comment |
In the manual form, volume, pH, fertilizer details and harvest weight go in the comment. They are not separate numeric fields for automatic comparisons between varieties. System watering events include additional details where available; an unknown volume should not be treated as zero. See the watering log guide for more context.
A useful note follows a simple sequence: what I changed, why, and what I will check next. When comparing plants, use consistent units and record the variety in the plant’s name or a comment.
Partial harvests and finishing a plant
For repeated cuts of basil leaves or successive fruit harvests, add a “Harvest” entry inside the journal. The plant stays in the active list.
The harvest action on the plant card saves the finishing date and harvest description, then moves the plant to the archive. Its journal remains available. A note about picking a few leaves does not require finishing the plant.
Photos and comparisons over time
Photograph the plant from a similar distance and in similar light. Note changes in location, lighting or other conditions so that the pictures have context.
The “Photo” form lets you select pictures from your phone’s gallery. Up to six photos fit in an entry; you can edit its date and text later. Markdown exports do not bundle image files, so keep the originals separately. See how to keep a photo growth diary.
Keep a copy of your records
“Download journal” exports the plant’s entries as Markdown, a plain-text format you can open in an editor or notes application. It is a journal export, not a backup of the whole farm and its devices.
File headings follow the interface language. Dates and times use the profile’s time zone, with the zone name and each event’s UTC offset included. Your comments keep their original language. Watering entries retain known volume, pH and fertilizer details alongside the entry text.
Export also works in the demo: you can add an observation and download it before signing up. To keep using the same demo after the guest period ends, save it to your account.
Start with one plant
Record one real change, then add an observation about the result a few days later. Bring in microclimate history and a weekly care plan when useful. For a first look, add one trial note in the demo farm.