Know Exactly Why Your Seedlings Thrive or Die — For Under $50
Open-source soil moisture, humidity, temperature, and light monitoring. No cloud subscriptions, no vendor lock-in. Self-hosted dashboards with Home Assistant, Grafana, and Prometheus.
Open-source DIY kit. ~1 hour assembly. Works with any plant.
Flying Blind With Your Plants
The frustrating part isn't the failure — it's the mystery. Why did that seedling damp off? Why are those leaves turning yellow? Without data, you're just guessing.
Invisible Environment
Your plants experience temperature swings, humidity changes, and light variations you never notice. Without data, you're guessing — and guessing means losing plants.
Expensive & Locked Down
Smart gardens cost $100-500 and lock you into proprietary pods and cloud subscriptions. Bluetooth sensors give readings but no dashboards, no automation, no historical data.
Fragmented DIY
GitHub repos and YouTube tutorials cover 30% of the problem — getting a sensor reading. Nobody documents the other 70%: calibration, Home Assistant integration, Grafana dashboards, Prometheus storage.
Everything You Need — Sensor to Dashboard
Plant Caravan is a sub-$50 hardware kit and a complete documentation package that turns commodity ESP32 components into a fully self-hosted plant monitoring system.
Soil Moisture
Capacitive sensors that don't corrode. Monitor 1-3 zones simultaneously.
Temperature & Humidity
BME280 sensor tracks air conditions with barometric pressure.
Light Intensity (PPFD)
BH1750 sensor measures lux and estimates PPFD for grow light assessment.
Home Assistant Native
ESPHome auto-discovery on port 6053. Your device appears in HA within 60 seconds of boot.
Grafana Dashboards
Pre-built dashboard JSON for soil moisture trends, temperature history, and light tracking. Import in one click.
Prometheus Metrics
Native /metrics endpoint for long-term time-series storage. Your data, your retention policy.
Why DIY?
- Complete sensor-to-dashboard documentation — no gaps
- Save over $100 compared to commercial alternatives
- 100% self-hosted — your data never leaves your network
- Repairable, upgradable, open-source forever
Open Source
You Own Everything
Firmware, dashboards, and data are yours forever. No subscriptions.
Choose Your Kit
Select the level of monitoring that fits your growing setup.
Core Kit
Essential monitoring for a single plant or small shelf.
- ESP32 Microcontroller
- BME280 (Temp/Humidity/Pressure)
- BH1750 (Light/PPFD)
- Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor
- Wiring & Breadboard
Seed Starter Kit
Perfect for ensuring your new seedlings survive the critical first weeks.
- Everything in Core Kit
- Seed Tray
- Grow Light
- Humidity Dome
Full Kit
The complete package for multi-zone monitoring and growth automation.
- Everything in Seed Starter Kit
- WS2812B LED Strip
- Custom Enclosure
"I used to lose half my seedlings to damping off every spring. Plant Caravan changed that. By monitoring the soil temp and humidity precisely, I had my first 100% success rate this season — 20 healthy transplants that are now thriving in my Portland garden. The data doesn't lie, and finally, I don't have to guess."
Sarah Chen
Home Gardener, Portland OR
From the Blog
Learn about the technology and methodology behind Plant Caravan
Designing an Automated Seed Starter: Beyond Simple Monitoring
How we extended the Plant Caravan platform to include active humidity control and automated grow lighting for a complete seed starting solution.
Building a Plant Monitoring Platform: From Sensors to Insights
A deep dive into the sensor selection, hardware platform, and field testing that went into the core Plant Caravan monitoring system.
Announcing Plant Caravan: Open Source Plant Monitoring for Everyone
Introducing Plant Caravan, an affordable, open-source ESP32 monitoring kit designed to end seedling mortality and bring professional-grade data to every gardener.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly am I getting?
We offer three hardware kit options: Core Kit ($50), Seed Starter Kit ($65), and Full Kit ($85). All kits include our comprehensive documentation package: step-by-step build guide, ESPHome firmware, Home Assistant integration guide, and pre-built Grafana/Prometheus dashboards.
How hard is it to assemble?
If you can follow a wiring diagram, you can build this. The kit uses a breadboard — no soldering required. Assembly typically takes 45-60 minutes following our illustrated guide.
What plants does it work with?
Any plant in any container. Our sensors are plant-agnostic — they monitor the environment, not specific species. Whether it's a seed tray, windowsill herbs, or houseplants, it just works.
What are the technical requirements?
You'll need a 2.4GHz WiFi network and a standard USB power source. For the full self-hosting stack, we recommend running Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi or similar device, but standalone monitoring is also supported.
What is your refund policy?
We offer a 100% refund at any time before your kit ships. Since the digital documentation is delivered immediately, we also provide a 30-day satisfaction guarantee on the build guides and dashboard templates.
Is this a subscription?
No. You own the hardware and you own the data. There are zero monthly fees or cloud subscriptions required.