If you’ve got kids, a job, and about five minutes of spare brainpower left at the end of the day, houseplants tend to sit fairly low on the priority list. In our house, they’re somewhere between “remember to book the dentist” and “sort out that drawer full of cables.” Which is to say—they get neglected. Historically, my approach has been either overwatering out of guilt or completely forgetting about them until they start looking like a prop from a desert documentary.
So I was sceptical about the Willow Starter Pack. Another gadget, I thought. Another app. Another thing to charge and ignore. But after a couple of weeks, I’ll admit—it’s actually earned its place.
The setup is straightforward. You stick the sensor in the soil, connect it to the hub, download the app, and that’s about it. From there, it quietly gets on with monitoring what your plant actually needs—moisture, light, temperature, humidity and nutrients—without you having to think about it. And that’s the key thing: it removes the guesswork.
The biggest win for me has been watering. I’ve always been terrible at it. Either I’d water on a random schedule (usually too often), or I’d leave it far too long. Willow cuts through that completely. You get a notification when the plant actually needs water—and just as importantly, it tells you when to stop. No more “that’ll probably do” followed by slow, soggy plant death a week later.
The “happiness score” is a nice touch too. It sounds a bit gimmicky, but in practice it’s just a quick, easy way to check if things are on track. If something’s off, the app tells you why—too dark, too dry, too cold—and suggests what to do. No Googling, no second guessing.
I also didn’t expect to care about the light tracking, but it turns out I’ve been wildly overestimating how much light certain spots in the house get. One plant in particular has gone from “barely hanging on” to actually looking healthy just by moving it a couple of feet based on the app’s advice.
What I like most, though, is that it fits into a busy routine. I’m not spending time learning about plant care or reading guides—I just get a nudge, deal with it in 30 seconds, and move on. It’s a bit like having someone quietly keeping an eye on things in the background.
The Starter Pack comes with one sensor and a hub, but you can add more sensors if you’ve got multiple plants. I started with one to test it, but I can see the appeal if you’ve got a house full of greenery (or ambitions in that direction).
It’s not going to turn you into a plant expert overnight, and you still have to do the basics, but it takes away the uncertainty—and that’s been the biggest barrier for me. For £35, it feels like a small investment to stop the cycle of buying plants, slowly killing them, and pretending you meant to do that.
In short: if you’re busy, slightly forgetful, and tired of guessing what your plants need, this is one of those rare bits of tech that actually makes everyday life a bit easier.