u/WayAccurate9822

Three bird's nest ferns, same age, same board, all mounted on the same afternoon. Two went outside on the wall in front of the air conditioning grille, where there is always air moving across them. One went inside next to a window.

Four weeks on, the three of them had visibly split. The indoor one held water in the moss far longer, because nothing was moving air across it. Same watering, same week, completely different drying time. I had spent the whole time thinking about humidity, and the variable that was actually doing the work was airflow.

All three are off that wall now, and the reason I was watching that closely is that I build a plant app that scores a spot for a plant on light, temperature, humidity and airflow before you commit to it.

If you keep ferns, Plus is on the house for twelve months when you come back afterwards and tell me where it got your ferns wrong. Two spots and two plants stay free whatever you decide, and nothing renews by itself: https://growspotapp.com/founding/?from=reddit-ferns

What I still cannot tell is whether the grille position was too much of a good thing over a longer stretch. If you keep mounted ferns, do you go looking for a spot with moving air, or do you fight to keep the air still and the humidity up?

Enough dead plants taught me the problem was never the watering schedule, it was the spot. So GrowSpot starts there: set the phone down where the plant would stand, it reads the light at that exact place, folds in the weather for your address, and scores that spot for that plant before you commit to it.

Both screenshots are real. The indoor spot I was sure about scored 94, with a warning about airflow. The spot outside scored 100 and it told me to move the plant. It keeps watching after you decide, which is how my money tree got flagged for drinking slower than usual before the leaves showed anything.

There is also a free web version that reads one spot with nothing to install: https://growspotapp.com/spot-checker/?from=reddit_websoft

Claiming：Free on both stores. First 500 people get a year of the paid tier for honest feedback. Nothing auto renews.

iPhone: take a code and redeem it, https://www.promies.net/promotion/f88658d6-bbae-46ac-b33a-c8aaa542b48e

Android: install, open it once, then email the address you use in the app with the subject Founding 500. Play has no year-long code, so we switch it on by hand, usually the same day.

Both paths and the email address: https://growspotapp.com/founding/?from=reddit_appstore

Which spot at your place are you least sure about?

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6780212433

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.growspot.app

I have loved and killed more plants than I want to admit, and most of them went the same way: me moving them from spot to spot, chasing better light, never sure which place was actually right, until the constant shuffling finished what the wrong spot started.

I tried the plant apps. They could name the plant, remind me to water, some read light for a second. I kept the good ideas from every one of them and built mine around the question none of them answered for me: is this exact spot right for this exact plant.

Set the phone down where the plant would stand. GrowSpot reads the light right there, pulls temperature, humidity and airflow from your local weather (phones have no sensors for those), and scores that spot for that plant. The two screenshots are real verdicts from my shelf: one spot got 100 out of 100, one got homework.

There is also a free web version that reads one spot with nothing to install: https://growspotapp.com/spot-checker/?from=reddit_websoft

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6780212433

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.growspot.app

**Claiming：**Free on both stores. First 500 people get a year of the paid tier for honest feedback. Nothing auto renews.

iPhone: take a code and redeem it, https://www.promies.net/promotion/f88658d6-bbae-46ac-b33a-c8aaa542b48e

Android: install, open it once, then email the address you use in the app with the subject Founding 500. Play has no year-long code, so we switch it on by hand, usually the same day.

Both paths and the email address: https://growspotapp.com/founding/?from=reddit_appstore

What is the spot you keep second guessing?

You set the phone down where the plant will actually stand. It reads the light there, and takes temperature, humidity and air movement. Those four give that spot a score for that specific plant, which will help you to take care of your plants.

There is also a free web version that reads one spot with nothing to install: https://growspotapp.com/spot-checker/?from=reddit_websoft

The first screenshot is a real card: 66 out of 100, Worth a try, light in the red. That is the app arguing with someone who wants to put a Monstera there, and that argument is the part I most want to get right.

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6780212433

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.growspot.app

Founding 500, a free year of Plus in exchange for honest feedback.

iPhone: take a code and redeem it, https://www.promies.net/promotion/f88658d6-bbae-46ac-b33a-c8aaa542b48e

Android: install, open it once, then email the address you use in the app with the subject Founding 500. Play has no year-long code, so we switch it on by hand, usually the same day.

Both paths and the email address: https://growspotapp.com/founding/?from=reddit_appstore

It lapses on its own after the year. Nothing renews.

The feedback I want most: score a spot where you already keep a plant. If the number disagrees with how that plant is actually doing, tell me the spot and I will tell you which of the four readings pulled it down.

Most plant apps ask which plant you have. This one asks where you are going to put it.

You set the phone down at the spot and it reads the light there. Temperature, humidity and air movement come from your local weather and from what you tell it about the spot, not from sensors your phone does not have. Those four give that spot a score for a specific plant, with the reasons spelled out: "Airflow isn't quite ideal", "Water about every 10 days". A metre further into the room is a different answer, and it will say so.

There is a browser version of the spot check too, nothing to install: https://growspotapp.com/spot-checker?from=reddit_howtomen

Founding 500 — a free year of Plus ($29.99) in exchange for honest feedback. 500 places, open until they are gone.

Android, three steps:

1. Install from Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.growspot.app
2. Open it once, so the account exists
3. Email us the address you use in the app, subject "Founding 500". Google Play has no year-long code, so we switch it on by hand, usually the same day.

iPhone, two steps: take a code from https://www.promies.net/promotion/f88658d6-bbae-46ac-b33a-c8aaa542b48e and redeem it. It attaches to your Apple ID, so the order does not matter and there is nothing to send us.

Both paths and the email address: https://growspotapp.com/founding/?from=reddit_howtomen

It runs for a year and then lapses on its own. Nothing to cancel, and it does not roll into a paid subscription.

I build GrowSpot. Tell me what it gets wrong about your spots, that is the half I actually want.

It reads one exact place rather than a room: light, temperature, humidity and airflow at the point where the pot will actually stand, then scores each of your plants against it.

The card in the image is a real result. A monstera in that spot comes out at 66 out of 100 and reads "worth a try" rather than a good fit, because light is the weak dimension there. It is built to tell you when a spot is wrong, not only when it is right.

Giveaway details

* Product: GrowSpot: Plant Care & Light

* Platform: iOS and Android

* Normal price: $29.99 a year for GrowSpot Plus

* Free deal: 1 year, and it does not renew, so there is nothing to cancel

* Limit: 500 in total

* Feedback: asked for, not required

* iPhone: open https://www.promies.net/promotion/f88658d6-bbae-46ac-b33a-c8aaa542b48e and tap Get promo code, then Redeem

* Android:

Google Play has no equivalent of a one-year code, so this half is manual. No codes change hands and Play never sees a transaction.

1. Install the free app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.growspot.app
2. Open it, go to Profile, and tap the address on the first line to copy it. That is the account address, and it often looks nothing like the one you normally use.
3. Email it to us to switch Plus on for that account at our end, usually the same day. The same steps are written out here: https://growspotapp.com/founding/?from=reddit_apphookup

There is also a free web version that reads one spot with nothing to install: https://growspotapp.com/spot-checker/?from=reddit_websoft

If you don't keep plants, this one will do nothing for you, and I'd rather say that up front.

GrowSpot scores whether the exact spot you have in mind suits the exact plant. Set the phone down where the plant will live and it reads that spot: light, temperature, humidity, airflow. The same plant thrives at one window and dies two meters away, and this app exists for that problem. Around it sits a full plant app: seasonal care that recalculates with the weather, photo ID, diagnosis, a growth journal.

The founding batch: a free year of Plus ($29.99/yr) for the first 50 people who actually keep plants and will tell me what's broken. All we ask back is one piece of real feedback in your first two weeks.

How to claim (one email, nothing else):

1. Install and sign in.

2. Open Profile. The first line is your account email, tap to copy. If you signed in with Apple and hid your email, that line is the address we need.

3. Send it to growspotapp@gmail.com, subject "Founding 50", plus iPhone or Android. Plus goes on within a day, and you get a reply when it's live.

Try it in the browser first, no sign-up: https://growspotapp.com/spot-checker/?from=reddit_appgiveaway

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6780212433?pt=129031785&ct=reddit_appgiveaway&mt=8

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.growspot.app&referrer=utm_source%3Dreddit%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dreddit_appgiveaway

The photos are my own Tineke rubber plant and its scorecard at the spot where it actually lives. It's one of the plants this app was built around.

If you don't keep plants this will do nothing for you, and I'd rather say that up front.

It runs in the browser, no sign-up and nothing to install. You pick the plant, say where the

spot is and how much sun and air it gets, and it gives you a verdict for that one spot rather

than for the room. There is a paid tier in the app, but the web tool is not a trial of it and

nothing on that page is gated.

What I'd like to know: does the verdict match what your own plant in that spot is actually

doing? If it says one thing and your plant says another, that is the useful case for me.

I build a plant app, so read this with that in mind. The browser version is free, nothing to buy.

Ficus elastica 'Tineke'. It spent a long time indoors and now lives out on the balcony here in Manila, no glass in between.

What you read everywhere about variegated foliage is that it scorches, because the white sections have no chlorophyll to spare. Mine has not burned out there.

I measured the spot rather than keep guessing: 21,023 lux, phone flat at leaf height, clear day.

Second photo is that spot scored on light, warmth, humidity and airflow. It comes out at 100, and light passes outright, which surprised me more than the reading did.

Free in the browser if you want to measure yours: https://growspotapp.com/spot-checker/?from=reddit_variegated

Is anyone else running a variegated ficus in full outdoor light, and did the white parts hold up?

This everfresh had two possible homes about two metres apart: the balcony, or just inside the window. The balcony was obviously the better one. More light, more growth, that is how it works.

So before moving it I measured both on a clear day, phone flat at plant height. 19,000 lux outside. 6,000 just inside the glass.

Then the annoying part. For this tree the dimmer spot is the better one, because 19,000 isn't "lots of light" for it, it's past bright and into too much. Three times the light and it would have been the wrong call, and nothing about standing there would have told me.

Second and third images are the two spots scored side by side. The balcony comes out at 46 out of 100, light being the thing that sinks it, and the windowsill at 94.

I'm biased and should say so: the thing that told me is an app I build, in Manila. It scores one specific spot instead of a whole room, on light, warmth, humidity and airflow, and labels whatever it can't measure as an estimate. Free in the browser, no account: https://growspotapp.com/

What I want is the opposite of praise: a plant you know better than I do that it gets wrong. There's a free year of the paid tier for the first 50 people who keep plants and will come back and tell me what's broken. No card, nothing to redeem, terms on the site under Founding 50.

Anyone else moved something somewhere sunnier and watched it go backwards?

Disclosure first: I build a plant app. There's a free browser version linked at the bottom and nothing here costs anything.

Half the posts on this sub are someone asking whether a north window is enough. I assumed the answer was about direction too, so I ran mine through the tool at four different windows, one metre back from each.

North, east, south and west all came out the same. Good fit, all four. Then I moved it, on paper, three metres into that same room. Same temperature, same air, same everything except distance from the glass, and it fell apart.

Second and third images are those two results. One metre from a north window, then a corner of the same room with no window in view.

Both light figures are estimates rather than meter readings, and the cards say so on them.

Free, browser only, no account: https://growspotapp.com/

Which makes me curious: how far back from the glass is yours actually standing?

Solo dev. Only relevant if you keep plants, or live with someone who does.

Every care guide on the internet says "bright indirect light", and nobody can tell you whether their own corner counts as one. So I borrowed a meter and went round a single room on a clear day at midday:

- At the bright window: about 20,000 lux

- One metre back: 15,000

- Two to three metres: 3,500

- Middle of the room: 570

- Darker side: 119

- The dark corner: 18

One room. The first metre is nearly free and then it falls off a cliff. That room is genuinely bright and it still holds a spot reading 18, which is why "bright indirect light" is an instruction nobody can actually follow.

So the app reads the spot rather than the room. You lay the phone down at the place the plant would actually live, it reads what is there, and scores it against what that plant needs. Two spots go side by side so you can pick between them, and it re-scores as the weather and the seasons move. The video is it running on one of mine.

There is a browser version too if you want to try the idea before installing anything: https://growspotapp.com/spot-checker/?s=reddit_sideproject

Tell me what's wrong with it. Where it's slow, where it sounds too sure of itself, where a score is just wrong. If you keep plants and you'll do that, the first 50 people get a free year of Plus, the paid tier: https://growspotapp.com/founding

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6780212433?pt=129031785&ct=reddit_sideproject&mt=8

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.growspot.app&referrer=utm_source%3Dreddit%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dreddit_sideproject

If you don't keep plants this won't be much use to you.

Those are my everfresh seedlings. They lived on the balcony for months because the balcony is the brightest place I own. That was the problem. Too much light, and light is the one thing the other three can't make up for. A metre inside the window they're fine.

What it does: you set the phone down where the plant would actually go, and it reads that place. Light, warmth, humidity, airflow. Then it scores the spot for that plant, holds two spots up against each other so you can choose, and re-scores as the weather and the seasons move.

No ads, no trackers, no analytics.

Goal: it went live on Play yesterday and what I want is the unflattering half. Bugs, screens that make no sense, verdicts you think are wrong.

Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.growspot.app&referrer=utm_source%3Dreddit%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dreddit_droidappshowcase

If you keep plants and you'll tell me what's broken, the first 50 people get a free year of Plus, the paid tier. No code to redeem: install it, email growspotapp@gmail.com with the subject "Founding 50" and the address your account uses, and we turn it on. https://growspotapp.com/founding

Free, no install, no account: https://growspotapp.com/spot-checker/?s=reddit_appgiveaway

Pick a plant, give your window direction and roughly how far the spot sits from it, and it scores that spot for that plant.

The first two images are the same plant in the same room: one metre from the glass, then the middle. Same afternoon. 94 and 43.

That gap is the whole app. You set the phone down where the plant would actually go, it reads light, warmth, humidity and airflow at that exact spot, then scores the pairing and will compare two spots head to head. Where it can't measure, it estimates and says so. An honest estimate, never a made-up number.

The deal: the first 50 people get Plus free for a year (normally $29.99/yr). Nothing to redeem and nothing to enter. Email us the address you use in the app and we switch it on within a day: https://growspotapp.com/founding

Signing in with Apple? If you hid your email, the address we need isn't your usual one. It's under Settings, tap your name, Sign in with Apple, GrowSpot, and it ends in privaterelay.appleid.com.

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6780212433?pt=129031785&ct=reddit_appgiveaway&mt=8

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.growspot.app&referrer=utm_source%3Dreddit%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dreddit_appgiveaway

Three cobra ferns, same age, mounted on matching bark boards. Two went up on the balcony wall, right over the AC unit. The third got the sheltered spot inside by the window. On paper the indoor one had the easy life.

A month later the outdoor two were throwing new fronds and looking glossy. The sheltered one sat still, then its tips started going black, one frond at a time.

I measured both spots (10k lux on the wall, 6k inside) and the indoor air never moves. That spot takes forever to dry out. I stopped arguing and moved it out with its siblings, last photo.

Is anyone keeping one of these happy indoors long term, or is "houseplant" marketing?

Started with 20 seeds last October. The survivors, all 12 of them, have been through a full apartment tour. The balcony has strong morning sun but the wind up here beats baby fronds around. Inside is calm but the air just sits there and the light drops off hard. Every option failed a different test.

I measured (19k lux out on the balcony, 6k by the window), diagnosed, and gave up on finding the right spot. Built it instead: the bright corner inside, plus a small grow light for the light gap and a tiny fan for the dead air. They finally started growing steady, and I finally stopped hauling twelve pots around this apartment.

The tall one in the last photo made captain.

Anyone else end up building a spot because nothing natural worked?

Pothos is the plant everyone points you to for a dark corner, so I finally stopped assuming and measured mine — clear day, midday, lux meter, sensor at plant height.

The dark "it'll be fine, it's a pothos" corner: 18 lux. The dim side of the room: 119. For context, even a pothos — everyone's "low light" champion — wants around 540 lux (50 foot-candles) just to survive, and a lot more to actually vine out.

So that cozy corner isn't low light. To a plant it's basically no light. Meanwhile a spot one meter from the window read 15,000+. That's nearly a 1,000x swing across a single room — and my eyes swore the corner was "just a little dim."

Chart of every spot vs. what common plants actually need is up top. Absolute lux off a phone is rough, but the ratios between spots hold up.

Honestly starting to think "low light plant" might be the most dangerous phrase in this whole hobby — it talks us into putting living things where nothing survives. Anyone else measured and gotten humbled? What's the darkest spot you've kept a pothos actually thriving, not just hanging on?

Guess what plants still alive now?