SaaS & Software·Jul 21, 2026

Garzed – my garden waters itself off soil-moisture sensors

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Garzed – my garden waters itself off soil-moisture sensors
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  • Full Auto adds a moisture sensor: Garzed pulses water, checks the soil, and stops when it's right.
  • What does Garzed add?Garzed learns each bed's soil and each plant's dry-down point, so it knows the watering range for that bed: whether it needs water, sits comfortably in range, or is full.
  • Hardware installation (mounting sensors, plumbing the valve to your hose) is separate and depends on your setup.Does Garzed work outside the US?Yes, anywhere — including the southern hemisphere.
  • You can cancel anytime in Settings — and if you cancel during the trial, you keep access through the trial end date.What happens to my Founding Member rate if I cancel?The locked $29/year rate is tied to having an active subscription.
  • If you cancel and re-subscribe later, you'd join at the standard $39/year rate.
$29$39$4.99
In this article

Now in early accessYour garden and lawn water themselvesPair a soil sensor with a smart valve. Flip one switch. Garzed waters when your soil is dry and stops when it's right.30-day free trial — no credit card requiredHow it worksEverything you grow, orchestratedGarzed monitors the soil in each area continuously. When one drops below target, it fires that valve in short pulses, checks again, and stops when the soil is right.Monitoring 2 areasArea 1Tomato bedStatusIn rangeFull Auto · watchingArea 2Pepper bedStatusIn rangeFull Auto · watchingPick your level of automationSchedule mode lets you set your own timer with rain skips — just a smart valve. Full Auto adds a moisture sensor: Garzed pulses water, checks the soil, and stops when it's right. Pick the level that fits your setup.It learns each bed, then waters it rightEvery plant has a dry-down point — how far the soil can fall before it needs water — and Garzed knows it for each plant in its library. In a mixed area it waters when the thirstiest plant reaches its point, so nothing sensitive gets too dry, then refills the soil back up to the area's soil capacity. Deeper-rooted plants could ride a little drier, but the area looks after the ones that can't. Each area runs on its own plants.Weather that talks to your plantsGarzed reads your local forecast to plan ahead — pausing watering when rain's coming, warning you about frost, and showing you the week ahead. Pair an Ecowitt or Tempest weather station and it switches to live, hyperlocal readings from your yard.A calendar driven by your actual seasonGrowing Degree Units track heat accumulation to tell you when plants are ready — not calendar dates that ignore whether spring came early or late. Frost dates, planting windows, and harvest timing all in one view.A helper that knows your plantsGarzed Bot gives you advice that fits your setup, not generic web answers. Ask why a leaf looks off, send a photo of pest damage, or get a second opinion on what to try next.How it stacks upWhere Garzed fitsMost gardens and lawns are watered on a schedule that doesn't know what the soil is doing. Garzed adds the missing layer — sensor data and plant intelligence — on top of the hardware you already use.Custom watering schedule✓✓✓Skips on rain forecast—✓✓Reads soil moisture—Wired only*WirelessWaters based on what plants actually need——✓Learns each bed's soil over time——✓Works with hardware you already own——✓Combines sensors and valves from different brands——✓Frost & heat warnings——✓*Smart controllers like Hunter Hydrawise support wired soil sensors that require running wire from each area back to the controller. Garzed reads continuous moisture from wireless sensors (Ecowitt WH51) so each area just needs a battery-powered probe.HardwareTwo pieces of hardware per areaOff-the-shelf gear you can buy on Amazon. Pair one of each per area and Garzed handles the rest.EcowittWH51 or WH52 soil sensor+ GW2000 or GW3000 gatewayStake one in each area. Reads soil moisture every 15 minutes and sends it to Garzed. The WH52 is a 3-in-1 that also measures soil temperature and EC.RachioSmart Hose Timer or Rachio 3A battery hose timer, or a wired Rachio 3 controller running your zonesGarzed fires it in short pulses when an area's soil drops below target, then checks again.More integrations comingPricingPick the plan that fits your setupGarzed is currently invite-only. Request access below — paid plans include a 30-day free trial when your invite arrives.FreeTry it on a small area$0foreverUp to 3 areas, 1 sensor eachPair sensors, valves & weather stationsManual & scheduled watering— No Full Auto wateringCalendar, weather & rain skipsGarzed Bot — 5 messages/dayRequest accessLimited · First 50Founding MemberBest value, locked for life$29/yearLocked rate for life — yours even if you cancel and come backEverything in Free, plus:Up to 100 areas, up to 100 sensorsFull Auto watering on up to 24 areas (pulse-and-check)Garzed Bot — 50 messages/dayPhoto diagnosis — 20 photos/dayEvery future feature includedReserve your spotProEverything, no limits$39/yearor $4.99/monthEverything in Free, plus:Up to 100 areas, up to 100 sensorsFull Auto watering on up to 24 areas (pulse-and-check)Garzed Bot — 50 messages/dayPhoto diagnosis — 20 photos/dayRequest accessNot ready yet? Stay in the loop.Occasional updates on new features and early-access openings. No spam.FAQCommon questionsDo I need special hardware to use Garzed?Not for the Free plan — you can manually log waterings, track your plants, and use the calendar with no hardware. To get smart watering features, you'll need a soil moisture sensor and/or smart valve. See Works With for the supported models.I already have soil sensors. What does Garzed add?Garzed learns each bed's soil and each plant's dry-down point, so it knows the watering range for that bed: whether it needs water, sits comfortably in range, or is full. It keeps adapting from your real soakings and the bed's own history, and reads several sensors in one bed as a single picture. On Full Auto it then waters each bed to match — watering when it's dry and stopping when it's right.What if I already have a Rachio sprinkler controller (or Hunter, Orbit, etc.)?If it's a Rachio 3, you're set — Garzed fires its individual zones based on each area's soil moisture. That's the one sprinkler controller we support today; Hunter, Orbit, and Rachio's other controllers aren't supported yet, with more on the roadmap.How long does setup take?If your hardware is already paired in the Ecowitt and Rachio apps, connecting them to Garzed takes about 10–15 minutes — you copy your API keys from each, and Garzed handles the rest. Hardware installation (mounting sensors, plumbing the valve to your hose) is separate and depends on your setup.Does Garzed work outside the US?Yes, anywhere — including the southern hemisphere. Garzed uses your local weather forecast and a growing-degree model that adapts to your specific frost dates and local season.Can I use Garzed for just one raised bed?Yes. Even a single bed benefits from moisture monitoring, the calendar, and the bot. You can start with just a sensor (no valve required) and add automation later.What happens after the 30-day free trial?Your subscription continues at the rate you signed up for. You can cancel anytime in Settings — and if you cancel during the trial, you keep access through the trial end date.What happens to my Founding Member rate if I cancel?The locked $29/year rate is tied to having an active subscription. If you cancel and re-subscribe later, you'd join at the standard $39/year rate. Founding pricing is for members who stay.Is my data private?Yes. Your sensor readings, photos, and chat history stay private to your account. We don't sell user data and we don't use it for advertising. See our Privacy Policy for full details.From the founderWhy I built GarzedI put my garden hose on a Rachio smart valve so I'd stop walking down to water every day. The schedule worked — but I never knew if my plants were getting the right amount. Some areas got soaked, others stayed dry.After a season of that, I went looking for something better: a system that would water based on what the soil actually needed, not a clock. Turns out no consumer product does this. The systems that exist are wired commercial setups — sensors and pumps you have to install in the ground.I just wanted my hose, my valve, and a sensor in the dirt to all talk to each other. So I started building it. Garzed is what I wanted for my own garden: it watches your soil moisture, waters in short pulses, checks again, and stops when it's right. No commercial install, no schedule guessing.— Brad FerradaFounder, Garzed

Integrity note  ·  Xela does not rewrite or paraphrase article content. The excerpt above is the source publication's own words, sanitized for display. For the full piece — including any quotes, charts, or images — read it at Hacker News. Xela's rewritten version is off for this story, so there's no editorial angle attached — you're getting the source's reporting unfiltered. When the rewrite is on, we add a What this means block underneath with the operator/trader takeaway.

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Bloomy (YC S26) is hiring a founding engineer
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Bloomy (YC S26) is hiring a founding engineer

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