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Follow this guide after your VerdantBot soil moisture sensor arrives to get it powered on, paired to your account, and reporting readings to the real-time soil moisture dashboard.

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Prerequisites

  • A VerdantBot soil moisture sensor (included with your VerdantBot device).
  • The VerdantBot mobile app, version 1.0 or later (iOS 16+ / Android 12+).
  • A 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network the sensor can join.
  • At least one plant registered through POST /plants — the sensor binds to a plant during pairing.

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Install the sensor

1

Insert the batteries

Open the battery compartment on the back of the sensor and insert the included batteries. The status LED blinks green once when power is detected.
2

Place the probe in the soil

Push the probe straight down into the soil next to the plant until the moisture contacts are fully covered. Keep the sensor body above the soil line so the LED and antenna stay clear.
Place the probe roughly halfway between the plant stem and the edge of the pot for the most representative reading.
3

Put the sensor into pairing mode

Press and hold the Pair button on the sensor for about 5 seconds. The LED switches to a slow blue blink to indicate pairing mode.

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Activate and pair the sensor

1

Open the VerdantBot app

Launch the VerdantBot mobile app and sign in to the same account that owns your VerdantBot device.
2

Start sensor setup

Go to Settings → Devices → Add sensor. The app scans for sensors in pairing mode and shows yours by serial number (printed on the back of the sensor).
3

Connect to Wi-Fi

Select your 2.4 GHz network and enter the password. The sensor LED turns solid blue once it joins the network.
4

Bind the sensor to a plant

Choose the plant this sensor should report for from the list of plants you registered via POST /plants. Each sensor reports for one plant at a time.
5

Confirm activation

Wait for the LED to turn solid green. A first moisture reading appears on the plant’s card in the dashboard within about a minute.

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Verify it’s working

  • Open the VerdantBot app and tap Dashboard. The plant you bound the sensor to should show a Current moisture % value and a recent timestamp.
  • Water the plant and watch the moisture % rise within a few minutes — confirmation that the probe is reading correctly.

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Troubleshooting

  • Make sure your phone’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are both on — the app uses Bluetooth to discover sensors in pairing mode.
  • Keep the sensor within about 3 meters (10 feet) of your phone during pairing.
  • Quit and reopen the app, then retry Settings → Devices → Add sensor.
  • VerdantBot sensors only support 2.4 GHz networks. If your router broadcasts a combined 2.4/5 GHz SSID, temporarily disable the 5 GHz band or use a 2.4 GHz-only guest network for pairing.
  • Double-check the Wi-Fi password — special characters are case-sensitive.
  • Confirm the sensor is bound to a plant that exists in your account. If you deleted the plant via DELETE /plants/{id}, re-add the plant and re-bind the sensor.
  • Push the probe deeper so the moisture contacts are fully in soil — readings of 0% usually indicate the contacts are exposed to air.
  • Allow up to 5 minutes for the first reading to propagate after pairing.

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Next steps

Soil moisture dashboard

View live readings and 7-day trends for every plant.

Add a plant

Register more plants so additional sensors have something to bind to.