There was no shortage of awesome innovations at CES 2025, including robot vacuums with robotic arms, gorgeous LED TVs, and unique smartwatches. But some of the most exciting reveals were for products designed to help you become a master gardener. I’ve long been interested in turning my home into a forest — but since I often travel for long stretches of the year and seem to have a penchant for drying up house plants, it’s not something that’s become a reality. However, two new gadgets at CES 2025 might finally turn me into a green thumb, thanks to powerful features created to help keep plants flourishing throughout your home.
The first is the futuristic PlantaForm Indoor Smart Garden, a dome-like device that uses fogponics to grow plants with less water than hydroponic systems. This technology can deliver mist directly to plants roots, eliminating the need for soil. And while the dome provides tons of brilliant light to the leaves, it doesn’t spill over into your home thanks to dimming tinted panels. Toss in a robust mobile app to walk you through the gardening process, and it’ll be all but impossible to grow indoor plants with the Plantaform Indoor Smart Garden.
One of the only drawbacks of the indoor garden is its size. You won’t want to set this on a kitchen table or cramped countertop, as it’s quite large. But if you don’t mind dedicating an end table to the garden or you have a sprawling kitchen with plenty of open space, it should be a nice way to automate your plant growing. My kitchen is quite small, but hopefully I can find space for it somewhere in my home office.
The PlantaForm is great, but I think I’m more excited about LeafyPod. This is an AI-powered planter that can tailor its automated watering schedule to your specific plant. Accounting for factors like the season, location of your home, and home environment, it can dynamically adjust its watering schedule to ensure the best possible growth. After downloading the app, you’ll just need to introduce your plant to the LeafyPod, select your plant type in the app, then sit back and relax — the AI algorithm will do the rest.
LeafyPod will adjust its care plan based on how the soil and plant react to the first few watering sessions, allowing it to develop an optimized watering schedule. Best of all, its water reservoir will last up to four weeks — so I don’t have to worry about coming home to a dried-up plant. The LeafyPod itself can hold a charge for around six months, making it a relatively maintenance-free device.
Though I have limited outdoor space, I’m also interested in the quirky Petal garden camera and Wonder Blocks. Designed by the team behind Bird Buddy, Petal is essentially a bug camera — a small, flexible device that you can place in your garden to observe tiny, crawling creatures.
Wonder Blocks, meanwhile, is a modular system that helps craft unique habitats for your plants and native animals. Featuring a pedestal base, you can upgrade their style with a plant base, seed tray, bee hotel, butterfly feeder, and bug hotel. Pairing Wonder Blocks with Petal should give you a constant flow of insects to view, making them one of the coolest ways to enjoy your garden from a new perspective.
