How many of us have a smart phone now?
Over 5% of access to Landscape Juice comes through mobile devices and that number is set to continue to rise as mobile computers - yes they're not just phones any more - become even more sophisticated.
Can you remember the day when we had no choice but to refer to a clonky great hard-backed book if we wanted to look something up or get advice on what's the best plant for a particular spot?
Now we've all, potentially, got all the reference books we need - if you count Google as a source through a browser - literally in our pockets.
Mobile apps are also getting more sophisticated and even more powerful and it won't be long before we can use recognition software - just like face recognition software being used at airports - to identify plants (in fact any object).
The software will work by analysis colour patterns in the formations of the pixels - a digital photo is made up of millions of tiny dots - within a photo and then compare the results with a set of examples stored in a database. Once its identified a match it returns a result as well as all of the key information about the plant; hight, spread, soil, disease tolerance etc.
It's exciting, isn't it? But that still a little way (and only a little way) in the future but for now you can enjoy simple apps like the one from the RHS.
It'll help you choose vegetables and fruit for your garden based on your level of expertise, and your available space and time, give you instant access to advice about your chosen plants with detailed growing, sowing and harvesting instructions as well as recommended varieties to plant.
There's a calendar function with alerts to remind you what to do and more importantly when - gardening is as much about timing as technique - in a section called 'my garden'.
There's help on common problems you might encounter, with photos to help identify them, including pests and diseases and what to do about them.
Location-aware frost warnings to help you protect your plants
Location-aware watering reminders and drought alerts
Access to the RHS Grow Your Own forum, to ask questions, advice and chat to fellow gardeners, whilst stood in the garden...spooky!
There's content covering 20 popular fruit and veg - apple, blackcurrant, blueberry, cabbage, carrot, courgette, French bean, garlic, leek, lettuce, onion, pear, pepper, potato, radish, raspberry, runner bean, salad leaves, strawberry and tomato.
There's a basic free version but the upgrade is just £1.79 (an no, I'm not on a commission). The upgrade gives you access to a wider range of fruit and vegetable advice.
Search in App Store on your iPhone.
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