self watering orchid systems in the garden

About Us

I have recently graduated with a degree in Accounting and Finance from King’s College London, having started developing these systems in my first year. 

Having been fascinated by orchids for over 10 years, it has always been a struggle to maintain them, constantly forgetting to water and especially when going away from home.  

Driven by a combination of my passions for 3D printing, orchids, and environmental awareness – these automated orchid watering systems were created.

Automatic orchid watering systems weren’t designed as a product, they are a solution to a problem, that I want to share with the rest.

The Story Behind

While constantly travelling and just being generally busy, watering the orchids properly was time-consuming and at times downright impossible. And so, to make it easier to preserve the orchids, I set out to develop a system that would automatically water them.

What soon followed was the first prototype – an orchid watering system made out of plastic containers at hand. Further revisions were made, and at the end, I arrived at a system that would submerge the orchids in water for a set amount of time, at a set interval of days. The numbers I came at through trial and error were submerging for 2 minutes, every 7 days. The system had to be constantly plugged in but maintained a battery reserve of several days in cases of a power cut. It would also report every cycle to a telegram bot and display information on the tiny built-in screen. 

The concept proved itself when I had to leave the orchid for 6 months. Due to COVID and the inability to travel, the plant had to be left with nothing but itself and some plastic containers filled with water. The water had almost wholly evaporated when I got back due to the built-in failsafe mechanisms allowing for greater than necessary airflow. Still, the orchid itself was alive and well! An impossible result in any circumstance of it being left alone without care for such a prolonged period.

Now that I knew first-hand that everything worked as it should, there was only one problem – the system’s look. Frankly speaking, it was an eyesore. While it didn’t bother me, some members of the house (cough, mum, cough) weren’t happy and wanted something presentable at home.

Our Vision

The self-watering orchid system keeps evolving to this day, with different shapes, sizes, and features constantly being experimented on. Going forward, the most significant focus will be on sustainability and making the systems even more environmentally friendly for the upcoming future. Right now, the systems are fully recyclable and are great at reducing waste by reusing water and making the orchids last years instead of constantly buying new ones. 

The plan is to improve by using more recycled materials to make the self-watering systems and using green energy to power the production. Following that, the next step will be to partner with some industry leaders to directly control where these recycled plastics come from and make a big push for extracting the plastics out of the oceans and recycling those.