Sprout it is celebrating their one year anniversary and the start of spring by launching a new iPhone app. Initially a web-based and iPad application, Sprout it walks users through every step it takes to plant and harvest a successful garden.
Consumer feedback motivated the development of the new application. Users wanted to take the app out into the garden with them via their phones.
“It made more and more sense for us to put it in the palm of their hands,” says Sprout it CEO Matt Armstead.
Sprout it examined other mobile gardening apps in the marketplace as they developed their design. The newly launched app has a sleeker, modern design and is updated for iOS7 – which Co-Founder Sarah Bush found many others were not.
“It’s a gardening app but it doesn’t have to have baskets and kittens all over it,” Bush says of other apps and their desire to make a more widely-appealing design.
Sprout it is excited to have users across all platforms, and to see how another point of access increases downloads. They surpassed 10,000 registered users over a month ago and are reporting a 50 to 60 percent increase in downloads month over month. With the advent of spring, the next three to four months will be the prime time for downloads.
Over their first year Sprout it has launched many other valuable features in addition to the app.
One of the most prominent new features is the greatly expanded variety of plant information. Sprout it has grown from 15 to around 80 offerings, with plans for an ever-expanding selection.
Part of the new selection comes from Sprout it’s continued partnership with Scott’s Miracle-Gro. The app integrates all 17 of Miracle-Gro’s Gro-ables Seed Pods, providing a way to marry a physical product with technology. The seed pods are all encompassing with biodegradable containers so planters just have to pop the pods into the ground and set the plant date.
Extensive research showed that first-time gardeners typically struggled with getting a garden started. Scott’s was able to identify that most fail at the germination stage. Sprout it and Gr0-ables naturally solved this problem by providing an easy-to-use product for first-timers, and then continued reminders to water the product to get past the initial germination stage.
Another tool that helps first-time growers are Sprout it’s Inspiration gardens. The curated gardens help users gravitate towards a theme or an end product. Some of the options include the salsa garden, the basics, the cocktail garden and the fresh eating garden.
The app also integrates shopping lists. As a user picks the plants for their garden, the app will provide them with a list of everything they need to purchase to create the garden.
“As an app we are with you from planning to literally eating,” Bush says.
Being there every step of the way means Sprout it is constantly sending tasks and reminders to keep garden growing. The new app will have “calendaring” abilities that will integrate with existing calendars to keep users up-to-date on tasks at hand. Armstead says this will also help users plan ahead for tasks they will need to complete over the next several weeks.
The iPhone app launched yesterday and is now available for download.
For more information, visit app.gosprout.it.
