Plan
Choose crops, beds, containers, and planting dates.
Grow more food at home with less weekly effort.
SteelThumb is a home garden automation system for families who want healthier food, lower grocery bills, and a more productive garden without turning gardening into another full-time job.
Plan beds, monitor growth, track water, start seedlings, and automate simple tasks from hardware and software you own.
More food. Less cost. Less time.
Open-source kits, optional community support, and local-first garden data.
- bedMap beds, rows, and containers
- camWatch growth from your phone
- h2oTrack water before pumps run
- sprKeep seedlings moving
A garden that keeps producing.
SteelThumb helps you start seedlings on time, track what is growing, avoid missed watering, and keep beds productive through repeat harvests.
- checkSee what is growing from your phone
- checkTrack water level, plant growth, and garden activity
- checkCapture photos and timelapses automatically
- checkKeep notes tied to real beds, rows, and plants
- checkStart seedlings on a repeatable schedule
- checkAutomate watering only after local safety checks pass
- checkKeep your garden data private and local
Built for real gardens
Use the garden you already have.
SteelThumb is not a countertop pod, seed subscription, or closed growing appliance. It is designed for raised beds, grow bags, containers, seed trays, pumps, reservoirs, labels, and sensors. Start small with one garden node, then add automation only where it saves real time.
How it works
Start
SeedPort keeps the next round of seedlings moving.
Monitor
Tendril tracks water, photos, and growth in the garden.
Grow
Transplant, maintain, harvest, and replant through the season.
SteelThumb product line
SteelThumb Grow Kit
The complete 20-grow-bag guild kit with irrigation and automation prep.
- Status
- Preorder/specimen prep
- SKU
- steelthumb-grow-kit-20-guild-v0
SeedPort
Continuous seed-starting for succession planting and repeatable starts.
- Status
- Standalone product prep
- SKU
- seedport-v0
PlotTags
Readable physical markers for bags, beds, rows, reservoirs, and devices.
- Status
- Product prep
- SKU
- plottags-fieldtag-set-v0
The SteelThumb system
bed
SteelThumb App
Your private garden dashboard for planning, monitoring, notes, photos, and controls
Explore the Kit ->hub
Tendril
A camera and sensor node for plant growth, water level, and safe relay control
Explore the Kit ->tag
PlotTags
Visual garden labels that connect photos, notes, and records to real places
Explore the Kit ->SeedPort
A continuous seed-starting system that keeps seedlings moving to transplant
Explore the Kit ->Why timing matters
Earlier starts can lower the variable cost of food.
Starting from seed can dramatically lower variable food costs, but only if seedlings start on time and beds stay in production. SteelThumb helps keep the seed-to-table cycle moving. See the seed-to-table ROI.
Tendril field demo
First proof: one garden node watching a real garden.
Tendril tracks plant growth, water level, photos, timelapses, and safe pump control in a working home garden. Follow the build, see what works, and watch the system grow from seed to table.
Pictures and timelapses
Regular photos make growth visible without asking anyone to remember daily check-ins.
Water level plus pump control
The pump only runs when water level and safety checks pass.
Private phone dashboard
The grower can check health, latest image, and telemetry without exposing the controller publicly.
PlotTags
Readable bed and row labels connect photos, notes, and SeedPort records to real places.
Built to be owned
Open-source garden automation kits, not a sealed appliance.
SteelThumb hardware is open source and designed around right to repair. Buy the kit, build the system, keep control of your garden. No required subscription. No dependency on a cloud service just to water plants or view your own garden data.
We sell open-source garden automation kits, with optional community support for people who want help building, growing, and improving their system.
Review the ownership boundary ->Open-source hardware
Understand, maintain, modify, and improve the system you rely on.
Right to repair
Built from practical parts instead of sealed appliance assumptions.
Private by default
Garden data, photos, and controls stay under your control.
Field proof
Real garden evidence, shared carefully.
SteelThumb shares public-safe field results while keeping garden maps, source media, device details, and private review notes in your dashboard unless they are deliberately published.
Tendril field proof
One garden node is being field-tested for safety, telemetry, images, and dashboard usefulness.
Follow the field demo ->Your private dashboard
Planning notes, garden maps, source photos, and device details stay private unless you choose to publish them.
See the dashboard ->Safety position
Automation is added only where local limits, water checks, and human control make sense.
See safeguards ->Field-tested before release
Seed-starting and future automation features move into kits after they prove useful in real gardens.
See ecosystem ->More food
Better timing, fewer misses, steadier harvests.
Lower cost
Waste fewer starts and stretch grocery dollars.
Less time
Automate the chores that repeat.
Local-first
Your garden data stays close to home.
Repairable
Open hardware designed to be maintained.
No lock-in
No required subscription or sealed appliance.
Software that puts you in control.
SteelThumb software helps you plan, monitor, and automate your garden, all from a system you own and control.
See how it works ->My GardenMapPlanLogsReports
Devices
Tendril Hub Online
SeedPort Online
Soil Sensor A 30%
Water Level68%
Rain Barrel
Early access
Follow the field demo, then join the first kit list.
SteelThumb is moving through public field proof before kit availability. Join early access to follow Tendril results, SeedPort progress, and the first practical garden automation kits.
Join Early Access