Guttation Monitor: Wearable Guttation Sensor for Plant Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis

TL;DR

The Guttation Monitor is a low-cost, wearable device that detects plant health indicators through guttation droplets, enabling real-time, on-site plant condition monitoring and diagnosis.

Contribution

This paper introduces a novel integrated system combining microfluidic, imaging, and app technologies for real-time guttation analysis in plants.

Findings

Successfully detected six chemicals in guttation droplets

Demonstrated effectiveness on tomato plants

Enabled on-site, real-time plant health assessment

Abstract

Plant life plays a critical role in the ecosystem. However, it is difficult for humans to perceive plants' reactions because the biopotential and biochemical responses are invisible to humans. Guttation droplets contain various chemicals which can reflect plant physiology and environmental conditions in real-time. Traditionally, these droplets are collected manually and analyzed in the lab with expensive instruments. Here, we introduce the Guttation Monitor, an on-site and low-cost monitoring technology for guttation droplets. It consists of three parts 1) a paper-based microfluidic chip that can collect guttation droplets and perform colorimetric detection of six chemicals, 2) a self-contained and solar-powered camera module that can capture the result from the chip, and 3) an end-user app that can interpret the result. We discuss this technology's design and implementation, conduct evaluations on tomato plants, conduct interviews, and envision how such a technology could enhance the human-plant relationship in four dimensions.