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How it works

Watering from a measured number

What Garzed knows about one area
43The readingwhat the sensor reports
46Soil capacitymeasured by soaking the area
36Waters at79% of capacity, set by the plants
One number comes from the sensor. Garzed works out the other two, and those are what turn a reading into a watering decision.

A wireless soil sensor reads each area. A smart valve does the watering. Garzed is the intelligence between them: it measures what each area's soil actually holds, learns what's planted there, and waters each area to its own range.

Garzed measures an area's soil capacity by soaking it and watching it drain

Garzed soaks the area and watches the sensor: the reading climbs, tops out, then drains back down and settles. Where it settles is how much water this soil holds, and it is the number every later watering decision is judged against. This is one area's real calibration.

35404550soak starts2h4h6h123MEASURED SOIL CAPACITY · 46where the soil settled and heldWATERING TRIGGER · 3679% of capacity, set by the plantsTHE WATERING RANGE
1
The area is soaked
The reading climbs from 41 as water reaches the probe, and keeps climbing while the soil takes it up.
2
It peaks, then drains
At 50 the soil can hold no more. Over the next two hours gravity pulls the free water down past the roots.
3
It settles and holds
The reading stops falling at 46 and sits there for four hours. That shelf is what this soil holds: its measured capacity.
One area's calibration, 22 May 2026. Raw values as the sensor reported them, one reading a minute during the soak. The slow decline after the shelf is the plants drinking, which is what the watering trigger exists to catch.

Soil capacity is different in every area, so Garzed measures each one

Six areas of one garden, each soaked and measured the same way. No two settled on the same number. Soil holds water differently a few steps apart, and two sensors of the same model do not read alike out of the box either, so every area is measured on its own rather than sharing a number set by hand.

One garden with several watering areas, each labelled with the soil capacity Garzed measured for it
ASPARAGUS · 70
TOMATO · 60
GREENS · 54
POTATO · 48
CHARD · 42
CORN · 42
Each number is that area's own measured soil capacity.

Garzed waters when the thirstiest plant needs it, and stops at the soil's capacity

Every plant can let the soil dry down to a point before it needs water, and that point is different for each one. An area shares a single watering, so the thirstiest plant in it decides the moment for all of them. These were the plants in this area at the time.

30
35
40
45
50
Lettuce
Likes steady moisture
79%
→ 36
Spinach
Likes steady moisture
79%
→ 36
Radish
Average water needs
72%
→ 33
Carrot
Tolerates drying
65%
→ 30
Where this area waters
A deeper dry-down that plant would tolerate
Watering trigger · 36
Measured soil capacity · 46

Each bar runs from the point that plant wants water up to the soil's capacity. The carrot could wait until 30 and the radish until 33, but lettuce and spinach want water at 36. So the area waters at 36, and the other two get it a little earlier than they need, which costs them nothing. That is where the 79% comes from: 79% of 46 is 36.

From there the water goes on in short pulses that pause to let it soak in, with Garzed re-reading the sensor between them, and it stops once the soil is back at 46. That is the whole green band, walked from one end to the other.

Every area runs on one of three modes: Manual, Schedule, or Full Auto

Every area is on exactly one of these, and a mix is the normal setup. Few people put a soil sensor in every area, so the areas that have one run on Full Auto, and the rest either run their schedules in Garzed or follow another area, watering whenever it does, which is how several areas run off one sensor. The whole garden stays in one place.

Manual
You decide when to water. An area with a soil sensor keeps its live reading and its calibration, and Garzed flags it when it goes dry. An area with no hardware at all still carries its plants, its planting and harvest dates, and its journal.
Schedule
Your own timer runs the watering, with rain skips: the familiar smart-watering setup, kept in one place with everything else. If that area has a sensor, its live soil reading sits beside the schedule, so you can see what the schedule is doing to the soil.
Full Auto
The measured system above: the moment comes from what's planted, water goes on in pulses, and it stops at the area's measured capacity. If the sensor ever goes offline, a backup schedule built from that area's own watering history keeps it watered until the sensor is back. This is the one mode that needs both a soil sensor and a smart valve.
An area set to Full Auto in the Garzed app, showing its irrigation type, what happens if the sensor goes offline, and its backup schedule
One area on Full Auto, in the app. Everything described above is a setting you can see.
Beyond the watering

Weather, the growing season, and a helper that knows your garden

Watering is one part of it. Garzed also keeps the season around it: what the weather is about to do to your plants, when each one is due, and a helper that already has your areas and your readings in front of it.

Weather that talks to your plants
Garzed reads your local forecast to plan ahead: pausing watering when rain's coming, warning you about frost, and showing you the week ahead. Pair an Ecowitt or Tempest weather station and it switches to live readings from your own station.
Weather page showing live conditions, rain-skip status, and forecast
Garzed's weather advisory: rain today, watering paused, cool nights ahead
A calendar driven by your actual season
Growing Degree Units track heat accumulation to tell you when plants are ready, a measure that sees an early or late spring where fixed calendar dates cannot. Frost dates, planting windows, and harvest timing all in one view.
Season timeline with frost dates and planting schedules
A helper that knows your plants
Garzed Bot gives advice that fits your actual setup: your areas, your plants, your readings. Ask why a leaf looks off, send a photo of pest damage, or get a second opinion on what to try next.
Garzed Bot chat showing context-aware plant advice
Garzed Bot answering 'How are my plants doing?' with plant-specific detail about the user's leafy greens, potatoes, asparagus, and herbs
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