and caring for plants Unsure about whether your plants need watering or are getting sufficient sunlight? There are apps for that. If you’re a busy type who could use watering, fertilizing, pruning and repotting reminders, apps like Planta or Plant Parent can help keep you on track. Provide info on an individual plant or create an inventory of all your green friends, and it will tailor a schedule for each, then notify you when it’s time to provide those maintenance tasks. Physical monitoring devices can take things a step further. A gadget like FloraPod, for example, when plunged into soil — indoors or out — will send your phone real-time details about moisture levels, humidity, temperature and light exposure, plus care recommendations for thousands of plant species. Hydroponics and beyond So-called smart gardens are self-watering, self-fertilizing and self-lighting units that enable users to grow herbs and vegetables indoors year-round. They’re available in a variety of sizes to accommodate a single plant or even dozens. Some, like Gardyn and AeroGarden, rely on soil-less hydroponic systems; others, like the Click & Grow system, use pods filled with traditional growing media. ___ Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice. ___ For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening. By JESSICA DAMIANO