Do Plant-Care Apps Actually Save Plants?

My windowsill was a memorial garden of good intentions until someone suggested letting an app run the watering. Three months and four apps later, the results are in - and they are mixed.

What the apps do brilliantly: reminders, identification photos, and stopping the classic killer, overwatering by enthusiasm. What they cannot do is tell that your north-facing window in November is a different planet from the summer.

Verdict: an app plus a two-minute weekly look at actual soil beats either alone. The ferns have opinions about this, and for once they agree.