Frequently Asked Questions

GrowPlanner is a mobile app that helps you plan and track your garden. It provides personalized planting schedules based on your USDA hardiness zone and frost dates, so you know exactly when to start seeds, transplant, water, and harvest.

Think of it as your personal gardening assistant that remembers all the important dates and reminds you when it's time to take action.

Yes! GrowPlanner is free to download and use. The core features including plant tracking, task scheduling, and notifications are available to all users at no cost.

We offer optional premium features for users who want additional functionality, but the free version is fully capable of helping you plan a successful garden.

GrowPlanner is currently available for Android devices on the Google Play Store. We're working on an iOS version for iPhone and iPad users - stay tuned for updates!

No! GrowPlanner works 100% offline. All your data is stored locally on your device, so you can plan your garden even without an internet connection. This is perfect for when you're out in the garden without cell service.

USDA hardiness zones are geographic areas defined by the average annual minimum winter temperature. They range from Zone 1 (coldest) to Zone 13 (warmest), with each zone divided into "a" and "b" subzones.

Your zone helps determine which plants can survive in your area and when it's safe to plant them outdoors. GrowPlanner supports zones 3a through 11b, covering most gardening regions.

You can find your zone by:

• Using the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map at planthardiness.ars.usda.gov
• Searching "[your city] USDA hardiness zone"
• Checking with your local garden center or extension office

If you're unsure, look at the lowest temperatures you typically experience in winter. Zone 7a, for example, has average minimum temperatures of 0°F to 5°F (-18°C to -15°C).

Frost dates are the average dates of the last spring frost and first fall frost in your area. These dates are crucial for gardening because:

• Last spring frost: Tells you when it's safe to plant frost-sensitive crops outdoors
• First fall frost: Helps you plan so crops mature before cold weather arrives

GrowPlanner uses your frost dates to calculate optimal planting windows and warn you if a crop might not mature in time.

Our recommendations are based on established horticultural guidelines and are adjusted for your specific zone. However, gardening involves many variables:

• Microclimates in your yard (south-facing walls, low spots, etc.)
• Unusual weather patterns
• Soil conditions and drainage
• Specific plant varieties

Use our recommendations as a starting point, but also observe your local conditions and adjust as needed. Experienced gardeners in your area are also a great resource!

A batch represents a group of plants of the same type that you're growing together. For example, if you plant 6 tomato seedlings on the same day, that's one batch.

Each batch has its own schedule of tasks (seeding, transplanting, watering, etc.) and tracks progress from planting to harvest.

Task templates are pre-configured growing guides for each plant. When you create a new batch, you choose a template that matches how you want to grow:

• Start Seeds Indoors: Begin with seeds indoors, then transplant outside
• Buy Transplants: Start with seedlings from a nursery
• Direct Seed: Plant seeds directly in the garden

The template automatically creates all the tasks you'll need with appropriate dates based on your zone and frost dates.

Yes! While templates give you a great starting point, you can:

• Adjust task dates to match your actual schedule
• Mark tasks as complete when done
• Add notes to your batches

The app is designed to be flexible and adapt to your gardening style.

GrowPlanner can send you reminders for upcoming tasks. Here's how it works:

• Notifications are scheduled locally on your device
• You choose what time of day you want to receive reminders
• You'll be notified about tasks that are due
• You can enable or disable notifications in Settings

All notifications happen on your device - we don't send push notifications from a server.

When creating a batch, you may see risk indicators for your chosen planting date:

• Safe: Your planting date is within the recommended window
• Early: You're planting before the recommended time (frost risk)
• Late: You're planting later than ideal (may affect yield)
• Too Late: The crop likely won't mature before your first fall frost

These are guidelines to help you make informed decisions. Sometimes experienced gardeners intentionally plant early or late with protective measures.

GrowPlanner includes over 50 common garden vegetables and herbs, including:

• Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant
• Lettuce, spinach, kale
• Cucumbers, squash, zucchini
• Beans, peas, corn
• Carrots, beets, onions
• Herbs like basil, cilantro, and parsley

We're continually adding more plants based on user feedback.

Currently, GrowPlanner focuses on providing accurate data for the plants in our catalog. We want to ensure that timing recommendations are reliable, which requires careful research for each plant.

If there's a plant you'd like to see added, please let us know! We prioritize additions based on user requests.

Different zones have different growing conditions that affect plant timing:

• Cold zones (3-5): Shorter growing season means starting seeds earlier indoors and transplanting later
• Moderate zones (6-8): More flexibility with planting times
• Hot zones (9-11): May need to plant earlier to avoid summer heat stress

GrowPlanner automatically adjusts seed-starting times and planting windows based on your zone to give you the best chance of success.

All your data is stored locally on your device. We don't have servers that store your garden plans, settings, or any personal information.

This means your data is private and secure, but it also means if you uninstall the app or lose your device, your data cannot be recovered. We recommend taking screenshots of important information if needed.

Currently, GrowPlanner doesn't have a built-in backup feature. Your data exists only on your device. We're considering adding backup and sync features in future updates based on user demand.

For now, we recommend keeping the app installed and being mindful that clearing app data or uninstalling will remove your garden history.

No. GrowPlanner does not include any analytics SDKs, tracking pixels, or data collection. We don't know who uses the app, how often, or what features are popular.

We made this choice deliberately to respect your privacy. If you want to help us improve, the best way is to send us feedback directly!

GrowPlanner is currently available in:

• English
• Spanish (Español)
• Portuguese (Português)
• Russian (Русский)

The app will automatically use your device's language if supported, or you can manually change the language in Settings.

Yes! GrowPlanner supports both light and dark themes. You can choose your preference in the Settings screen, or set it to follow your device's system theme automatically.

Dark mode is great for planning your garden in the early morning or evening without straining your eyes.

If you're not receiving notifications, check these things:

• Make sure notifications are enabled in GrowPlanner Settings
• Check that your device allows notifications from GrowPlanner (System Settings → Apps → GrowPlanner → Notifications)
• Ensure battery optimization isn't preventing notifications (some Android devices aggressively kill background apps)
• Verify you have upcoming tasks scheduled

If notifications still don't work, try disabling and re-enabling them in the app settings.

Unfortunately, deleted batches cannot be recovered. The data is removed permanently from your device when you delete a batch.

We recommend being careful when deleting batches, especially if they contain historical information you might want to reference later. You can archive batches instead of deleting them to keep them for future reference.

GrowPlanner is designed to be lightweight, but if you experience slowness:

• Make sure you're running the latest version of the app
• Restart the app if it's been running for a long time
• Archive old batches you no longer need to actively track
• Ensure your device has sufficient free storage space

If problems persist, please contact us with details about your device and the issue.