Story
We built Floracle at our own kitchen table because our greenhouse cabinet had become too much work. Lights, humidity, heat, fans, timers, plugs, little fixes every day. We wanted the joy of growing tropical plants at home without constantly wondering what the cabinet was doing.
Region: This first Kickstarter run is for Schuko (Type F) / compatible 230V setups. If your country uses a different plug system, please wait for a future version. Travel adapters are the wrong way to use a mains-powered climate controller.
The Problem
If you have a cabinet, you probably know the feeling. The humidity is never stable. Endless spray bottle sessions. Even with a humidifier: It runs too long or not long enough. Lights warm the cabinet more than expected. The room cools down at night. A fan is pointed just a little wrong. The plants do not tell you what happened, they just show you later.
We got tired of guessing. Floracle came from that frustration: a controller made for small to medium greenhouse cabinets, where climate changes quickly and a small mistake can show up as crispy leaf edges, stalled growth, or a plant that never really settles in.
In The Room
Anyone with a grow cabinet knows the pattern: temperature swings (cold or heat stress), guessing what went wrong this time, or low humidity that turns leaf edges crispy. Reactions are exhausting; prevention is what Floracle is for: fewer rescue missions, steadier growth.
What Floracle Does
- Measures the cabinet and controls the connected gear through one system
- Runs your grow lights on a schedule and uses that rhythm for day and night behaviour
- Controls humidity through VPD, because plants feel humidity together with temperature
- Moves air with two 12V fan groups, so heat and moisture do not sit in one corner
Three Ways To Control
We wanted Floracle to work from the E-ink display and dial on the controller itself. Wi-Fi adds remote control via the Floracle app and Home Assistant, which makes daily use nicer. The basic climate control stays local.
That was important to us. Plant care should keep working when your phone is in another room, when an app update is late, or when you simply want to turn the dial and be done with it.
How it fits your gear
We built Floracle because this is the controller we wanted for our own cabinet: one box that works with the lights, humidifier, heater, and fans we already chose. No subscription. No “approved accessory” catalogue. No replacing perfectly good gear because one brand decided you should live inside their app.
A good greenhouse cabinet is usually a mix of parts: a display cabinet you like, grow lights that fit the shelves, a humidifier that actually fits in the corner, a small heating mat or cable when the room gets cold, and fans to keep the air moving. Floracle ties that together. It measures the cabinet and switches things on and off in a coordinated way, so the climate becomes less of a daily puzzle and more of a quiet background rhythm.
That freedom matters to us. A lot of smart-home products slowly drift toward “you bought the device, but not really”: cloud accounts, subscriptions, locked accessories, and features that disappear when a company changes direction. Floracle is deliberately different. It works as a stand-alone controller from the display and dial. Wi-Fi adds convenience through the app and Home Assistant, but your basic plant care does not depend on a cloud service.
The same idea shows up in the hardware choices. Use your own grow lights, humidifier, and simple mains on/off heating such as a mat or cable. Add standard 12 V DC fans for airflow. Floracle is the brain; you choose the cabinet and the equipment. It is not “right to repair” in the sense that we want you opening a mains-powered device yourself, but it does come from the same place: the belief that useful products should be understandable, documented, and not designed to trap you.
The practical limits: This campaign is for 230 V ~ / 50 Hz Schuko-class regions. Mains outputs are for simple on/off loads such as grow lights, humidifiers, and heating mats or cables: max. 2 A per switched outlet, max. 3.15 A combined. Floracle does not measure the wattage of connected accessories, so use equipment that fits the stated limits and is suitable for unattended use. Always connect accessories before powering the controller. Full safety text and documentation live at floracle.nl/support.
Specs
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Form factor | Tabletop / shelf unit with E-ink, rotary, and on-device control |
| Outputs | Grow lights, humidifier, heating mat or cable, two 12 V fan groups, sensor; Schuko / EU mains switching for rated horticulture loads |
| Firmware | Built on ESPHome, because it gives us a solid local-first foundation and a strong Home Assistant path |
| App | Floracle Dashboard, your phone as a clear everyday remote (Android + web) |
| Home Assistant | Optional: import our dashboard pack with light & dark themes; up to four controllers in a tidy layout beside the rest of your home |
| Enclosure | Eucalyptus wood exterior, finished by hand in our first batch |
In the box
You receive the Floracle controller, the required power cabling for this regional version, and clear setup documentation. The manual covers accessory placement, app onboarding, the display controls, safety limits, and support links. We want the unboxing to feel calm, because the whole point of Floracle is less fiddling.
Waves & delivery
We already have a first run of around 200 units. That matters to us, because we know how Kickstarter can feel when hardware exists only as a render and a promise. Our first goal is to get Floracle into the hands of plant lovers, learn from those first backers, and fund the next production run responsibly.
Wave A, first run: Limited units from stock. We ship after surveys, payment processing, and carrier handover within the Schuko region.
Wave B, next batch: A new build after the first run sells through. We will give backers a realistic delivery window and share production updates while we build.
Each reward will make the wave clear before checkout. No hidden queue, no surprise “later batch” after you pledge.
Stretch goals
We are careful with stretch goals. Extra hardware can look exciting on a campaign page, then quietly ruin delivery. If we add goals, they should make Floracle better without putting the first backers at risk.
| € 35 000 | Plant care mini-guides in the app, written around real cabinet care instead of generic houseplant advice. |
| € 50 000 | More Home Assistant dashboard polish and clearer import steps in floracle-ha-dashboard. |
| € 75 000 | A community blueprint pack with ready-made automation ideas for ESPHome and Home Assistant. |
| € 100 000 | Prioritise app localisation and publish a plain-language update rhythm for app and firmware improvements. |
Timeline
Indicative timeline
Example phases — adjust dates and copy for your launch plan.
Finish the campaign page, show the product clearly, answer early questions from plant and Home Assistant communities, and lock shipping details before launch.
Keep backers close to the process with honest updates, comments, FAQ improvements, and behind-the-scenes production notes.
Collect addresses, confirm regional details, and make sure shipping is charged realistically.
Pick, pack, ship, and keep a small buffer for transport issues or early support cases.
Order parts, build, test, pack, and share photo updates while the next batch comes together.
Firmware, app & HA
The software side of Floracle came from the same place as the hardware: we wanted something we could trust in our own home. Something local. Something we could update. Something that would still make sense to a plant lover who has never opened a terminal.
Why we built on ESPHome
ESPHome already powers a huge number of smart devices. It has been used, tested, and improved by people who care deeply about local control. Building on that foundation lets our small team focus on the Floracle-specific work: cabinet climate, VPD behaviour, day and night logic, and a setup that feels good in daily use.
It also means Floracle speaks the language Home Assistant already understands. If you run Home Assistant, the controller can feel like part of your home from the start, with no fragile bridge we invented ourselves.
Updates you can feel good about
Floracle can improve after it leaves our workshop. We can refine behaviour, improve wording, and ship updates over the air. We want updates to feel calm and useful, with plain release notes that say what changed and why it matters for your cabinet.
The app: built for plant care
Floracle Dashboard is the everyday view. You can check the cabinet, adjust settings, and see what your connected devices are doing. The goal is simple: open the app, understand the cabinet, close the app, go enjoy your plants.
Home Assistant: your whole home, one rhythm
If you use Home Assistant, Floracle can sit beside the rest of your home. We provide a dashboard pack with a Floracle look, light and dark themes, and support for multiple controllers. If you never use Home Assistant, that is fine too. The product should meet you where you are.
Loved by testers
From testers with real cabinets:
I’d give Floracle’s ease of use a solid 10! The biggest advantage is automated humidity control… the optimised balance in VPD.
Nadia
No more turning things on every morning and off every evening. Absolutely amazing.
Rebecca
I can get away for a week without worry. Floracle = peace of mind.
Jef
The whole system is fantastic… nearly all plants in my cabinet are showing new growth!
Christa
About us
We’re Djurre & Liza. We started like many plant people do, with a few plants on a windowsill. Then came more shelves, more cuttings, more cabinets, and a living room that slowly turned greener than planned.
At some point we realised that the hard part was no longer collecting plants. The hard part was giving them a stable little world indoors. Tropical plants ask for conditions Dutch homes do not naturally give them. We tried the usual fixes, then built better ones, then started again when they still were not good enough.
Floracle is the result of that process. A small team, a real problem, a lot of testing, and a product we are proud to put our name on. We built it for our own cabinet first. Now we want to share it with people who love their plants the same way we do.
What we care about
We care about plant care that feels peaceful again. We care about hardware that keeps working without a subscription. We care about honest documentation, local control, and feedback from real plant lovers. Floracle is small by design, but we want it to feel thoughtful in every detail.
Built with the plant community
Testers helped shape Floracle into something clearer and more useful. They told us where setup felt easy, where wording was confusing, and what actually mattered after living with the controller. That feedback made the product better than we could have made it alone.
floracle.nl is where our story lives. This campaign helps us bring Floracle to more plant lovers and fund the next production run with care.
Risks
Second batch & supply. Components can move in price and lead time. We will build buffer into the timeline and show progress with clear updates.
Shipping in the EU. Shipping costs change, especially for hardware. We will model this carefully before launch and avoid under-pricing just to make the page look nicer.
Electrical & product compliance. We will only claim what our documentation supports. The manual and safety limits are part of the product from day one.
Software & Home Assistant. Phone operating systems and Home Assistant keep evolving. We will publish supported paths and keep changes understandable.
Plant outcomes. Floracle coordinates climate. It cannot fix pests, poor substrate, or plant biology. We will be honest about that.
FAQ
Will this work in my country? This first run is for Schuko / compatible 230V regions. If your plug system differs, please wait for a later version.
Do I need the app? Floracle can be used from the E-ink display and dial. The app and Home Assistant add convenience.
Why Kickstarter when the first batch exists? We want to reach the right plant community, ship the first batch, and fund the next production run in public.
Environment
We want Floracle to be kept, repaired through proper support where possible, and used for years. That starts with a durable wooden enclosure, careful packaging, and honest claims. No green gloss for the sake of it.
