PlantCam, GardenWatchCam capture plant growth

If you’re the type of person who starts every day with a quick tour just to see how well the garden is blooming, you’ll get the idea behind PlantCam, above. It’s a four-megapixel time-lapse digital camera for your landscape. Created by Wingscapes, the PlantCam operates much like the company’s Audubon BirdCam, a motion-sensor camera that photographs wildlife at the backyard perch, feeder or nest. PlantCam is easy to mount on a tripod, post or even a tree trunk. Leave it alone to do its thing, and pretty soon you’ll have individual frames that can be stitched together into a mini-movie of a bud opening or a leaf unfurling.

In the Home section’s test, it took about five minutes to set up the camera and lash it to an arbor post with a bungee cord. The camera was set to snap a scene every hour, and it was left to run for two days. A special light setting tells the camera to stop at night and resume shooting when there is enough morning sun. The PlantCam can zoom in for close-ups or capture an entire garden in wide angle. Just think how cool it would be to track the progress of your next home improvement project. PlantCam costs $79 at Armstrong Garden Centers, Green Thumb nurseries and Wild Birds Unlimited stores.

Other options: the Brinno GardenWatchCam ($140) and its avian partner, the BirdWatchCam ($200). The GardenWatchCam provides time-lapse photography on seven settings, with an image snapped at intervals from one minute to 24 hours. It’s capable of focusing on subjects as close as 18 inches away, so you can watch your melon seeds push out of the soil. The BirdWatchCam works on the same principles but is motion activated. The camera can shoot a picture every second for 20 seconds. It comes with a laser targeting system for proper placement and a zoom lens capable of being pre-focused 5, 6 1/2 or 10 feet away from the intended subject. www.brinno.com

-- Debra Prinzing and Jeff Spurrier