Plant Database

The Plant Database is TilthIQ's reference library for every plant you can track. It stores growing parameters, rotation data, and companion relationships that power the rest of the app.

Plant Database Libraries

TilthIQ organizes plants into named databases — separate collections with their own ownership and access controls:

When you open Planning > Plant Database, a database selector at the top lets you switch between any database you have access to. If you have a personal database, it is selected by default.

The Master Database

The Master Database is TilthIQ's built-in plant encyclopedia, available to every user regardless of subscription. You can browse, search, and plant anything from the master database at no cost. Admins can add or edit plants in the master database; regular users cannot edit it directly, but can copy plants into their personal database to customize them.

Personal Plant Database

Garden Pro subscribers can create a personal plant database — a private collection where you can:

• Add plants specific to your garden (rare heirlooms, local varieties, etc.)
• Copy and customize any plant from the master database
• Edit growing parameters to match your microclimate
• Organize varieties your way

Your personal database is created automatically the first time you add a plant or copy one from the master database.

Team Plant Database

Garden Team subscribers have access to a shared team plant database. Team members can use plants from the team database in any shared garden. The team owner and team leaders control who can add or edit plants in the team database.

What Is Stored for Each Plant

Each plant entry contains:

• Name — the common name (e.g., Tomato, Cucumber, Basil)
• Category — vegetable, herb, fruit, flower, etc.
• Days to Germination — typical days from sowing to first sprout
• Days to Maturity — days from transplant (or direct sow) to harvest-ready
• Days Indoors — how long to start seeds inside before transplanting
• Spacing — recommended distance between plants
• Height — typical mature plant height
• Planting Depth — recommended seed depth
• Growth Habit — e.g., Determinate, Indeterminate, Bush, Vining, Compact
• Sun Requirement — Full Sun, Part Sun, Shade, etc.
• Water Needs — Low, Moderate, High
• Cool Season — whether this plant prefers cool growing conditions
• Crop Rotation Family — used for rotation tracking (Solanaceae, Brassica, etc.)
• Planting Season / Frost Windows — weeks before/after last frost for timing calculations
• Notes — free-text growing notes or variety-specific guidance

These values are used automatically when you create a planting — harvest dates and task schedules are calculated from them.

Browsing the Plant Database

Navigate to Planning > Plant Database to browse all entries. Use the database selector at the top to switch between your personal database, the master database, or any team databases you belong to.

Use the search box to filter by plant name, or use the category and sort controls to narrow results. Click any plant to view its full details page, including companion relationships and all named varieties.

Copying Plants into Your Personal Database

Any plant in the master database (or a team database) can be copied into your personal database using the Copy to My Database button on the plant card or details page. Copying creates your own editable version of the plant — a "fork" — that you can freely modify without affecting the original.

Forked plants display a small fork badge so you can see at a glance which plants in your personal database originated from another source.

Requirements: Copying plants requires a Garden Pro subscription.

Copying Varieties

Individual varieties can also be copied using the Copy Variety button. If the parent plant does not yet exist in your personal database, TilthIQ automatically copies the parent plant as well before adding the variety.

Syncing a Forked Plant with the Master

If a plant in your personal database was copied from the master and the master database has since been updated (new growing data, corrected values), you can pull in those updates using the Sync with Master button on the plant's Details page.

Warning: Sync with Master overwrites all fields on your forked plant, including varieties, with the current master values. Any edits you have made to your copy will be replaced. This cannot be undone.

Personal Overrides (Without Forking)

If you prefer to keep using master database plants but need to adjust a few values for your specific conditions, you can set a Personal Override instead of copying. Overrides let you change growing parameters like days-to-maturity, spacing, and planting depth for your account only, without creating a separate plant record.

To set an override, open any plant in the master database and click the Override button. The override applies only to your account — it does not affect the shared master data or other users.

Adding New Plants

If a plant you grow is not in any available database:

• Admins: click + Add New Plant on the Plant Database page to add directly to the master database
• Pro users: add to your personal database using the same button (plants are added to your personal database automatically)

You do not need every field complete to start — add what you know and fill in details later using Enrich from Web.

Plant Pickers Show Your Databases

When creating a planting from the New Planting form, the Crop Plan Wizard, or the Plant Details quick-plant panel, the plant picker now groups plants by database. Your personal database appears first, followed by any team databases, then the master database. This makes it easy to select from your curated personal list without scrolling through the full master catalog.

The Enrich from Web Button

The Enrich from Web button on any plant's Details page uses the Garden AI to search the web for growing data and auto-fill empty fields. This is especially useful for:

• Unusual heirloom varieties
• Newly released cultivars
• Plants you have grown from saved seed without much documentation

After enriching, TilthIQ shows you a preview of what it found so you can accept, edit, or reject the suggested values before saving.

Note: Enrich from Web requires a Garden Pro or Garden Team subscription.

Admin Plant Importer

Administrators can bulk-import plants from a CSV file via the Admin > Plant Importer page. This is useful for populating the master database with a large number of varieties at once.

The CSV format accepts: Name, DaysToGermination, DaysToMaturity, Spacing, Height, GrowthHabit, CropRotationFamily, Notes.

Tip: The more complete your plant database entries, the more accurate TilthIQ's harvest date calculations and planting window suggestions will be. Take 5 minutes to fill in days-to-maturity for your most-grown varieties — it pays off all season long.