6 Best Greenhouse Monitoring Systems For Remote Access That Save Your Harvest
Secure your harvest with remote monitoring. We review the 6 best systems that send real-time climate data and alerts directly to any device.
It’s 10 PM on a freezing February night, and you’re miles from home when a thought hits you: did the greenhouse heater kick on? That single worry can ruin an evening, because every hobby farmer knows how quickly a perfect crop can be lost to a sudden temperature drop. Remote monitoring isn’t a luxury; it’s the affordable insurance that protects months of your hard work.
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Why Remote Greenhouse Monitoring is Essential
A greenhouse creates a fragile, artificial environment. It’s a bubble of ideal conditions that can pop in an instant. A fan fails on a hot afternoon, and your tomatoes cook on the vine. A heater circuit trips during a cold snap, and your tender seedlings are wiped out by morning. These aren’t hypotheticals; they are the real-world disasters that keep us up at night.
Remote monitoring systems are your eyes and ears when you can’t be there. They transform anxiety into action. Instead of wondering if everything is okay, you get a notification on your phone the moment a temperature threshold is crossed or humidity spikes dangerously high. This allows you to react, whether that means rushing home or calling a neighbor for help.
Ultimately, it’s about protecting your investment. That investment isn’t just the cost of seeds and soil; it’s your time, your effort, and the satisfaction of a successful harvest. A simple sensor system costing less than a few bags of good compost can be the difference between a freezer full of produce and a season of disappointment.
SensorPush: Simple, Reliable Temp & Humidity
SensorPush is the definition of a focused, no-fuss solution. Its primary job is to measure temperature and humidity with rock-solid accuracy, and it does that job exceptionally well. The sensors themselves are small, durable, and communicate via Bluetooth to a WiFi gateway that you plug in inside your house.
The real strength here is simplicity. You place the sensor in your greenhouse, plug the gateway into an outlet within Bluetooth range (up to 325 feet line-of-sight), and connect it to your home WiFi. That’s it. The app is clean, provides excellent historical data graphs, and allows you to set custom alerts that ping your phone if conditions go out of bounds.
This system is perfect for someone who just wants to know the core environmental data without a lot of complexity. It doesn’t control anything, but it provides the critical information you need to make decisions. If your main goal is reliable, set-and-forget monitoring of temperature and humidity, SensorPush is a fantastic starting point.
Govee WiFi Sensors: The Affordable Data Logger
Govee has made a name for itself by offering smart home tech at incredibly accessible prices, and their sensor line is no exception. A Govee WiFi temperature and humidity sensor often costs a fraction of its competitors, making it an easy entry point for anyone on a tight budget. It connects directly to your WiFi, so there’s no need for a separate gateway, provided your signal reaches the greenhouse.
What you get for the price is impressive. The app provides real-time data, historical graphs, and alert notifications just like more expensive systems. Many growers use Govee to get a feel for their greenhouse’s microclimates, placing several sensors in different locations to identify hot spots or areas with poor air circulation.
The tradeoff for the low price can sometimes be build quality and battery life. While generally reliable, they may not be as rugged or weatherproof as more specialized units. But for a protected environment like a hobby greenhouse, Govee offers an unbeatable value for collecting data and getting critical alerts. It’s the perfect way to start monitoring without a significant financial commitment.
Inkbird ITC-308-WIFI: Monitor and Control Heat
The Inkbird ITC-308-WIFI is more than just a monitor; it’s a thermostat controller. This is a game-changer. Instead of just alerting you to a problem, this device actively solves it by controlling your heating and cooling equipment for you. It’s a simple, brilliant design: a temperature probe, a main unit, and two outlets—one for heating, one for cooling.
Here’s how it works: You set a target temperature and a differential. For example, you might set it to 75°F with a 2° differential. If the temperature drops to 73°F, the "Heating" outlet powers on your space heater. When it warms up to 77°F, the "Cooling" outlet can power on your exhaust fan. The WiFi connectivity means you can monitor temperatures and change your settings from anywhere.
This device is one of the single most impactful upgrades you can make for greenhouse automation. It eliminates the need for you to manually turn equipment on and off, saving you time and preventing catastrophic temperature swings. If you use any kind of electric heater or fan, the Inkbird controller provides both monitoring and peace of mind through direct action.
YoLink System: Best for Long-Range Coverage
Is your greenhouse at the far end of your property, well beyond the reach of your home’s WiFi signal? This is where the YoLink system shines. It doesn’t use WiFi or Bluetooth for its sensors. Instead, it uses a technology called LoRa (Long Range), which can transmit small packets of data over incredible distances—we’re talking a quarter-mile or more.
The system is built around a central hub that connects to your internet. From there, you can add a huge variety of sensors: temperature/humidity, water leak detectors, door open/close sensors, motion detectors, and more. For a greenhouse, you could monitor the temperature, get an alert if the door is left open, and even place a water leak sensor near your irrigation system.
The "LoRa" technology is the key selling point. It’s extremely low-power, meaning the sensor batteries can last for years. If distance is your primary challenge, no other consumer-grade system comes close to the range and reliability of YoLink. It opens up monitoring possibilities for outbuildings that were previously off-limits.
AcuRite Atlas: A Complete Weather Station
Get comprehensive weather data with the AcuRite Professional Weather Station. Monitor temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind, and lightning remotely via WiFi, and view detailed forecasts on the high-definition display.
Sometimes, what’s happening inside the greenhouse is only half the story. The AcuRite Atlas is a full-blown personal weather station that you mount outside, combined with indoor sensors you can place in the greenhouse. This setup gives you a complete picture of your property’s environment.
With the Atlas, you’re not just tracking greenhouse temperature. You’re correlating it with outside conditions: wind speed and direction, rainfall, barometric pressure, UV index, and more. This level of data is incredibly powerful. You can see how a high wind impacts your greenhouse temperature, or understand how a cloudy, low-UV day affects light levels for your plants.
This system is for the hobby farmer who loves data and wants to understand the deeper connections between the wider environment and their controlled growing space. The AcuRite app displays all this information beautifully and allows for custom alerts on any metric. It’s more of an investment, but it provides a holistic view that other systems can’t match.
Pulse One: Pro-Level Data for Serious Growers
For the grower who has moved beyond just temperature and humidity, there’s the Pulse One. This device is designed for optimizing plant growth at a professional level, but it’s accessible enough for the serious hobbyist. It tracks temperature, humidity, and light intensity, but its most important feature is its calculation of Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD).
VPD is, simply put, a more accurate way to measure the combined effect of temperature and humidity on a plant’s ability to transpire, or "breathe." Keeping your greenhouse within the ideal VPD range can dramatically increase growth rates and plant health. The Pulse app is built around this metric, giving you clear charts and alerts to help you stay in the sweet spot.
This is not a beginner’s tool. But if you’re dedicated to maximizing your yields and truly dialing in your environment, the Pulse One provides data and insights that other monitors simply don’t offer. It’s the logical next step when you want to move from preventing disaster to actively optimizing for peak performance.
Choosing the Right System for Your Greenhouse
There is no single "best" system; there is only the best system for your situation. Making the right choice comes down to answering a few key questions about your needs and your property. Don’t get sold on features you won’t use.
Start by assessing your primary goal:
- Just want to prevent disaster? A simple monitor like SensorPush or Govee is perfect. They give you the core data you need for peace of mind.
- Need to automate heating/cooling? The Inkbird ITC-308-WIFI is a must-have. It’s an active tool, not just a passive monitor.
- Is your greenhouse far from the house? The YoLink system and its long-range LoRa technology is the only practical answer.
- Are you a data enthusiast? The AcuRite Atlas gives you the big picture, connecting indoor conditions to the outside weather.
- Looking to maximize growth and yield? The Pulse One offers advanced metrics like VPD to help you optimize your environment like a pro.
Think about your budget and your technical comfort level. A Govee is a low-risk starting point, while a Pulse One is a more significant investment in your growing operation. The best approach is to identify your biggest pain point—whether it’s anxiety, distance, or a desire for automation—and choose the tool that directly solves that problem.
In the end, a remote monitoring system is a tool for empowerment. It lets you step away from your farm without disconnecting from it, giving you the freedom to live your life while still protecting the harvest you’ve worked so hard to cultivate. Start simple, identify your biggest need, and invest in the peace of mind that comes with knowing you’re always connected to your greenhouse.
