GrowGuard

Terms of Service

Last updated 12 October 2026

By using GrowGuard you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the app.

What GrowGuard is

GrowGuard helps you identify plants, plan their care, and troubleshoot problems. Identifications and health assessments are produced by automated models and are estimates, clearly labelled as such in the app. They are not a substitute for professional horticultural advice. Do not rely on an identification to decide whether a plant is safe to eat or safe around children or pets.

Your account

You must be at least 13 years old to use GrowGuard. You are responsible for keeping your sign-in secure. You may delete your account at any time. We may suspend accounts that abuse the service, for example by automated bulk requests.

Your content

You keep ownership of the photos and notes you add. You give us permission to store and process them to provide the service to you, as described in the Privacy Policy.

Fair use

GrowGuard includes a daily allowance of identifications and health checks; the app tells you when you have reached it. We may change allowances with notice.

Availability

We aim to keep the service available but do not guarantee it. Some features depend on third-party services that may be temporarily unavailable; the app tells you when that happens.

Liability

To the extent permitted by law, GrowGuard is provided “as is” and we are not liable for loss or damage arising from reliance on the app, including harm to plants, people or animals.

Plant data sources

Scientific names are checked against the World Flora Online Plant List (CC0). Common names (English, Persian and French) were selected and edited by GrowGuard from Wikidata (CC0) and from checklists published through GBIF.org; we changed spelling and capitalisation and chose one display name per plant. These sources do not endorse GrowGuard and give no warranty. Checklists used under CC BY 4.0, accessed via GBIF.org on 8 October 2026:

  • Bánki O. et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (2026-08-26 XR). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam. doi.org/10.48580/dgyy9
  • Creuwels J, Prins M (2026). Checklist Dutch Caribbean Species Register. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. doi.org/10.15468/eat7w6
  • Roy D. et al. (2020). DAISIE – Inventory of alien invasive species in Europe. Version 1.7. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). doi.org/10.15468/ybwd3x
  • Brazil Flora G (2026). Flora e Funga do Brasil – Lista Oficial. Version 393.430. Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro. doi.org/10.15468/1mtkaw
  • Loomis J (2024). Martha's Vineyard species checklist. Version 1.5. Vermont Center for Ecostudies. doi.org/10.15468/3vk6gc
  • Gargominy O (2025). TAXREF. Version 4.17. UAR PatriNat (OFB-MNHN-CNRS-IRD), Paris. doi.org/10.15468/vqueam
  • Raper C (2023). United Kingdom Species Inventory (UKSI). Version 37.9. Natural History Museum. doi.org/10.15468/rm6pm4
  • WoRMS Editorial Board (2026). World Register of Marine Species. doi.org/10.14284/170

Further names come from CC0 checklists on GBIF (among them GRIN Taxonomy, ITIS, VASCAN and Info Flora).

Life form, native climate and native range (shown as “In the wild”) are adapted from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), version 16 (June 2026): Govaerts R. (ed.), facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. © The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. doi.org/10.15468/6h8ucr, licensed under CC BY 4.0 and also issued under CC BY 3.0. We converted these data into our own categories and wording and derived general care tips from them. RBG Kew cannot warrant the quality or accuracy of the data and does not endorse GrowGuard. Reference: Govaerts R. et al. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8: 215. doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6

Light needs for some plants are adapted from GrowSpot (growspotapp.com), Houseplant light requirements and aggregate indoor light-meter readings (2026), doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22023336 (we use the snapshot of 3 October 2026, version 3: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23118562), licensed under CC BY 4.0. We mapped its light tiers to our four light levels and used them only where our own references and rules had no value. GrowSpot does not endorse GrowGuard. Other light needs are our own, from published horticultural guidance.

A plant’s watering schedule starts from our watering level for its kind of plant (for some plants added earlier, from the Perenual plant database; when we have neither, from a general 7-day schedule that the app labels as such), then adjusts for the season, rest periods, its light, its pot and, when we have it, the local weather. Some levels are adapted from the watering codes in Table 3 of Growing Indoor Plants with Success by Bodie V. Pennisi, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Bulletin 1318 (reviewed July 2022; the table is adopted there from McConnell, 1978), fieldreport.caes.uga.edu, mapped to our levels; the numbers of days are our own. The other levels are our own, from published horticultural guidance (such as the Royal Horticultural Society and university extension services). These sources do not endorse GrowGuard.

Toxicity information for pets and for people comes from the openly licensed or official sources listed below. We restated their facts in our own words, combined them and applied our own rules (for example, a warning covers a whole plant group only when a source clearly means the whole group). A plant shows a warning only when one of these sources supports it, when we checked it ourselves (shown as “checked by GrowGuard”), or, for some plants added earlier, when the Perenual plant database marked it as poisonous (shown as “Perenual”); otherwise it shows “unknown”, which never means that a plant is safe. This is information, not medical or veterinary advice: if someone may have eaten a plant, contact your local poison centre; for a pet, call your vet. None of these sources endorses GrowGuard.

Contact

info@growguard.me