Plants will take care of themselves while you are away. A simple innovation by an NIDian is the answer to all your woes.

Plant Lovers

Where does one leave or keep the precious plants well nurtured with so much care when one is away for a few days is a perennial anxiety? Maybe with the neighbours, relatives, friends or find a gardener (Mali) or the Maid? This doesn’t sound practical and feasible as one anyway continues to worry about them. With a new and easy innovative solution, you can now relax and enjoy your break or a holiday.

Innovations in this century?

Look around at the start-ups that came from garages like Google, Microsoft, Apple, where individuals believed that with their idea something can be done which is useful for people and also make money. It is not always about million bucks or a large enough space, but sometimes about simple and unconventional ideas can spring up and one can be successful too. Creative and innovators are ones who are observant or sometimes solve their own problems and decide to find a solution.

Unconventional Idea

An NIDian (National Institute of Design), Y Gowtham Reddy, a PG of Ceramic and Glass used to see people so worried about their plants not being cared for while they were away and even disheartened to learn that most were dying. This fabulous observation got Gowtham thinking and he came up with a simple idea of ‘Self-watering Planter’in 2017. He knew that the only way he could sustain the plants without watering for a couple of weeks was something to do about the mixture of clay used to make a Pot/Planter. He did research and spend considerable time and effort and discovered a workable solution and has piloted successfully. Plant lovers without hesitation will buy these for sure. 

Brand OSMOS

• Gowtham innovated a “self-watering Terracotta Planter/Pot” with  60% soil and 40% of low weight-expanded clay.
• Designed a glass bowl according to its shape and size.
• This bowl has the capacity to hold 1.5 liters of water.
• This new POT with a plant inside can be placed in the water-filled bowl and it sustains the Plants for at least 15 days.
• Terracotta absorbs water, and the Soil inside the Pot remains hydrated as per the need.
• This is designed in a way that it doesn't breed mosquitoes and has aesthetic appeal too.

Marketing Strategies

One can have millions of ideas, concepts, prototypes or pilots but when it comes to commercialising a product or solution;  its altogether a new ball game. The Quintet team Gowtham the designer, marketing experts -three PGP grads from Indian Institute of  Management, Ahmedabad (VijayadityaIndrakanti , Vikas Jaiswal, Pooja Prusty) and an Engineering student Chintan Mehta did a course offered at the IIMA Centre for  Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship and made the best use of it. One couldn’t have asked for a better combo for strategies.

Steady Progress.

They have restricted the sales to IIMA, NID, and residences so far and have already sold more than 300 plants costing Rs. 500/-. To begin with they have gone in for three varieties of plants – Aralia, Lucky Bamboo and Sansevieria. With the feedback about the concept, pricing and quality, the team will be in a better position to come up with feasible marketing strategy for expansion.

2018 surely will see a quick growth and hopefully with more varieties, one could probably pick them up online soon.

Refer - FB page OSMOS (self watering plants), or a mail gowtham.r@nid.edu or reach him at 8639113459.

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