Show HN: A free site to explore and discover 6k plants

Overall reception

• Many commenters like the idea and clean design, especially for plant lovers who struggle to find reliable, consolidated info.
• Several say they can see themselves using it, some joking that it’s “dangerous” for their plant addiction.
• A few find it underwhelming so far due to missing common plants, thin info, and limited usefulness for outdoor gardening.

Search, data quality, and coverage

• Search is widely viewed as slow and fragile:
  • Only matches scientific names reliably; many common names fail.
  • Exact punctuation can be required (e.g., quotes).
• Missing or incomplete entries are noted, including common plants and trending varietals.
• Some users want a dichotomous-key style search for unknown plants.

Images and copyright

• Images currently come from Wikipedia or partner stores, with explicit permission sought from stores.
• Many plants still lack photos; users notice inconsistent image quality.
• Suggestions:
  • Use public plant image datasets (e.g., Pl@ntNet).
  • Consider AI-generated images or illustrations, though some warn this could be misleading for technical/botanical accuracy.
• Hotlinking images from Shopify sellers is flagged as a bandwidth and long‑term reliability concern.

Desired features & filters

• Strong demand for richer attributes, especially for outdoor plants:
  • Hardiness/temperature zones, soil pH, water use, drought tolerance.
  • Sun/shade tolerance, indoor/outdoor suitability, container size.
  • Bloom/fruiting time, pollinator friendliness, edible vs ornamental.
  • Aquatic-specific fields (CO₂ needs, foreground/background, water pH).
  • Pet safety, human toxicity, and possibly “messiness” of trees.
• Multiple people ask for native-range filters and invasive-species flags.
• Users want better categorization (trees, shrubs, aquatic, etc.) and less overwhelming “all plants” landing page.

Geography and availability

• Currently US‑centric: US stores, USD prices.
• Non‑US users request:
  • Clear “US only” notice.
  • Localized versions (Europe, UK, Australia, etc.).
• Some note cross-border and interstate shipping/import restrictions should be modeled.

Monetization, data sourcing, and tech

• Site aggregates inventories from multiple stores; mappings rely on regex plus manual labeling, anchored to scientific names.
• Prices and availability update nightly; some suggest more frequent updates.
• Affiliate relationships are being added; future revenue ideas include subscriptions and concierge-like services.
• Stack: Django backend with React/Next frontend, Postgres search (currently basic ilike), moving from earlier WordPress/Jupyter setup.
• Suggestions include using store APIs instead of scraping, Postgres full-text search, and better image hosting.

Community and future directions

• Ideas:
  • User-added plants and edits.
  • Shared wishlists/collections and social feeds (“I planted this,” bloom events, seed sharing).
  • Care guides, YouTube integration, seasonal/local gardening tips.
• Some suggest focusing on outdoor natives and permaculture, potentially leveraging open biodiversity datasets, while acknowledging licensing limits for commercial use.