HI David--EasyBloom uses USDA zones (read more here: http://easybloom.com/learn/faqs.html#25) I strongly suspect your local building department is using "Sunset zones", which are proprietary to Sunset (& used in places on the West Coast). Where are you located? I am in 8b (San Francisco)

HI Melissa- Your question is answered in another thread "Rainproof?" http://easybloom.com/sfSimpleForum/topic/id/86/stripped_title/rainproof Here's what Robby said before "The EasyBloom Plant Sensor can definitely be left out in the rain. As long as the sensor is not left out in torrential downpour or thrown in a puddle or pool, it will be fine. The sensor is water resistant, but I would not say that it is waterproof or rainproof. I have let the sensor outside when it rained overnight. The next day I uploaded the data. It was cool to see the data graphs show the soil moisture and relative humidity shoot up. I hope this is helpful. --Robby"

HI David- Yes, this is true, you need an internet connection to switch modes of the EasyBloom sensor. For example, when you're in Monitor mode, the EasyBloom website is needed to "set" the monitoring plant. With the plant, the EasyBloom can signal when the plant needs water. (All plants have different watering needs). We're working on some future features to address the battery reset issues. I'm sorry you're not happy with the need for an internet connection, I remember discussing this with you over email in August. Edith PS. What are you growing?

Adding more grasses is on our "to-do" list. We currently do have several lawn grasses such as Zoysia, Bermuda and Ryegrass. I hope this helps you--

Hi Bill- Thanks for the feedback. When you take a reading (Monitor or Recommend) we automatically only show you plants for your zone. Your suggestion for allowing Zone Filtering on Find that Plant is good, thanks for making it. Edith

These are great ideas, thanks for sharing with us! What do you currently use for measuring nitrogen content?

Hi Jacque- I answered this question in your other post with more verbosity, but to be brief--the EasyBloom samples data every 15 minutes. To allow users to see a unified "Plant View", we currently compress the data in the graphs. All the data is still used in our diagnosis and recommendation. I'm concerned that you have issues with your EasyBloom inaccuracy--if you give more details about what readings/plants aren't meshing with what you expect, one of our plant scientists can help you. Thanks Edith

HI Jacque- First, let me give you some background. The data is sampled in 15 minute intervals. Based on our own plant labratory tests, this is more than sufficient to make a recommendation or monitor diagnosis of plants. The raw data is combined with the latitude of the sample (to correct for the angle of the sun), the weather of the zipcode sample (to correct for an unusually cloudy day), and the USDA cold zone AND heat zone to generate plant recommendations. At present, in the "Plants View", our graphing package resizes all data so it will fit into one browser window. However, in all plant calculations, we do use ALL data collected. I hope this helps you, and thanks for posting! Edith

Hi Sandra- I'm Edith, the EasyBloom Product Manager. I do read all of the feature ideas (thanks for your filter by zone idea!) Robby, our Plant Doctor, answers the Plant questions. Thanks for posting! Edith

Hi Simona- I'm sorry, we try to make it as clear as possible that we only work in the United States. Please return your EasyBloom to the vendor who sold it to you for a refund, and my apologies for your inconvenience. Edith