Vprobe Home Assistant Integration
Bring your plant data into Home Assistant using the Vortex Vitality MQTT gateway. Turn Vprobe readings such as soil moisture, light, humidity, temperature and fertility into dashboards, notifications and smart-home automations.
- Connect Vprobe plant sensor data to Home Assistant using MQTT
- Create plant dashboards with moisture, light, humidity, temperature and EC fertility
- Trigger automations for grow lights, humidifiers, watering alerts and plant-care reminders
- Use Vprobe Wi-Fi cloud readings in Home Assistant through the MQTT gateway
- Explore and contribute to the open-source MQTT gateway project on GitHub
Designed for Home Assistant users, plant collectors, smart-home builders and advanced Vprobe owners.
Measures plant conditions
Receives sensor data
Publishes to your network
Dashboards and automations
Use Vprobe readings inside Home Assistant
Vprobe is a smart Wi-Fi plant sensor. With the Vortex Vitality MQTT gateway, selected Vprobe readings can be published into your local Home Assistant setup so you can build plant dashboards, alerts and automations.
Build dashboards
Display soil moisture, light, humidity, temperature, fertility / EC, battery and last update status in Home Assistant.
Create alerts
Receive plant-care notifications when readings move outside your chosen ranges or when a plant needs attention.
Automate plant care
Use plant data to control grow lights, humidifiers, heating, fans, watering reminders or smart plugs.
How Vprobe connects to Home Assistant
The MQTT gateway acts as a bridge between your Vprobe cloud data and your local Home Assistant MQTT setup.
Measures plant conditions and sends readings over Wi-Fi.
Receives data from your linked Vprobe devices.
Runs on Windows and links selected Vprobes to Home Assistant.
Uses MQTT entities for dashboards, alerts and automations.
Plant readings you can use in Home Assistant
Vprobe gives Home Assistant users more than a simple moisture value. It helps you monitor the wider plant environment.
Soil moisture
Use moisture trends for watering alerts, reminders and plant dashboards.
Light level
Use lux readings to understand whether plants are receiving enough light.
Humidity
Use humidity readings for tropical plants, ferns, calatheas and orchids.
Air temperature
Monitor rooms, windowsills, greenhouses and cold corners.
Soil temperature
Understand root-zone temperature where supported by your Vprobe model.
Fertility / EC
Track nutrient strength in moist soil and interpret it alongside moisture and plant type.
Battery
Keep an eye on device battery status so you know when maintenance is needed.
Wi-Fi status
Use signal strength and online behaviour to troubleshoot placement and router coverage.
Last update
Check whether your plant data is recent enough for your dashboard or automation logic.
What you can build with Vprobe and Home Assistant
The best Home Assistant setup is not just a dashboard. It is a plant-care system that reacts to real conditions.
Grow-light automation
Use low light readings to switch on a grow light, send a notification or remind you to move a plant closer to a brighter position.
Humidity support
Use humidity readings to trigger a humidifier or send a warning for plants that prefer higher humidity.
Watering alerts
Create alerts when soil moisture drops below your preferred level. This is safer than fixed watering schedules.
Greenhouse monitoring
Combine temperature, humidity, soil moisture and light readings to understand greenhouse or conservatory conditions.
How to connect Vprobe to Home Assistant
Follow this setup flow to link your Vprobe devices with Home Assistant using the MQTT gateway.
Prepare Home Assistant MQTT
Make sure Home Assistant is running and that MQTT is available in your Home Assistant setup. Many users configure this through the Mosquitto broker add-on or the Home Assistant MQTT integration.
Download and install the MQTT gateway
Download the Vortex Vitality MQTT Gateway app on a Windows PC connected to the same network as Home Assistant.
Generate the Home Assistant auth code in Vplants
In the Vplants mobile app, go to Profile → Home Assistant → Generate Auth Code. Copy the 6-digit code quickly because it is valid for a short time.
Login inside the gateway app
Paste the generated auth code into the MQTT gateway app and log in. The app will load your linked Vprobe devices.
Select the Vprobes you want to link
Choose the Vprobe devices you want to expose to Home Assistant, then link them using the gateway app.
Configure Home Assistant to use the gateway
In Home Assistant MQTT settings, point the MQTT broker host to the IPv4 address selected in the gateway app and use port 1883 where applicable.
Download the Vortex Vitality MQTT Gateway
The MQTT Gateway by Vortex Vitality is the bridge between your Vprobe data and Home Assistant. The current ready-to-use release is intended for Windows users.
- Windows version available now
- Requires a Vplants account with one or more linked Vprobe devices
- Uses the Home Assistant auth code generated inside the Vplants app
- Publishes selected Vprobe readings for Home Assistant use
- Keep the gateway app running so Home Assistant continues receiving updates
Open-source early release
The MQTT gateway project is available on GitHub so advanced users and developers can inspect the project, build it, report issues, suggest improvements and contribute.
- MIT license
- Contribution guidance
- Developer workflow available
- Created for Vortex Vitality customers and the Home Assistant community
This is an early open-source release. Some rough edges may remain while the project continues to evolve.
Understand the data update rhythm
Vprobe is battery-powered, so it does not stay connected continuously like a mains-powered smart plug. It sends readings on a schedule, which makes it useful for plant monitoring, trends and automations without draining the batteries too quickly.
By default, Vprobe typically sends readings every 6 hours. Some firmware versions allow a faster update rate, down to around 1 hour, but faster updates reduce battery life.
Best use cases
- Plant dashboards and historical trends
- Watering reminders and plant-care notifications
- Grow-light and humidifier routines
- Greenhouse and conservatory monitoring
- Smart-home awareness of plant conditions
Not designed for
High-speed second-by-second control loops or safety-critical automation. Always use sensible safeguards with pumps, heaters, humidifiers and mains-powered devices.
Who should use the Home Assistant integration?
Good fit
- Home Assistant users who want plant sensor data
- Smart-home hobbyists using grow lights or humidifiers
- Plant collectors who want dashboards and trend data
- Greenhouse, conservatory or indoor-jungle monitoring
- Developers who want to inspect or contribute to the open-source gateway
May not be ideal
- You need second-by-second sensor updates
- You do not want to run a gateway app
- You do not currently use Home Assistant or MQTT
- You need a ready-to-use Mac or Linux app immediately
- You expect a simple beginner setup with no technical configuration
Build your Vprobe smart-home setup with confidence
These guides explain Vprobe setup, Wi-Fi behaviour, fertility readings, API access and smart-home use cases.
Need Mac, Linux or another OS?
The current ready-to-use MQTT gateway release is for Windows. If you need another operating system, please submit your request and tell us about your Home Assistant setup.
- Your name
- Your Vplants account email from the Profile screen
- The operating system you want to use
- How you plan to use Vprobe with Home Assistant
- Any technical details about your Home Assistant installation
OS support request form
Submit this form if you would like to request MQTT gateway support for Mac, Linux or another operating system.
Connect Vprobe to your Home Assistant setup
Use real plant readings to build better dashboards, smarter alerts and practical plant-care automations.
Vprobe smart plant sensor • Vplants app • MQTT gateway • Home Assistant automation
Home Assistant Integration FAQ
Does Vprobe work with Home Assistant?
Yes. Vprobe can be connected to Home Assistant using the Vortex Vitality MQTT gateway app.
Does Vprobe use MQTT?
The Home Assistant integration uses the Vortex Vitality MQTT gateway to publish selected Vprobe data into your local Home Assistant MQTT setup.
How does Vprobe send data to Home Assistant?
Vprobe sends normal plant readings over Wi-Fi through the Vplants cloud. The Home Assistant setup uses the MQTT gateway to publish those readings locally into Home Assistant.
Can I automate grow lights with Vprobe?
Yes. You can use Vprobe light readings in Home Assistant to trigger grow-light reminders or automations, depending on your setup.
Can I automate watering with Vprobe?
You can use Vprobe soil moisture readings to create watering alerts or automations. For pumps or mains-powered devices, always use safe automation logic and manual safeguards.
How often does Vprobe update Home Assistant?
Vprobe typically sends data every 6 hours by default. Some firmware versions allow faster update rates, down to around 1 hour, with reduced battery life.
Is the MQTT gateway open source?
Yes. The MQTT gateway project is available on GitHub as an early open-source release with an MIT license.
Does the gateway work on Mac or Linux?
The current ready-to-use release is intended for Windows. If you need another operating system, submit an OS support request so we can review demand.