The SMED-1 sensor provides VWC and temperature readings from the growing substrate. That measurement is used to prevent over-watering or under-watering and negative effects from allowing the root zone to become too warm or too cold. The 24/7 live data coming from the SMED-1 sensor is used within the Croptiva     controllers in order to trigger local and remote (SMS) alarms and provide visual graphing  to show trends, and specifically for the Croptiva Guardian controller… to provide direct (visual graphs) substrate / grow medium feedback when using “crop steering programming”. Once the user has access to the “hidden” data from within their grow medium, they can then make fine-tuning adjustments to their feeding schedules as their plants' growth progresses.