Environmentally sensitive plant ID tag

An environmentally sensitive tag for use in a plant growing medium, comprising;

• a substrate including a tag insertion end which is narrowed, pointed, or rounded to facilitate insertion of the tag insertion end in the plant growing medium;
• an indicator located on or in the substrate and spaced away from the tag insertion end, wherein:
• the indicator comprises a hydrochromic ink,
• the indicator has an initial state and at least one activated state,
• the indicator is configured to transition from the initial state to the at least one activated state in response to exposure to moisture, producing an observable change,
• wherein the observable change includes a change in color state of the hydrochromic ink from an initial color state to at least one activated color state and the change in color state comprises a change of at least one property chosen from the group consisting of hue, chroma, transparency, opacity, and combinations thereof;
• and
• a wicking material disposed longitudinally along or in the substrate, from an area of the substrate proximate the tag insertion end to the indicator and configured to conduct moisture from the plant growing medium to the indicator when the tag insertion end is inserted in the plant growing medium,
• wherein the hydrochromic ink comprises at least one component chosen from a list consisting of:
• (a) a mixture of a triphenylmethane dye, an oxidizing agent, a base and a humectant, (b) a mixture of an inorganic weak acid, a triarylmethane dye, and a hygroscopic agent, (c) a mixture of copper bromide, a dye and a bromide salt, (d) a silica gel impregnated with an iron (III) salt, (e) a sugar gel containing ionic dyes, (f) a composite of porphyrin, magnesium dichloride and silica gel, (g) an inorganic polymer containing an acid-base indicator, (h) hydroxyethyl cellulose containing methylene blue and urea, (i) a composite of polyvinyl alcohol and sodium borate decahydrate, (j) lithium hydroxide, (k) calcium hydroxide, (l) potassium hydroxide, (m) sodium hydrogen carbonate, (n) magnesium hydroxide, (o) sodium thiosulfate pentahydrate, (p) sodium hydroxide, (q) cobalt nitrate, (r) copper (II) sulfate, (s) copper nitrate, (t) iron (III) sulfate, (u) iron (II) sulfate, (v) iron (II) Chloride, (w) iron (III) chloride, (x) Cobalt (II) Chloride, and (y) magnesium chloride.