RFID Journal Staff asked 13 years ago I have a client seeking RFID transponders that could be inserted into and used to track plants—flowers, nursery stock and so forth. I am finding RFID tags that can be attached to pots and trays, cable tags to hang on plants, and tags to insert into potted soil, but nothing like a chip to insert into a plant. Does such a thing exist?
—Name withheld
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To my knowledge, there are no RFID tags designed specifically to be embedded in flowers or other plants. There might, however, be options you could use—but the read range would be short.
You could employ the low-frequency (LF) transponders that are often inserted under animals' skin, for example. I see no reason why these transponders could not be injected into a plant's stem. Such transponders can be read from a foot to 18 inches away.
Another option might be to employ Hitachi' µ-chip (pronounced "mu-chip"). The chip measures just 0.3 millimeter (0.01 inch) square, so it's small enough to be put into a plant (see Hitachi Unveils Smallest RFID Chip and Hitachi Unveils Integrated RFID Tag). The challenge would be how to embed it. You would probably need to encase the chip in plastic or glass, and then utilize some type of injection device.
—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal
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