I would say this would be the "smart way" to "disconnect from nature".

My idea of connecting with Nature is with your senses and your body, not by tapping into some mobile app to water a wifi plant pot. When you reduce your transaction with a living thing to just notifications and tapping glass, you effectively disconnect yourself from it and all the positive benefits it can give you.

It ends up as something virtual, like your servers, that push annoying notifications on your phone, instead of a living reality that you need to know how to take care and nurture it by your own hands.

I'm not against automation in agriculture. I love geeking out with hydroponics and arduino as the next person. But mass-production farms and having a plant on your desk are two different realities.

Not as feature-rich, but way cheaper:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Self-watering-recycled-plant...