Terms of Service

Welcome to SoilStack. These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the SoilStack website and application located at soilstack.net (the "Service"). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms.

1. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account or using SoilStack, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Service.

You must be at least 13 years old to use SoilStack. By using the Service, you represent that you are at least 13 years of age.

2. Description of Service

SoilStack is a garden planning application that provides:

• USDA hardiness zone lookup based on ZIP code
• Personalized planting schedules and frost date calculations
• Garden management tools including plant tracking, task calendars, and harvest logging
• Weather forecasts and weather-based gardening prompts using National Weather Service data
• Feeding and treatment recipe management with customizable product application rates
• A public plant library with growing guides for over 160 plant varieties
• Educational information about plants and gardening techniques
• Exportable garden plans and calendars for offline use

The Service is currently provided free of charge. We may introduce optional paid features, affiliate partnerships, sponsorships, donation options, or other revenue models in the future. When we do, we will communicate changes to registered users in advance. Core free features will not be removed without reasonable notice. Any affiliate or sponsored relationships will be clearly disclosed.

We reserve the right to modify, add, or remove features of the Service at any time as we improve the product. We will make reasonable efforts to notify users of significant changes through the Service or by email.

3. User Accounts

To access certain features, you must create an account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate and complete registration information
• Maintain the security of your password
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorized access to your account
• Accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.

4. User Content

Your Content: You retain full ownership of all content you create within SoilStack, including garden area configurations, plant selections, harvest logs, custom recipes, product rates, journal entries, notes, and any other data you enter ("User Content"). Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of your User Content to SoilStack.

Limited License to Us: By using the Service, you grant SoilStack a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, display, and process your User Content solely for the purpose of providing the Service to you. This license ends when you delete your account or delete the specific content. We do not use your User Content for advertising, data brokering, or any purpose beyond operating the Service.

No Aggregate Use Without Consent: We will not use your individual User Content to train machine learning models or sell aggregated behavioral data without explicit opt-in consent.

Export Rights: You may export your garden data at any time using the export features provided. We believe your data belongs to you.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, other users' accounts, or our systems
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers
• Upload malicious code, viruses, or harmful content
• Scrape, crawl, or collect data from the Service using automated tools without permission
• Attempt to bypass rate limits or other security measures
• Impersonate any person or entity
• Use the Service to send spam or unsolicited communications

We implement automated rate limiting and other security measures to protect the Service. Excessive automated requests may be temporarily blocked.

6. Disclaimer of Gardening & Weather Advice

All task recommendations, timing suggestions, and garden intelligence features — including adaptive scheduling, GDD-based estimates, weather-based prompts, and consequence scoring — are planning aids based on general horticultural data. They do not account for every variable in your specific garden and should be used alongside your own observation and judgment. A suggestion to water, feed, or protect your plants is a recommendation, not a directive.

Actual growing conditions vary based on many factors including:

• Microclimates and local weather patterns
• Soil conditions and quality
• Specific plant varieties and seed quality
• Gardening experience and care practices
• Unexpected weather events

Weather Data Disclaimer

Weather forecasts, alerts, and weather-based gardening prompts displayed in SoilStack are sourced from the National Weather Service (NWS) and are subject to the inherent limitations of weather forecasting. Weather conditions can change rapidly and forecasts may be inaccurate. You should not rely solely on SoilStack's weather prompts for decisions that could result in significant loss, such as frost protection measures for valuable plants or timing of critical agricultural operations. Always verify weather conditions through multiple sources and use your own judgment.

SoilStack is not a substitute for professional agricultural advice. For commercial farming, landscaping projects, or specific agricultural concerns, please consult with local extension offices, master gardeners, or agricultural professionals.

We are not responsible for crop failures, plant losses, or any damages resulting from following information provided by the Service, including weather-based recommendations.

7. Intellectual Property

Our Content: The Service and its underlying systems — including the application code, algorithms, scheduling logic, zone intelligence, adaptive task generation system, design, logos, brand assets, and original content (excluding User Content and third-party licensed data) — are owned by SoilStack and protected by copyright, trade secret, and other intellectual property laws. No license to our proprietary systems is granted by your use of the Service.

Feedback: If you submit suggestions, feedback, or feature requests, you grant SoilStack the right to use that feedback without restriction or compensation. You retain no IP rights in feedback you provide.

Plant Data: Plant information and growing data is compiled from public agricultural extension resources and is provided for educational use.

Plant Images: Plant images displayed on the Service are sourced under Creative Commons licenses. Individual image attributions, including photographer credits and specific license types, are displayed on the relevant plant pages.

You may not copy, reverse-engineer, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from our proprietary content or systems without written permission.

8. Limitation of Liability

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SOILSTACK SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR:

• Any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages
• Loss of profits, data, or goodwill
• Service interruptions or data loss
• Any damages arising from your use of or inability to use the Service
• Crop failures or plant losses based on information from the Service
• Inaccurate weather data, forecasts, or weather-based recommendations
• Actions taken or not taken based on weather prompts or gardening suggestions

9. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless SoilStack and its owner from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable attorney fees) arising from your use of the Service or violation of these Terms.

10. Termination

You may delete your account at any time through your account settings or by contacting us. Upon account deletion, your personal data will be removed immediately and permanently in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time for reasons including but not limited to: violation of these Terms, abusive or disruptive behavior, fraudulent activity, excessive automated requests, or conduct we reasonably determine to be harmful to other users or the Service. In most cases we will attempt to notify you before suspension, but we reserve the right to act immediately where necessary to protect the Service or other users.

During a suspension, your data is retained. If your account is permanently terminated by us for a Terms violation, your data will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy retention schedule.

Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination will survive, including ownership, disclaimers, indemnification, and limitations of liability.

11. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana, United States, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

Any disputes arising from these Terms or the Service shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Indiana, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of such courts.

12. Changes to Terms

We may modify these Terms at any time. We will notify users of material changes by posting a notice on the Service or sending an email to registered users. Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us: