diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/postgres/macros.go b/pkg/tsdb/postgres/macros.go
index aebdc55d1d7..4f1d3f72558 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/postgres/macros.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/postgres/macros.go
@@ -130,13 +130,19 @@ func (m *postgresMacroEngine) evaluateMacro(name string, args []string) (string,
 				m.query.Model.Set("fillValue", floatVal)
 			}
 		}
-		return fmt.Sprintf("floor(extract(epoch from %s)/%v)*%v", args[0], interval.Seconds(), interval.Seconds()), nil
+
+		if m.query.DataSource.JsonData.Get("timescaledb").MustString("auto") == "enabled" {
+			return fmt.Sprintf("time_bucket('%vs',%s) AS time", interval.Seconds(), args[0]), nil
+		} else {
+			return fmt.Sprintf("floor(extract(epoch from %s)/%v)*%v AS time", args[0], interval.Seconds(), interval.Seconds()), nil
+		}
 	case "__timeGroupAlias":
 		tg, err := m.evaluateMacro("__timeGroup", args)
 		if err == nil {
 			return tg + " AS \"time\"", err
 		}
 		return "", err
+
 	case "__unixEpochFilter":
 		if len(args) == 0 {
 			return "", fmt.Errorf("missing time column argument for macro %v", name)
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/postgres/macros_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/postgres/macros_test.go
index beeea93893b..6c4ba8305b1 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/postgres/macros_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/postgres/macros_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/simplejson"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/models"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb"
 	. "github.com/smartystreets/goconvey/convey"
 )
@@ -13,7 +15,9 @@ import (
 func TestMacroEngine(t *testing.T) {
 	Convey("MacroEngine", t, func() {
 		engine := newPostgresMacroEngine()
-		query := &tsdb.Query{}
+		query := &tsdb.Query{DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()}}
+		queryTS := &tsdb.Query{DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()}}
+		queryTS.DataSource.JsonData.Set("timescaledb", "enabled")
 
 		Convey("Given a time range between 2018-04-12 00:00 and 2018-04-12 00:05", func() {
 			from := time.Date(2018, 4, 12, 18, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
@@ -83,6 +87,22 @@ func TestMacroEngine(t *testing.T) {
 				So(sql2, ShouldEqual, sql+" AS \"time\"")
 			})
 
+			Convey("interpolate __timeGroup function with TimescaleDB enabled", func() {
+
+				sql, err := engine.Interpolate(queryTS, timeRange, "GROUP BY $__timeGroup(time_column,'5m')")
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+
+				So(sql, ShouldEqual, "GROUP BY time_bucket('300s',time_column) AS time")
+			})
+
+			Convey("interpolate __timeGroup function with spaces between args and TimescaleDB enabled", func() {
+
+				sql, err := engine.Interpolate(queryTS, timeRange, "GROUP BY $__timeGroup(time_column , '5m')")
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+
+				So(sql, ShouldEqual, "GROUP BY time_bucket('300s',time_column) AS time")
+			})
+
 			Convey("interpolate __timeTo function", func() {
 				sql, err := engine.Interpolate(query, timeRange, "select $__timeTo(time_column)")
 				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/postgres/postgres_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/postgres/postgres_test.go
index 9e363529df1..27888b318a9 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/postgres/postgres_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/postgres/postgres_test.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import (
 // use to verify that the generated data are vizualized as expected, see
 // devenv/README.md for setup instructions.
 func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
-	// change to true to run the MySQL tests
+	// change to true to run the PostgreSQL tests
 	runPostgresTests := false
 	// runPostgresTests := true
 
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": "SELECT * FROM postgres_types",
 								"format": "table",
@@ -182,6 +183,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": "SELECT $__timeGroup(time, '5m') AS time, avg(value) as value FROM metric GROUP BY 1 ORDER BY 1",
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -226,6 +228,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": "SELECT $__timeGroup(time, '5m', NULL) AS time, avg(value) as value FROM metric GROUP BY 1 ORDER BY 1",
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -280,6 +283,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": "SELECT $__timeGroup(time, '5m', 1.5) AS time, avg(value) as value FROM metric GROUP BY 1 ORDER BY 1",
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -401,6 +405,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT "timeInt64" as time, "timeInt64" FROM metric_values ORDER BY time LIMIT 1`,
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -423,6 +428,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT "timeInt64Nullable" as time, "timeInt64Nullable" FROM metric_values ORDER BY time LIMIT 1`,
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -445,6 +451,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT "timeFloat64" as time, "timeFloat64" FROM metric_values ORDER BY time LIMIT 1`,
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -467,6 +474,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT "timeFloat64Nullable" as time, "timeFloat64Nullable" FROM metric_values ORDER BY time LIMIT 1`,
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -511,6 +519,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT "timeInt32Nullable" as time, "timeInt32Nullable" FROM metric_values ORDER BY time LIMIT 1`,
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -533,6 +542,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT "timeFloat32" as time, "timeFloat32" FROM metric_values ORDER BY time LIMIT 1`,
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -555,6 +565,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT "timeFloat32Nullable" as time, "timeFloat32Nullable" FROM metric_values ORDER BY time LIMIT 1`,
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -577,6 +588,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT $__timeEpoch(time), measurement || ' - value one' as metric, "valueOne" FROM metric_values ORDER BY 1`,
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -625,6 +637,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT $__timeEpoch(time), "valueOne", "valueTwo" FROM metric_values ORDER BY 1`,
 								"format": "time_series",
@@ -682,6 +695,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT "time_sec" as time, description as text, tags FROM event WHERE $__unixEpochFilter(time_sec) AND tags='deploy' ORDER BY 1 ASC`,
 								"format": "table",
@@ -705,6 +719,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT "time_sec" as time, description as text, tags FROM event WHERE $__unixEpochFilter(time_sec) AND tags='ticket' ORDER BY 1 ASC`,
 								"format": "table",
@@ -731,6 +746,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": fmt.Sprintf(`SELECT
 									CAST('%s' AS TIMESTAMP) as time,
@@ -761,6 +777,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": fmt.Sprintf(`SELECT
 									 %d as time,
@@ -791,6 +808,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": fmt.Sprintf(`SELECT
 									 cast(%d as bigint) as time,
@@ -821,6 +839,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": fmt.Sprintf(`SELECT
 									 %d as time,
@@ -849,6 +868,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT
 									 cast(null as bigint) as time,
@@ -877,6 +897,7 @@ func TestPostgres(t *testing.T) {
 				query := &tsdb.TsdbQuery{
 					Queries: []*tsdb.Query{
 						{
+							DataSource: &models.DataSource{JsonData: simplejson.New()},
 							Model: simplejson.NewFromAny(map[string]interface{}{
 								"rawSql": `SELECT
 									 cast(null as timestamp) as time,
diff --git a/public/app/features/plugins/ds_edit_ctrl.ts b/public/app/features/plugins/ds_edit_ctrl.ts
index 542e9cc3648..6e05ddc36be 100644
--- a/public/app/features/plugins/ds_edit_ctrl.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/plugins/ds_edit_ctrl.ts
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ export class DataSourceEditCtrl {
       this.backendSrv
         .withNoBackendCache(() => {
           return datasource
-            .testDatasource()
+            .testDatasource(this)
             .then(result => {
               this.testing.message = result.message;
               this.testing.status = result.status;
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/postgres/datasource.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/postgres/datasource.ts
index 644c9e48b9b..88c928e425a 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/postgres/datasource.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/postgres/datasource.ts
@@ -123,27 +123,27 @@ export class PostgresDatasource {
       .then(data => this.responseParser.parseMetricFindQueryResult(refId, data));
   }
 
-  testDatasource() {
-    return this.backendSrv
-      .datasourceRequest({
-        url: '/api/tsdb/query',
-        method: 'POST',
-        data: {
-          from: '5m',
-          to: 'now',
-          queries: [
-            {
-              refId: 'A',
-              intervalMs: 1,
-              maxDataPoints: 1,
-              datasourceId: this.id,
-              rawSql: 'SELECT 1',
-              format: 'table',
-            },
-          ],
-        },
-      })
+  testDatasource(control) {
+    return this.metricFindQuery('SELECT 1', {})
       .then(res => {
+        if (control.current.jsonData.timescaledb === 'auto') {
+          return this.metricFindQuery("SELECT 1 FROM pg_extension WHERE extname='timescaledb'", {})
+            .then(res => {
+              if (res.length === 1) {
+                control.current.jsonData.timescaledb = 'enabled';
+                return this.backendSrv.put('/api/datasources/' + this.id, control.current).then(settings => {
+                  control.current = settings.datasource;
+                  control.updateFrontendSettings();
+                  return { status: 'success', message: 'Database Connection OK, TimescaleDB found' };
+                });
+              }
+              throw new Error('timescaledb not found');
+            })
+            .catch(err => {
+              // query errored out or empty so timescaledb is not available
+              return { status: 'success', message: 'Database Connection OK' };
+            });
+        }
         return { status: 'success', message: 'Database Connection OK' };
       })
       .catch(err => {
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/postgres/partials/config.html b/public/app/plugins/datasource/postgres/partials/config.html
index 77f0dcfa4a5..07568fdc459 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/postgres/partials/config.html
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/postgres/partials/config.html
@@ -38,6 +38,20 @@
 	</div>
 </div>
 
+<h3 class="page-heading">PostgreSQL details</h3>
+
+<div class="gf-form-group">
+	<div class="gf-form">
+		<label class="gf-form-label width-7">TimescaleDB</label>
+		<div class="gf-form-select-wrapper max-width-8 gf-form-select-wrapper--has-help-icon">
+			<select class="gf-form-input" ng-model="ctrl.current.jsonData.timescaledb" ng-options="mode for mode in ['auto', 'enabled', 'disabled']" ng-init="ctrl.current.jsonData.timescaledb=ctrl.current.jsonData.timescaledb || 'auto'"></select>
+			<info-popover mode="right-absolute">
+				This option determines whether TimescaleDB features will be used.
+			</info-popover>
+		</div>
+	</div>
+</div>
+
 <div class="gf-form-group">
 	<div class="grafana-info-box">
 		<h5>User Permission</h5>