AeroGarden Review – The Best Hydroponic Indoor Garden?

Editors choice AeroGarden Review – The Best Hydroponic Indoor Garden?
9.5 Total Score
  • Touch Screen Control Panel
  • LED Grow Lamp
  • Energy Efficient
  • Extendable Lamp Arm

AeroGarden – The Complete Buyer Guide

Finding a constant supply of fresh vegetables or flowers is always a challenge. Regardless of where we live, most of us have undeniable need of herbs, flowers, and vegetables throughout the season. Unfortunately, not everyone has the skills, time and space that outdoor gardening requires. That’s where AeroGarden comes in, dig deeper into the review, learn the facts before making a purchase of the best hydroponic garden.

During the day formal employment requires my attention. And when I reflect on the limited space on my urban dwelling, I realize that I can’t afford to run the natural outdoor garden. And that’s why I’ve come to like AeroGarden from the popular brand Miracle-Gro.

aerogardenWhat is AeroGarden?

In its simplest form, AeroGarden is a self-contained smart indoor garden. It neither requires soil nor sunlight. However, it supports plants’ growth throughout the year using hydroponic technology and LED grow lights.

The seeds are first placed in the spongy pods and then the pods are neatly arranged on their slots which contains little water.

The plants, therefore, draw in water and nutrients via the spongy material. The LED grow lights replace the natural sunlight. The AeroGarden carries the complete plant’s requirement.

Unlike outdoor gardens, this type of indoor garden self-regulates and hence simplifies the gardening experience.

First, this smart countertop garden notifies you when the water level goes down, and you know it is time to add water. Similarly, it sends an alert when there is need to add more nutrients. Moreover, the built-in timer assists you in the control of the grow lights.

indoor hydroponics gardenRegulating the input settings like the LED grow light is made easier using the fully interactive touchscreen control panel. Growing vegetables, flowers, salad greens or herbs has never been easier!

AeroGarden Bounty Features at a Glance

  • Full spectrum light that supports every stage development
  • 45watts, light emitting diodes, LEDs, which cuts down on electricity cost
  • Extendable light arm up to 24 inches
  • 30,000 hours LED lights lifespan
  • Fully interactive touchscreen
  • Nine pod capacity
  • Measures 17.25″ W x 11.25″ D x 15″-34″ H
  • One-year warranty for the LED grow light and garden
  • Black plastic finishing
  • Guaranteed germination
AeroGarden is now available with Wi-Fi option for even more convenience. You can control the gadget using the smartphone app for Android and iOS.

  • Monitor and control your garden
  • Get timely alerts
  • Grow Guides to make the most out of Aerogarden
  • Stay connected with the community

I have always admired ripe cherry tomatoes. Right from the appealing appearance to the actual taste, it awards my food. However, at times they get out of season and become quite hard to acquire.

I once considered erecting my vegetable garden. However, since I’m an urban dweller and my gardening skill is quite wanting, I couldn’t go through with my dream. Until I learned about the gardening gadget AeroGarden, it has now become an essential equipment in my household.

Benefits of Owning Aerogarden in your Home or Office

neat indoor garden picture

If you haven’t tried growing flowers and vegetables in the revolutionary indoor garden, I can assure you; you are missing a lot. With AeroGarden in your house, the usually demanding gardening task becomes much more straightforward. I no longer have to guess on the type of soil, nutrient or timing of the planting season.

Here are more reasons you should consider owning one too;

Outdoor weather won’t dictate your harvest – The hydroponic feature allows you to grow fresh vegetables on both the too hot or extremely chilly surroundings. Your environmental conditions won’t prevent you from harvesting fresh produce. The programmable indoor garden provides the plants with nutrients and water. You won’t have to fear any storm interfering with your crops. The best of all, you can grow crops all year round without any break;  waiting for the primary season to plant vegetables? not anymore!

Plants registers faster growth than the indoor soil grown crops – The garden provides the ideal conditions for the plants’ growth. AeroGarden comes with the full spectrum light by eco-friendly LEDs and the vital plants’ nutrients. As a result, the crops grown in the countertop garden mature faster than the natural outdoor grown crops.

Less costly in the long run – When you consider the cost of shopping the requirements of AeroGarden independently, it’s expensive. However, the AeroGarden Bounty with Gourmet Herb Seed Pod Kit, for instance, comes complete with all the essentials. Besides, it’s less expensive to run, especially once you begin harvesting the crops. It will generate income to cover its running expenses and much more.

Less Messy – These innovative gardens do not use soil to grow plants to full maturity. As a result, your indoor garden significantly reduces the chances of creating a mess in your tidy house. It taps on the hydroponic growing technology.

aerogarden cherry tomatoes pictureSimplifies Gardening – Like me, those who benefit most from the computerized indoor gardens are the people with little time to spare on gardens. Even if you have little experience in farming, you can still use AeroGardens. I would like to call this ‘gardening on auto-pilot’, because it does most of the processes by itself and even alerts you on when to add water or plant food. It also negates the need for weeding. Moreover, it requires less attention and expenses to manage. Maybe we should call this AutoGarden 🙂

Completes the décor and livens your room – The AeroGarden employs hydroponic technology to grow flowers throughout the year. That makes the set up suitable for various environs. For instance, you can include it in your office or living room; it won’t call for additional cleaning tasks. Moreover, it will ensure that you have fresh flowers to decorate and purify your office. The usually dull and lifeless office will glow again.

Provides food within your reach – Imagine operating on those tight schedules where you come home late in the night. Or maybe you are set for cooking and realize too late that you are missing some tomatoes to complete a recipe. During such moments an AeroGarden will come to your rescue.

Gives fresh, tasty and nutrient-rich food – The vegetables and all the crops grown in AeroGardens flourish in freshness and nutritional contents. Imagine harvesting the cherry ripe tomatoes. The minimal period between harvesting and use further helps to retain the nutritional value in most foods here.

You don’t have to worry about pests – Growing your crops using AeroGarden puts the worry about pests away. Its concealed design makes it inaccessible by pests and rodents. That helps to minimize hugely on the chances of diseases attacking your crops.

Considerations for Buying AeroGardens

aerogarden size imageIt’s only the right choice of AeroGarden that will provide you with maximum benefit. However, choosing the best model and size doesn’t have to be a challenging task, if you borrow a little help from this AeroGarden buyer’s guide.

From my experience before shopping for AeroGardens, let the following tips guide your selection;

1. Space – The indoor gardens occupy a considerable amount of space. For example, the largest models can require a space of about one foot in height and two feet in width. So you should first consider the amount of space available for the equipment

2. The expected number of consumers – If you want to grow vegetables in the indoor garden, how many people do you plan to feed with the farm’s harvest? If you plan on feeding one or two people then you won’t require such a larger capacity AeroGarden. However, for a larger family, you will either need a larger capacity or several units to meet the high vegetable demand.

3. Variety of plants to grow – Your preference on whether to grow a variety of plants or not will influence your purchase. Take for instance growing tomatoes exclusively, for example, won’t require several AeroGardens. But to effectively grow varieties of plants like herbs and vegetables at the same time, you have to invest in a bigger model like the 9 pod capacity or several such models.

Despite your family size, you are sure to find a revolutionary garden that matches your needs. AeroGardens exists in six different models. Four popular models are given below:

Model AerogGarden Bounty AerogGarden Elite Wi-Fi AerogGarden Bounty Wi-Fi AerogGarden Harvest
aerogarden bounty image aerogarden elite platinum wifi image aerogarden bounty image aerogarden harvest image
Hour Rating 30000 Hours 30000 Hours 30000 Hours 20000 Hours
LED Grow Light (Watts) 45 Watts 45 Watts 45 Watts 20 Watts
Grow Light Spectrum Extends 24" Extends 24" Extends 24" Extends 12"
Number of Plants 9 Pods 9 Pods 9 Pods 6 Pods
Control Panel Interactive LCD Touchscreen, Fully Automated, Customizable Interactive LCD Touchscreen, Fully Automated, Customizable + Free AeroGarden App for Controlling on Smart Device! Interactive LCD Touchscreen, Fully Automated, Customizable + Free AeroGarden App for Controlling on Smart Device! Interactive LCD Controller, Automated Grow Lights, Nutrient & Water Reminders
Dimensions 17.25″ W x 11.25″ D x 15″-34″ H 17.25″ W x 11.25″ D x 15″-34″ H 17.25" W x 11.25" D x 15"-34" H 10.75" W x 7.5" D x 10.5"-17" H
Material Black Plastic Platinum Stainless Steel Black Plastic Red High Gloss Plastic
Seed Kit Warranty Germination Guaranteed Germination Guaranteed Germination Guaranteed Germination Guaranteed
Wireless / AeroGarden App
Check Price Check Price Check Price Check Price

However what exactly made me fall in love with AeroGarden Bounty with Gourmet Herb Seed Pod Kit?

Features and Benefits of AeroGarden Bounty

A higher number of pod slots – In contrast to other models of the same series, like the Miracle-Gro AeroGarden harvest red and the Miracle –Grow AeroGarden which supports up to six pods, the Miracle-grow AeroGarden bounty has a capacity of nine pods. Moreover, each slot has been customized to the AeroGarden’s pod size. In addition, the spacing between one slot to the next amply allows for the plants extra growth. Due to its nine pod capacity, I can grow diverse varieties of vegetables, herbs or green salads in the same garden, very convenient indeed! Nothing like scarce vegetable owing to being out of season; my indoor garden provides it all the time.

Led grow lights – Indoor grown plants require an artificial source of light for the plants to be healthy. There are many artificial sources of light which can replace the natural sunlight. However, I love Miracle-Gro AeroGarden bounty because of the LED grow lights. First, they help me cut down on energy bill yet provide ample full spectrum light. Meaning the LEDs support the growth of the plants at every stage of development from germination, flowering, and fruiting. Secondly, they have a longer lifespan of typically 30 000 hours, thus I won’t have to replace the led bulbs frequently.

led grow light example aerogarden

Easy to use LCD touch screen/control panel – It has an LCD touchscreen which serves as the control panel too. The fully interactive touch screen allows me to customize the settings to my liking. For example, the garden allows me to program when the lights should be on or off. Thus I don’t have to worry about manually switching the lights on or off, thanks to the automated lighting provision.

To help keep track of the water and nutrient requirements, just set up the timers from the screen display. Thus the self-regulating garden will display alerts when there is need to add more nutrients or water. These friendly reminders compensate for my forgetfulness. To the novice gardener, there are even on-screen prompts for guidance from set up of the garden to harvest time.

Concealed disorganized and tangled roots – Most hydroponic gardens employ transparent plastic casings. Although that helps to keep a check on the water level, I’m usually visually distracted by seeing the tangled roots. So that’s one reason why I love this particular model of AeroGarden bounty.

The black plastic container carefully conceals all inter-twinned roots. That adds to the elegant look of the whole set up. Moreover, I don’t have to worry about the water level; thanks to the timers and the larger water reservoir.

Easy to set up – Assembling the indoor garden needs no extra tools and can be completed in minutes. That’s because it comes complete with all that you need for growing your vegetables. It brings simplicity and fun to gardening. By inserting the pre-seeded pods into the garden slots, adding water and nutrients, the set up is complete.

Extendable lamp arm – As the plants grow in height, there is need to adjust the LED grow light height too. The LED light must be correctly positioned; neither too close nor too far from the indoor plants. The indoor garden takes that into account by having a lamp arm that extends up to 24 inches. As my plants grow taller, the Grow light also increases in height to match their new height.

Seeds free from pesticides and genetically modified organisms, GMOs – Most people prefer organically sourced seeds and crops, I included. Such plants attract very minimal allergy reactions and yet have high nutritional contents. The AeroGarden seeds are sourced with such requirements in mind. Moreover, the company strives to provide naturally sourced seeds as much as possible. In addition, the supplied plant nutrients are patented and trustworthy.

grows anything indoors

Although it uses no soil, plants grown in this hydroponic setup, register growth five times faster than the ordinarily indoor soil grown plants. Thus the hydroponic technique doesn’t compromise on the plant’s growth rate.

Carefully selected seeds for guaranteed germination – The nine pod garden comes complete with seeds. They have been carefully chosen to ensure quality and high germination rate.

To further enhance the seeds sprouting rate, the pod garden provides the ideal environment.

The sample seeds provided includes Genovese Basil (x2), Curly Parsley, Thyme, Italian Parsley, Chives Dill, Thai Basil, Mint & three oz. liquid plant nutrient.

Tips for Succeeding with AeroGardens

To reap success with the miracle –Gro AeroGardens, you have to keep in mind the following;

1. Stable power supply – For healthy crops, you require a dependable power outlet. At certain stages of plants’ lives, you may be required to run your LED grow lights for 24 hours. Several operations of the AeroGarden depend on electricity. Preferably you need a power outlet adjacent to it.

2. Restricted movement – Although it takes up a small space in your room, once you have set up the garden, don’t move it frequently from one spot to another. Choose a suitable spot and make it its permanent location.

3. Don’t forget to customize the light setting – For easy management and save on electric power, I prefer that as soon as your garden set up is complete customize the light settings. Program it so that it can automatically switch on when wanted and off at night. You might not be around all the time to manually switch the grow lights.

Who can benefit most from the Miracle-Gro AeroGarden?

If you have limited time, skills and space thus find difficulty in growing vegetables then the indoor garden suits you. It allows you to grow your favorite plants right on the countertop with little or no maintenance at all.

Imagine growing crops in your living room in a germ-free setup that requires no weeding or pesticides. At harvest time you have fresh vegetables, nutrient-rich but free from the genetically modified organisms. Your loved ones will thank you for making such an excellent investment, try it out.

Whether you have taken to growing plants as your hobby or supporting the self-sustainable diet, the countertop garden is your best friend.

9.5 Total Score
Excellent Indoor Hydroponic Garden

An efficient Indoor gardening system with faster growing plants using hydroponic technology.

PROS
  • Touch Screen Control Panel
  • LED Grow Lamp
  • Energy Efficient
  • Extendable Lamp Arm
User Rating: 5 (1 votes)

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