A home garden kit is a great insurance plan to ensure you always have access to fresh vegetables and whatever during the short harvest season: b. Lettuce and Flowers: You can harvest vegetables minutes before using. As a big herb shopper, I hate spending money on a boring bunch of mints from the supermarket that will last for days. (The best strategy I've found to avoid this is to cut the stem of the plant like a flower, place it in a bowl filled with water in the refrigerator, and cover it with a large ziplock bag.) I tried to grow the plant. "Urban kitchens often don't have the full sun that plants need to survive," agrees Sierra Rogge, owner of Brooklyn-based horticulture company Red Fern. "Grass roots are very basic, they need to be watered every day."
Most indoor gardens use a self-watering system or hydroponic system to grow plants. They are similar, but have some key differences: in a self-watering system, the roots grow into the soil, while the wick supplies the soil with water from a reservoir when it is dry. In a hydroponic system, roots can start in soil but grow primarily in water. I recommend avoiding self-watering modern gardens that include the popular push-and-grow device: plants grow slowly and reach their maximum size when the soil in the pod is depleted. Since water does not circulate in these systems, they are also prone to mold. (Self-watering plants can be great for houseplants—one of my plants on a hard-to-reach shelf works well with this Greenery Unlimited model—but they're not sophisticated technology and should be relatively inexpensive.)
In a hydroponic system, roots have more room to grow and absorb nutrients from water-soluble fertilizers than soil, giving you more flexibility in how and when to fertilize. Hydroponics can be very cheap (no pun intended): if you want to do it yourself, it can be as simple as drilling holes in a plastic food container, filling it with a fertilizer solution and waiting (if you ask, that is). called the Kratka method). It can be as complicated as choreographing a grow light timer system and feeding schedules tailored to your plant's needs. Enthusiasts of hardy plants love the control that hardy plants offer, but they can be a barrier to entry for the average gardener. It's too much for me; I may end up with lights and oxygen pumps eventually, but I'd love to have an indoor garden automate some of the work.
I've tested five indoor models that offer a good balance of essentials for the best indoor gardens—plants, grow lights, a tank with a water circulation pump, and removable, easy-to-clean parts—and some nice… more features. And all at a reasonable price. There's a trade-off between more automation and less customization, but even the low-maintenance options on this list will greatly expand the possibilities for growth in your kitchen.
Many sets in our list are available in different configurations Dimensions. a lot Smart gardens are measured in "pods", which refers to how many Keurig-style cups of seeds and growing medium are in the device. Sizes range from a three-bowl garden center smaller than a toaster to a multi-level console the size of a bookcase. Some DIY options are modular, while others have different heights and lights that need to be raised as plants grow. The exact size depends on how much space you have and how quickly you process your products. Even the three-pod garden has produced more plants than I can control, so I'm not sure if it's too small or too big.
Some of the kits on this list contain parts and accessories to help plants grow faster and healthier: fertilizers, pH balancers, and water oxygen pumps. Garden furniture with water tanks not only promotes plant growth, but is also an ideal breeding ground for bedbugs and mold. Although some green sludge is common on the soil, a design that does not allow microorganisms to interfere with plant growth is important. To prevent the appearance of algae, some models are equipped with black covers that prevent sunlight from entering the wet floor. An oxygen pump and a design that is easy to assemble and clean between cycles are essential to prevent mold growth.
Indoor gardening tools simplify the process of growing plants by automatically adjusting or correcting time-consuming, messy or counterproductive things like maintaining a watering schedule or monitoring light levels. However, no product can completely eliminate the need for maintenance, whether it's filling the water tank or cleaning your modern garden between uses. I prefer systems that make plant care as simple, easy and stress-free as possible. These considerations include setup time, which in my experience takes anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours of research and clear, understandable instructions to connect the greenhouse to the program.
More sophisticated gardeners offer more control and versatility, which can be attractive to experienced gardeners, plus they tend to be cheaper in the long run than more automated models. For gardens that require more work, I also make sure to see that the extra work leads to productivity and quality.
Capacity: 3 to 24 pods Microbial management: includes fertilizer and universal pump Maintenance effort: low
The AeroGarden Smart Garden, first recommended by New York Horticultural Society associate director and head of horticulture George Picegna, checks all the boxes: It's compact, comes in a variety of sizes, includes a pump, and even the most advanced model uses fertilizer. Transferred, produces an amazing number of plants. (For this article, I tested both a sprout and a six-pack Aero Garden Harvest.) I chose the Click & Grow Smart Garden 3 that I've had for about a year: the Aero Garden Sprout is small, cheap, and inexpensive. Plant large and healthy leaves. The plants will grow and the garden will have less problems with algae and mold.
Both budding and harvesting take very little time to prepare, and depending on the model, an indicator light or LED reminds you when to water and add "plant food", a synthetic fertilizer with a 4-3 NPK ratio. 6, included in the device. (You can also use any water-soluble fertilizer with the same nutrient content.) The tank parts are easily disassembled for easy cleaning, so even if you have a mold problem, the system can be cleaned thoroughly without getting into nooks and crannies. Crack with a cotton ball. The crop design can be crowded - if you don't cut back the bushy basil plants, they will block the light of the slowly growing parsley - but this is easily managed by growing a few plants at a time or only plants of the same height. Cycle.
Photo: Seller
Capacity: 8 to 36 pods Microbial Management: Includes two composters, pH balancer, filter and pump Service: Avg
If you have a little more time and space for your indoor gardening experiments, Rise Gardens is a great upgrade option, one of my picks and my lead strategist, Lisa Corcillo, says, "I'm really excited about the variety of options." I've used it for generations to grow high-quality versions of the produce I buy at the grocery store—basil, arugula, lettuce, lettuce, kale—in Brand's Big Garden (below). When Corsillo conducted a blind test of four Smart Garden basil varieties, Rise Gardens came out on top.
The Rise Gardens kit requires more maintenance than the AeroGarden system, although the included instructions make things easy. When it arrived, it took about half an hour to install and required weekly maintenance: adding fertilizer and pH balance to the tank and refilling the water. The pods are grown in a separate container for a week or two before being taken to the garden. If I monitor the seedlings at this stage, I will get the best results. Rise Gardens grows larger plants than my AeroGarden Sprout, with crowding, which occasionally requires heavy pruning to prevent taller plants from overpowering the smaller ones. (This might be a good excuse to make some pesto or herb butter.)
These are all things I love about gardening, and of the tools I've tried, I've learned the most from the Rise Gardens system. It's a device I kept after my electric bill failed to run four smart gardens at once. This device is not "set it and forget it", but it is a good choice if you are a home gardener and want to start growing plants and other products.
Capacity: 24 entrees Micro management: active air pump | Maintenance: High
For seasoned gardeners looking for a solution, Chrissy Nagy, owner of BK Bumpkin, and grow room owner Lindsay Arnell recommend lighting, a watering system, and a grow station (with heating). "Whether you want to grow indoors or add ambient light, all you need is a basic grow bag and a high-quality light," says Nagy. To distribute water and nutrients throughout the plants, Arnell recommends the brand's MegaGarden system, which feeds water and nutrients from the bottom reservoir to the baby bath (controlled by a timer), feeding the plants day and night to maximize growth. Explain. Kit includes seed starter cubes and pH test kit.
Dimensions: 10" x 20" tray | Maintenance: Medium maintenance
If you go the DIY route, it's helpful to have a container with a domed lid and easy-to-grow seedlings. Arnell recommends this SunBlaster kit, "perfect for planting seeds or feeding moisture-loving diva plants during our dry New York winters." It's big enough to hold several plants and has an LED light that fits perfectly inside the plastic lid.
Capacity: 20 plants | Microbial Management: Pump and Fertilizer | Maintenance: High
The Seth Mr. Stacky Smart Farm comes with a variety of accessories – pump, timer, fertilizer and growing instructions – and is a great way to grow multiple crops or plants in one fixed space. (If you're growing indoors, it might be helpful to fill the tower with grow lights.) "Many of the schools we work with in New York and Chicago use the donated seedlings in their classrooms with the Mama Garden," says Nicole Baum, director of marketing and partnerships at Gotham Greens.
Capacity: 36 pans | Maintenance: High
These upright plastic plants from Worth Gardens are "visually stunning because they 'grow' the wall," says Janero Brooks-Church, CEO of landscaping company Eco Brooklyn Living Wall. The set of 36 planters comes with a set of 9-foot drip irrigation hoses. Brooks-Church stresses the importance of being careful when watering: "The only downside is that these systems dry out quickly," she says.
Dimensions: 24" x 15" | Service: Avg
For more flexibility when designing a garden wall, Ceci De Corral, director of design and construction at Brooklyn's Grange Roof Farm, recommends these Wally Pro bags made from recycled plastic fabric. They provide an irrigation station and are designed to allow air circulation: "They are easy to plant and ideal for creating plant arrangements," says de Corral. It is recommended to place it next to the bags of plants such as pothos or anthurium.
Dimensions : 32" x 15" x 31" | Maintenance : Max
If you have more space to work with and don't mind planting and fertilizing yourself, this plant will be a popular strategy for many years. He It can be installed indoors or outdoors and features automatic watering, a water reservoir at the base, where you can remove plants when needed, and a drain pipe to drain excess water.
Dimensions : 4" x 3" x 5" | Maintenance : Low
This indoor mushroom growing kit is a fun and carefree option. "It's instant gratification," Rogg says, noting that the mushrooms grow in a few days and you can use the same kit for more than one harvest. Picegna is a fan of this kit, but cautions against keeping it out of reach of pets (especially cats) who might eat the mushrooms.
• Lindsay Arnell, owner of Growth Division.
• Nicole Baugh, Director of Marketing and Partnerships, Gotham Greens
• Gennaro Brooks-Church, CEO of landscape company Eco Brooklyn Living Walls
• Lisa Carcillo, senior strategist and author
• Ceci De Corral, director of design and construction at Brooklyn Grange
• Chrissy Nagy, owner of BK Bumpkin
• George Pisagna, associate director of the New York Horticultural Society and director of horticulture
• Red Fern owner Sierra Rog
Additional reporting by Lisa Corcillo.
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