Choosing the Best AeroGarden

If you are unfamiliar with the AeroGrow company's products, they are pricey high-tech planters that the manufacturers call smart gardens. They are basically very attractive computerized flower pots with bright grow lights that turn on and off automatically over a water reservoir. The reservoir is covered with a lid that has grow holes in it, and a hinged side that allows you to add water or nutrients if prompted by the LED's that light up on the control panel. Some models have a light that indicates when it is time to replace the light bulbs. The simplest way to plant something is to buy a seed kit and drop the prepackaged pods into the grow holes. Each kit comes with individually wrapped nutrient tablets that the device will prompt you to add every couple weeks as needed. How often you will be prompted to top off the water depends somewhat on the kind of plants you are growing.

There is no dirt, no bugs, nothing to learn or remember. Just fill the reservoir with water, plug the cord into a wall socket, add a nutrient tablet, plop in the trendy looking pods, and forget about it if you can. I could not! I have to keep looking at it because every time I do, the plants look bigger. In about a week my plants were bushy and leafy and about two inches high. A friend remarked that he planted his seeds outdoors three weeks ago and they had not even sprouted yet. Obviously, there is some potential for this device.

However, there is something the uninitiated need to know. When you search for the product, the first links that come up direct the prospective buyers to the standard model, but other planters are also available. In fact they have new models coming out all of the time, including a triangular shaped one that is perfect for illuminating dark corners of your home.

As of this writing, the six models easily available online are as follows:

Aerogarden 3 -- about 10"x14"(lowest position) - 3 holes
Aerogarden 6 -- Fits in corner - 6 holes
Standard -- larger oval shape with 7 grow holes
Deluxe -- same as standard but more light & adjusts taller
Pro 100 -- like standard w/newer technology for more yield
Pro 200 -- like a cross between the Pro 100 and the Deluxe

The list above summarizes, but here are some other important differences. Although the basic Aerogarden is said to grow plants up to 5 times as fast as dirt gardening, and from what I have seen so far, I believe that claim, the new Pro models are designed to give 50% more yield. They do this with improved technology and also by providing more light and longer light cycles. On these models you can override the automatic shut off on the lamps. That sounds nice, but if you have a small apartment you need to know that those lights are bright! Even the tiny Aerogarden 3 has lights bright enough to read by and they cast light into every corner of our bedroom even though the pot sits two rooms away in the kitchen. No sense in paying more if you will be having to turn the lights off overnight anyway. Also, the high yield is a delightful feature, but one of the reasons I bought into this technology was the clean attractive appearance of the white planters. Unfortunately, at this writing anyway, the Pro models apparently do not come in white.

Want to have a brighter task lamp and grow beautiful flowers in your office cubicle at work? Then the AG 3 might be right for you. I would recommend bolting it to the desk, however, because it is so cute that somebody might just grab it and run. Need more grow holes and a smaller footprint? Then you might like the AG 6.

Another consideration is compatibility between units, however. Naturally, after seeing our first seedlings literally grow right before my eyes, I wanted to put one of these in every room, maybe trying one of each model. But another attraction the device had for me was that unlike old-fashioned gardening, with these guys you don't have to store a whole lot of equipment. Yet, so far I've counted three different replacement lamps for the different models. Although the AG 6 uses the same lamp as the standard planter, the AG 3 and Deluxe and Pros take a different size. I really do not want to have to keep three different sets of replacement bulbs on hand. If you are short on space this might be something else to consider when choosing which models to buy.

What you want to grow is another consideration. Vegetables with large heavy yields such as full-sized tomatoes and cucumbers would need the expanded capabilities of the Pro series gardens, or at least the Deluxe. But the original AeroGarden or either of the smaller models would be fine for providing lush and bountiful organic herbs for use in the kitchen or a few brightly colored flowers.

Finally, and I wish I had known this before I bought my first two planters, there is a wonderful resource available called AeroGarden Growers Community Forum where you can see pictures and read anecdotes from people who have and use these personal plant appliances. If you go there as I did acting like a newbie, members will literally jump at you with helpful advice...or not, as you choose.

-- First Published on Qassia --