Product Review: The Aero Grow Aero Garden

I've always enjoyed growing fresh herbs, but because of the layout of my apartment, I only have a balcony that receives a limited amount of sunlight in which to grow them. So it was with great joy that I received the Aero Grow Aero Garden as a birthday present and recently began using it to grow an assortment of herbs. The Aero Grow Aero Garden is a small unit about the size of a standard microwave oven that allows you to grow a variety of herbs within your own home, regardless of available sunlight.

Aside from herbs, the Aero Grow Aero Garden also lets you grow items such as cherry tomatoes, chili peppers, strawberries, salad greens, flowers, and more. A recently released Master Gardener Kit enables you to grow a variety of vegetables including eggplant, green beans and spinach.

Before launching into the Aero Garden Review, a little background:

How does it work?
The Aero Grow Aero Garden used a hooded lighting system to provide seedlings and growing herbs and plants with 16 hours of light, using energy efficient bulbs. A computerized system regulates the lighting, the water distribution, and the addition of vital organic nutrients essential for growth.

Seeds for herbs, vegetables, or flowers come in a kit containing small pods. Each pod contains the seeds of a specific herb or vegetable. The pods are inserted into the base of the unit, and a small plastic hood (referred to as a Bio-dome) is placed over the top of the pod. The hood will remain in place until you begin to see growth. A notation on each pod lets you know when growth should begin.

The pod acts as sort of a greenhouse, while beneath the base, the roots of each plant are suspended in the air in an enclosed growing chamber. This chamber, filled bi-weekly with water, acts as a humidity-rich, highly oxygenated growing chamber to help herbs and plants grow speedily. This method is known as Aeroponics, in which the roots of plants are suspended in the air and bathed with an ideal level of water and nutrients, and is proven to be more efficient than growing plants in soil.