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