If you are looking for an easy way to grow herbs and veggies indoors, then getting an AeroGarden might be your best choice. My AeroGarden Harvest Review will discuss everything you need to know about this handy little indoor garden.
Ever since I started doing a lot of my own cooking at home, I’ve noticed a few things: One, it is a lot cheaper than fast food, and Two, I often run out of a few choice herbs in my cooking.
There’s nothing worse than planning out a recipe and finding out that the ingredient you need isn’t available, leaving you with the choice to either skip the ingredient and miss out on the added taste of the dish, or waste gas/energy/time driving to the grocery store to pick up that one item? Sure, you could make a grocery trip of it, but if you already have a full fridge and freezer, it’s just wasteful to buy more food.
Anyways, if you are a home cook like myself, and find yourself wanting a fresh supply of ingredients, then you might find an AeroGarden to be a worthy addition to your kitchen.
For today, we will be talking about the Harvest model of AeroGardens. Some may call it a smart garden, but the Harvest doesn’t have Wi-Fi capabilities.
An AeroGarden is an all-in-one indoor hydroponic garden. Using hydroponics technology and LED grow lights, the AeroGarden provides an ideal environment for plants to grow, providing light, water, and nutrients.
According to the makers themselves, plants grown in the AeroGarden can grow up to five times faster than those grown the old fashioned way, in the dirt!
The best thing about an AeroGarden is that the very process of indoor gardening is made simple and easy for anyone to use. By following just a few simple steps of keeping the garden filled with water liquid plant food, you can expect to see some homegrown herbs, fruits, and vegetables within a few short weeks.
Now I have to admit that the AeroGarden Harvest is more or less a hobby farm done indoors. It doesn’t really have the means to grow lots of food that you could live on forever without having to go to the store. But for those times when you need a fresh herb, having this garden will save you that tedious trip. And even better, as your garden grows, you can just harvest what you want without any waste!
Inside the Box
The entire gardening unit consists of a base with an adjustable grow light, a water basin and grow tray, and power cords to hook everything together.
In addition to a handy Quick Start guide, the AeroGarden even comes with a bottle of liquid plant food and a set of Seed Pods. Some models may have different plants, so for mine, I got the Gourmet Herb Kit.
Overall, you have pretty much everything you need to get started. You hook it up, fill it with water and plant food, add your seed pods, and press some buttons on the unit to start your garden.
How does the AeroGarden work?
On the front of the Harvest, there are 3 lit-up buttons that tell you everything you need to know about the garden. The Plant Food button on the left lets you know when you need to add plant food. The center Add Water button tells you whether or not you need more water in your system. And the Light button controls the grow lights.
The lights run on an internal clock that restarts whenever you plug in the garden (alternatively, you can press and hold the Light button to control them too). The lights are designed to stay on for 15 hours, and then shut off for 9 hours, simulating sunlight on your plants.
The water basin has a pump in the unit that helps circulate water throughout your growing tray, ensuring that everything gets a readily available source of water. This entire process is automatic, so all you have to do is to add water to the max fill line. I found that when first starting a garden, you could expect to go a week or two without having to fill up, but as your plants grow bigger, they will soon drink enough water to keep you checking that level more frequently.
In order for hydroponically grown plants to thrive, they need to be able to access the necessary nutrients needed to grow. AeroGarden provides a bottle of all purpose plant food with every AeroGarden, which saves you the trouble of having to look for some yourself. While the bottle is small, it has enough inside to last for many feedings, where you pour two capfuls into the water basin once every 2 weeks.
The Pros and Benefits
So, why is an AeroGarden worth it for many? The biggest thing I found is that it provides an easy way to grow plants. The garden unit literally does all the work for you, and all you need is a few seconds of your time to top up the water bowl.
Another great thing about using an AeroGarden is that it can help supplement your other gardening hobbies. For example, you could start seeds indoors using the AeroGarden, and you can transplant them outdoors when the weather is right, giving you a headstart on growing a nice vegetable garden.
You can even place some of your houseplants around the AeroGarden to take advantage of the powerful grow lights! This great if you are considering trying out Kratky gardening.
The Cons and Drawbacks
As much as I’d like to praise my handy indoor garden, I will say that there are some potential issues to consider if you are thinking of getting one.
For starters, plant maintenance will be critical in ensuring that you have a successful bounty of plants. If you do not prune your plants on a regular basis, they will grow out of control and in some cases, may overtake other plants trying to grow.
With the many kinds of herbs out there, they all grow at various rates, so it is important to be mindful of this.
On the subject of maintenance, cleaning your AeroGarden can be a bit of a job if you don’t keep on top of it. Much like doing dishes. In order to properly clean up your garden, you have to take apart everything, from the growing tray to the water pump.
And if you haven’t been pruning those plants regularly, you might find that some of them grow their roots in places you’d never guess!
The Verdict
Overall, I have had a great experience with the AeroGarden Harvest myself. This was my first ever model, and in my opinion, a good starting point for those who are interested in indoor hydroponic gardening.
Keep in mind that there are many other models out there, with varying numbers of features and plants that can grow.
If you were thinking of growing a lot of plants, you could go for the AeroGarden Farm models; on the other hand, if you are on the fence about getting an indoor garden, you can always opt for the smaller Sprout model.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this post.
I really hope this information helps you out, and if you have any questions or thoughts to share, feel free to leave a comment down below.
Until next time, wherever you live in the world, enjoy life, have fun, and happy gardening!