AeroGarden Pods Review

About AeroGarden Pods

This AeroGarden review would like to announce that you don’t need a green thumb to grow fresh vegetables and herbs. AeroGarden’s indoor gardening solution allows anyone to grow farmer’s market herbs, salad greens, tomatoes, chili peppers, flowers, and more, year-round, inside your home. 

You can read all about AeroGarden in Business Insider, Essential Home and Garden, and Wired. The company has gained a lot of attention for their home growing kits lately, and we wanted to know if their products deliver.

This AeroGarden pods review will provide an in-depth look at the brand, its products, customer ratings, promotions, and more to help you decide if this indoor smart garden is worth the buy. 

Overview of AeroGarden Pods

Gardens breathe life. They nurture us, body and soul. It’s too bad that they need to be put aside in the winter, for those who live in a seasonal climate. Thankfully, founder Michael Bissonnette created AeroGarden with this thought: “Wouldn’t it be great to have fresh herbs, flowers, and veggies growing in your home, any time of the year?”

Four years, dozens of prototypes, and hundreds of seed evaluations later, AeroGarden was founded in July 2012. AeroGarden headquarters are located in Boulder, Colorado, where their products are also manufactured.

Today, the company offers 12 AeroGarden models and 50+ seed kits. You can bring tasty vegetables and attractive greenery into your home, no matter the season.

The company produces a variety of additional products to accompany Aerogarden gardens, including seed kits, grow lights, hydroponic nutrients, and other gardening accessories. All AeroGarden systems come with a Gourmet Herb Seed Kit and over 50 other seed kits are available.

Before we get into some popular gardens and growing kits, here are the highlights that this AeroGarden pods review came across:

Pros

• Customers have access to fresh ingredients and florals all year round
• Adding sunlight and plants to your home can improve mood
• You don’t need a green thumb
• The gardens are non-GMO, with no herbicides or pesticides
• Easy setup and care
• Reminders for feeding time and water changes
• Some gardens work with the AeroGarden app and/or Amazon Alexa
• Less mess because the gardens do not use soil

Cons

• Costs are high compared to other indoor gardens 

How Does AeroGarden Work?

First, you’re probably wondering how to use AeroGarden and how the gardens function at this point. AeroGarden uses hydroponics to grow your indoor food oasis. Hydroponics features a soilless system that uses water and soluble fertilizer. No tracking dirt in your house and no need to turn and replace the soil. Less work and no mess!

There are several AeroGarden models, and all of them have three essential parts: 

• LED grow lights and a light post
• A grow deck where your AeroGarden plants go
• A bowl and base that holds the water
•  AeroGarden seed pods, grow domes, plant food

Some Aerogardens also come with a detachable trellis for climbing plants. 

Simply place the seed pod and dome in the holes on the base. Once the plant outgrows the dome, you can remove it. Every 2 weeks or so, you drop food into the water. AeroGarden will tell you how much water and when to water, depending on the garden. The LED lights maintain the exact temperature needed. 

The base sits under the lights and over the water bowl. The tray holds the seed cups in place and minimizes evaporation. The entire system is fully automated: lights, water, nutrient levels, and alerts. Some of them even come with an app so that you can send alerts to your phone. A water pump is built into the base which is connected to a drain hose that empties the bowl.

This AeroGarden pods review will showcase their popular gardens and the seed kits that customers love most. 

AeroGarden Pods Review

There are 3-pod, 6-pod, 9-pod, 12-pod, and 24-pod gardens offered by AeroGarden. This AeroGarden Pods review will take a closeup look at some of their best selling gardens and the seed kits that customers love most. The best garden and seeds for you will depend on space and how many greens you eat. 

AeroGarden Harvest Elite Review

Grow up to 6 different herbs, veggies, or flower varieties all year long, in the comfort of your kitchen or any other room in your home. Grow them 5x faster than you would using a soil-based garden. Your seeds will sprout in days, harvest in weeks, and you can enjoy your yield for months. Yum.

The Harvest Elite uses a 20W LED grow light for optimal full spectrum lighting. The light contains white, red, and blue lights to mimic sunlight. The lamp arm is extendable, allowing you to grow plants up to 12” high. 

Aerogarden lights automatically turn on and off. Great for busy schedules and poor memories. Plus, the digital display reminds you when to add water and plant food. You can control all of the settings through the LCD control panel. 

The Harvest Elite has a 30% smaller footprint than other models without sacrificing water capacity. It comes with a 6-pod seed kit to grow gourmet herbs, heirloom salad, red heirloom cherry tomatoes, or cascading petunias and comes with a germination guarantee. 

Not only do fresh veggies and herbs nourish your body and mind. Having fresh plants and sunlight in your kitchen on cold grey days can help to lift your mood as well! The Harvest Elite comes in four colors and involves a simple setup. It is currently selling for $130, discounted from $180. At the time of this review, only one color was in stock.

AeroGarden Bounty Basic Review

The AeroGarden Bounty Basic has room for 9 plants that you can grow up to 5x faster than you would in soil. It uses a 30W LED grow light for full spectrum, optimal lighting, and the lamp arm can be extended to allow plants to grow up to 24”. That’s enough for any tall vegetable. It has the largest water bowl capacity in the countertop garden models. 

The Bounty Basic was redesigned to make growing your indoor garden even more effortless. First, there is more room on the grow deck for plants to grow. This also allows for a trellis attachment for climbing plants. You have more water with less mess. The water fill opening is larger, which means fewer chances for spills. 

Next, the Bounty Basic has an improved control panel and high-resolution screen that comes with planting tips and tricks and plant food reminders, plus Vacation Mode to ensure your plants are kept going while you’re out of town. Almost sounds too easy! Especially if you’ve killed every plant you’ve ever owned. Um, this AeroGarden review pleads the fifth.

The AeroGarden Bounty Basic is easy to set up and it is currently selling for $200, discounted from $300.

Farm 24Basic 

Oh, the weather outside is frightful. Fresh basil anyone? The Farm 24Basic grows up to 24 of your favorite herbs, veggies, and flowers all year long. It uses two electronically adjustable 60W LED grow lights that can be configured to match your schedule. 

The light arm is extendable up to 12” for growing tall veggies and plant varieties like tomatoes and peppers. You can also grow as many plants as you want. The Farm 24Basic is stackable for vertical gardening. Maybe after you become an AeroGarden pro, you can keep adding to your collection. Sounds like an incredibly ZEN hobby.

You can control everything through the control panel or Wi-Fi and Amazon Alexa connectivity. So you get easy, automatic water and plant food reminders on the garden and through the AeroGarden app. Techy plants for the nerdy gardener. 

The Farm 24Basic is basic to set up, but not basic in its power. It is currently selling for $520, discounted from $695. 

You also get to select 2 free seed pod kits to include in your purchase. These include: 

• Salad Bar Farm Seed Pod Kit – Herbs and Lettuces
• Salad Bar Farm Seed Pod Kit – Tomatoes
• Heirloom Salad Greens Seed Pod Kit (For Farm & Farm Plus)

AeroGarden Seed Pods Kits Review

All seed kits come with seeds, the AeroGarden patented, specifically formulated Liquid Nutrients (plant food), grow domes for optimal germination, and a growing guide insert AeroGarden manual with step-by-step instructions.

AeroGarden seeds are non-GMO with no herbicides or pesticides. They also come with a 100% germination guarantee, meaning if they don’t germinate, AeroGarden will replace them. 

The pre-seeded pods are made from pure Canadian Sphagnum Peat. This AeroGarden review will feature the most popular seed kits available. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Custom Tomato/Pepper Seed Pod Kit

You can choose up to nine tomatoes or peppers, for a 9-pod AeroGarden, with the Custom Tomato/Pepper Seed Pod Kit. Add a little color to your salads, or a kick to your dishes. The tomatoes and pepper seeds you can choose from are:

• Golden harvest cherry tomato seeds
• Red heirloom cherry tomato seeds
• Jalapeno seeds (2,500 – 8,000 SHU)
• Thai pepper seeds (40,000 – 50,000 SHU)
• Purple super hot pepper seeds (140,000 – 160,000 SHU) 

SHU stands for Scoville Heat Unit. For example, the sweet pepper has a SHU rating of 0 out of 100.

These seeds are proven to produce even in the smaller 3-pod AeroGardens, but they yield bigger harvests in the larger gardens. The Custom Tomato/Pepper Seed Pod Kit currently sells for $18, discounted from $22.

Custom Herb Seed Pod Kit

The Custom Herb Seed Pod Kit includes 25 traditional culinary and medicinal herbs that you can choose from. You get to create your very own mix! You can choose six pods in all and they work in all AeroGardens.

Most plants germinate within 7-14 days, they are ready for harvesting within 4-6 weeks, and they will keep producing a continuous harvest for up to 6 months or more. That’s a lot of fresh ingredients for all you foodies! 

Some of the 25 herbs that you can choose from:

• 9 varieties of basil
• Cilantro
• Chives
• Dill
• Mint
• And more

The Custom Herb Seed Pod Kit currently sells for $15, discounted from $18.

Custom Salad Seed Pod Kit 

Calling all salad lovers and creators of gourmet salads. Choose up to six salad pods and create your very own salad mix. The pods work in all AeroGardens.

The seeds germinate within 7-14 days, harvest within 4-6 weeks, and can produce harvests for up to 6 months or more. There are 12 different lettuce and salad green varieties to select from, including baby greens, arugula, Chinese cabbage, dinosaur kale, romaine, and more.

The Custom Salad Seed Pod Kit currently sells for $15, discounted from $18.

How Much Does it Cost to Run an AeroGarden?

AeroGarden is proud to say their products use low amounts of energy. They did the math for you and provide the information upfront. The calculation they used:

• Hours of use (based on the type of garden planted and AeroGarden used), multiplied by
• Wattage figure provided on your AeroGarden model (divided by 1000 to convert to kilowatts), multiplied by
• 31 days in a month, multiplied by
• The cost per kilowatt charged by your utility (0.11 kW/hour for example below)

Based on that calculation, the unit costs are:

• AeroGarden Farm costs $7.30 per month
• AeroGarden Bounty costs $3 per month
• AeroGarden Harvest costs $1.33 per month
• AeroGarden Sprout costs $7.30 per month

That is low energy and very affordable, especially for the benefits that come with having fresh produce growing in your own home.

AeroGarden Reviews: What Do Customers Think?

This AeroGarden pods review found customer feedback on each product page. We took a closer look at AeroGarden Harvest Elite. It has 4.4/5 stars and 252 reviews. There are 177 5-star reviews and only 14 1-star reviews. Happy customers loved watching the progress of their plants growing and were pleased with the easy maintenance, and having fresh herbs readily available. The handful of unhappy customers experienced moldy crops, defective products, and were upset with the poor quality.

Next, this AeroGarden review went to Amazon and we had a look at the Bounty Basic. It has a 4.6/5-star rating and 1483 customer reviews in total. Many of the happy customers are repeat buyers who keep coming back for more. They are happy with the easy setup, the digital reminders, and watching their plants grow. 

Unhappy Amazon customers were disappointed with AeroGarden customer service, issues with the product, like the clock not working, which affects pump and light cycles. Some were also disappointed by the AeroGarden warranty.

Finally, we headed over to BestBuy to see if they had any AeroGarden reviews. Here we looked at the Harvest Elite. Out of 79 reviews it received 4.9/5 stars. That’s 71 5-star reviews, 7 4-star reviews, and only one 3-star review. One happy customer sounded a lot like me, not being able to keep anything alive until now. The 3-star review was frustrated because the unit was too small for some of their greens, and two of their pods never sprouted.

Is the AeroGarden Pods Worth It?

Well, let’s see. First things first, you don’t need a green thumb. That’s one of the best aspects of AeroGarden, Especially if your superpower is killing plants with one wrong look. Then there is the fact that you can have access to fresh produce and a garden all year round.

The seeds are non-GMO, and there are no herbicides or pesticides. Check and check. Next, you can stack the gardens and have as many as you want. There are so many things that you can grow, from herbs and salads to flowers and plants. The gardens are easy to set up and easy to care for. Generally speaking, if you don’t have a green thumb, you likely don’t have the patience for gardening. So easy equals good. 

There were a small percentage of unhappy customers, yes. But the overwhelming majority AeroGarden buyers were very happy with the products, so AeroGarden must be worth the hype. There are many good reasons to try out the AeroGarden. If you’re still not sure, you can start small and grow your garden with time. Yes! This AeroGarden review believes wholeheartedly that the AeroGarden is worth the buy.

AeroGarden Promotions & Discounts 

When this AeroGarden review first logged onto the site there was a pop-up window announcing $225 in free coupons when you sign up for the AeroGarden newsletter.

The site also has a section called Today’s Deals. You can find it at the top left-hand corner of any page you are on. Click on it and then click on View All Deals to see all the products that are on sale. 

You can also click on Get Notified About Deals. This will bring you to a form where you can sign up for the newsletter, get your free coupons, and sign up to receive emails when deals are available.

Where to Buy AeroGarden Pods

You can purchase AeroGarden products directly on their website, AeroGarden.com. You can also get their products online at Amazon, Walmart, and BestBuy, or at in-store retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy’s, and Kohl’s.

FAQ

What can you grow in an AeroGarden?

You can grow vegetables, herbs, salad, flowers, and live plants in your AeroGarden. Some popular vegetables include cherry tomatoes, green beans, and chili peppers. Popular herbs include gourmet herbs, Tuscan Italian herbs, and pesto basil. Salad greens and romaine mix are also a favorite. 

You can grow a garden of lavender, scented blooms, or cascading blooms, along with garden starter kits. These are just a few examples from each category.

Can I use my own seeds in AeroGarden? 

Yes! They offer a Grow Anything Kit that you can purchase. It comes with everything you need to plant and grow, except for the seeds.

How long do plants last in AeroGarden?

The type of plant you’re growing along with the tending and harvesting it receives will impact its life expectancy. 

• Flowers typically grow for 4-5 months but can last longer
• Lettuces and greens grow for about 4 months
• Herbs typically grow for 3-4 months and can last up to 6 months or longer
• Fruiting vegetable plants have a lifespan of about 12 months.

Can I use Miracle Gro in AeroGarden?

The Miracle Gro AeroGarden garden or the Miracle-Gro Twelve Indoor Growing System uses packets of Miracle-Gro Twelve plant nutrition. The other gardens use AeroGarden’s patented nutrition.

Can AeroGarden pods be reused?

Parts of the AeroGarden pods can be reused. The plastic and paper made parts are reusable, while the grow sponge is not. That means they grow basket, plastic grow domes, and the paper made labels can be reused.

Where can I set up my AeroGarden?

Place your AeroGarden where it can be easily accessible. Don’t place it in a closet or cabinet or under a source of light that will heat the hood. 

How do I clean and sanitize AeroGarden?

First, unplug the pump power cord. Next, remove the bowl and the grow deck. Third, get cleaning. Be careful not to throw away the filter with the roots. If the filter is not too worn, it can be cleaned and reused. 

How to clean AeroGarden:

1. Fill the bowl with water and add ¼ cup of chlorine bleach
2. Let the water pump or aerator circulate the bleach solution for 5 minutes
3. Empty the bleach solution, rinse well, and then fill with clear water (no bleach)
4. Allow the pump or aerator to circulate the clear water for 5 minutes
5. Empty and rinse once more to ensure that all bleach is rinsed from the bowl

If you don’t want to use bleach you can use 5 cups of distilled white vinegar and follow the above AeroGarden instructions.

How long does AeroGarden take to ship?

Orders are shipped within 2 business days based on in-stock availability. For free standard shipping, you should receive your order within 7-10 days. Faster shipping options are available at checkout. When your order ships, you’ll receive an email with AeroGarden shipping tracking information. 

Orders are shipped using FedEx, USPS, and UPS. All orders above $50 have free shipping and they only ship to the US and Canada.

What is AeroGarden’s Return Policy?

You can return your items within 30 days of your purchase for a full refund. No questions asked! You must contact AeroGarden first for return authorization.

The limited warranty covers an AeroGarden and LED Grow lights for one year. The warranty covers defects in materials in workmanship.

Expectations for the warranty to be processed:

• Normal wear
• Failure to adhere to enclosed operation instructions
• For serial numbered products if the serial number has been removed or defaced
• Products subject to negligence, accident, improper use, maintenance, or storage
• Products damaged by circumstances beyond AeroGrow International Inc.’s control
• Loss or damage of removable parts, or products modified (including, but not limited to, modifications through the use of unauthorized parts or attachments)
• Products repaired by anyone other than AeroGrow International Inc. or its designee

The warranty excludes all incidental or consequential damages. AeroGrow will repair any defects in materials or workmanship or will replace these products with ones of similar features or prices.

How to Contact AeroGarden

If you still have questions after this AeroGarden review, you can reach out to them through:

• Contact form on the website
• Phone: 1-800-476-9669

AeroGarden’s business hours are Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. MT to 5:00 p.m. MT.

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