So you weren’t blessed with a green thumb and you even avoid receiving flowers because you know that in your care, they’ll likely die within a week. But that’s OK, that’s what smart gardens are for. These easy-to-maintain, technologically advanced mini gardens are simple enough for beginners and innovative enough to impress even expert growers.
Designed to grow fresh herbs, fruits or vegetables, smart gardens offer a small space-friendly alternative to traditional planters, espcially if your home doesn’t get a ton of natural sunlight. These gardens are built with LED lights that aid in the growing process and self-watering technology, so you don’t have to worry about regularly watering them or making sure they’re getting enough sun.
There are also different sizes you can choose from, depending on how many seeds you want to grow, how tall you want your plants to get and how much space you have for the planter itself. And if you’re concerned about the smart gardens being messy, there’s no need to fret. These gardens use special pre-planted seed pods that come in compact, sponge-like cylinders so you don’t have to fuss with loose soil.
Below, we rounded up five smart gardens that are highly rated and provide a variety of seed options, plant heights and price points.
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You can grow veggies and herbs year-round with this indoor gardening system. It includes a gourmet seed pod kit containing Genovese basil, curly parsley, dill, thyme, Thai basil and mint. It can grow up to six plants at a time, up to 12 inches tall. And because it uses soilless seed pods that grow with just water, there's virtually no mess for you to clean up. The control panel on the front of this sleek garden lets you know when it's time to add water and plant food (included), and automatically turns the light on and off. The system comes in sage green, white and black. Additional seed pod varieties are available, too.
This energy-efficient smart garden system comes in white, beige and gray, and grows up to three plants at a time. It includes three basil plant pods to get you started, making your first — or 50th — gardening experience much easier. All you have to do is drop in the pods, fill the water reservoir and plug it in. And if you're looking for plant options other than basil, Click and Grow has over 50 pre-seeded plant pods to choose from.
This smart garden also uses a seed pod-based hydroponic growing system, meaning that, like the previous gardens, it grows your plants using quiet self-watering technology without soil. It grows up to 12 plants at once, up 11 inches tall and has an adjustable lamp arm for plants at different growth stages. The water tank holds 4 1/2 liters of water and it even has a built-in fan to spread pollen around and disperse heat for germination. The LED system offers vegetable mode and flower/fruit mode, with each setting emitting different colored lights to encourage growth. The planter comes in black, red and white. You can plant additional seeds using Idoo's seed pod kit, which includes the sponges but not the seeds, and purchasing the seeds separately.
Grow up to 10 plants with this Wi-Fi-enabled and app-controlled smart garden that uses seed pods. Its built-in automatic lights mean you don't have to place it near a window or purchase separate grow lights. The walnut wraparound design and anodized aluminum blends in seamlessly with home decor and furniture. This all-in-one kit includes the SmallGarden, a 12-volt power adapter and 10 soilless basil seed pods. You can get additional seed pods and seeds, too.
In search of a splurge-worthy indoor smart garden? This one from Gardyn is the way to go. It uses a vertical hydroponics system that grows up to 30 plants at a time using water and built-in LED lights, and works with over 50 varieties like herbs, strawberries, peppers, tomatoes and leafy greens. The planter itself takes up only two square feet of floor or counter space and uses soilless, mess-free seed pods. And if you often forget about caring for your plants, it does all the work for you, as it comes with cameras and multiple sensors that detect temperature, humidity and water levels, as well as a vacation mode to handle things while you're away for long periods of time. You can monitor and control the garden's functions via the Gardyn app, and buy even more seed varieties and seed pods.