Ordered a Smart Garden 9 a few days ago and this is my thoughts on why I went for a Smart Garden 9.
Been shopping around for some sort of indoor garden for a couple of years, without any luck. The main factors are poor design, having to plant the seeds and make sure plants gets the right amount of water and nutrients, which can lead to the system being left unused after a while.
Of course there are a lot of options out there then it comes to hydroponic, aquaponic and just good old dirt in a pot.
I made my mind up quite early that a hydroponic system would suit me just fine, preferably without a pump. Should I a buy a set or build one myself? Well, I never figured that one out, since most options failed on poor design.
Why a Click and Grow Smart Garden 9?
First thing that caught my eye was the design, then reading about Smart Garden it soon became clear this was what I been searching for. No pump, a tank that can hold water for several weeks, the dirt pods with loaded with seeds and nutrition, integrated adjustable LED lights, a good selection plants and last but not least lots of guides and the forum.
Price wise 199€ sounded a bit much at first, going back to some of the products I had considered before I decided on a Smart Garden 9, I did decide it is definitely worth the money, specially since it comes with 3x3 plant pods.
The Plant Pods 9.95€, yes it did sound a bit much, on the other hand it is a set of three so it is roughly 3€ each, a supermarket pot of herbs in Sweden costs around 2€ for 15-20 grams and they will not last unless transplanted, even then they most likely drop dead, (I am not going to mention all our regular plants that withered away on the balcony).
Judging by pictures from users and C&G I figured with a good yield or harvest two times plant pods are quite cost effective and if we are happy with the Smart Garden I will start a subscription which will keep the cost down and ensure that new pods are available then needed, getting cheap veggies is not my main goal with the Smart Garden 9, it’s having homegrown organic herbs and veggies at in the kitchen ready to be harvest. Hopefully this will make the whole family eat more greens and catch the kids attention with planting and caring.
Even that Click and Grow have a very informative website with videos pictures and guides, they are out to sell their products, so I did quite a lot of research reading reviews, blogs and YouTube mostly positive except a few tech guys who expected a WiFi hi tech plant robot or something in that way. By now I believe C&G are honest with the marketing of Smart Gardens and Plant Pods, most users online seems to be very pleased and C&G staff points out repeatedly that the will replace pods that won’t germinate.
The Click and Grow user forum is also a big plus since I’m not a Facebook user. I have read through all the threads and it is very informative and judging by the pictures posted there are some truly amazing achievements with various plants.
My first plants will most likely be Pak Choi, Arugula and experimental pods with Holy Basil.
Please bear in mind that I have not received my Smart Garden, all above is based on my research before ordering and stuff I been reading on the forum after I ordered.