Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Featured in this article Best Overall Gardyn Indoor Hydroponic Garden Read more $899 Gardyn (Home 4)
A Garden That's Also a Statement Piece Lettuce Grow Farmstand Read more $973 Lettuce Grow (Indoor, Medium)
Best for Beginners AeroGarden Bounty Read more $163 $144 (12% off) Amazon (Basic)
Best Budget Option LetPot LPH-SE Senior Hydroponic Growing System Read more $120 Amazon
I was a forestry major in college with an emphasis on dendrology and watershed management, so it probably won't come as a surprise that I'm a lifelong plant person and have been gardening for upward of 30 years. Even in apartments or living situations where a full garden wasn't feasible, I’ve always tried to grow something , whether it’s a single rosemary plant on a windowsill, a Topsy-Turvy tomato , or a few basil sprigs in an old-school AeroGarden ,
I've now been testing various indoor smart garden systems in my home for more than a year, including models from all the well-known brands, and I have some thoughts. These gardens are definitely an investment in both time and maintenance, and they're all different in terms of what they can offer. The Gardyn Home 4.0 ($899) , for example, offers total success with no green thumb required if you pay for a subscription, while the Auk Mini ($239 ) is the perfect attractive yet low-maintenance solution for those who just want herbs. Are these gardens worth it? How much can you really grow? How can you be sure which option is best for your specific lifestyle? Read on to see which gardens stood out and why, and which might be best for your home.
Check out our other sustainable home-tech buying guides, including the Best Smart Bird Feeders , Best Kitchen Composters , and Best Water Leak Detectors .
Updated March 2026: I've rewritten parts of this guide and added a microgreens planter from Vego as an honorable mention, amended some long-term testing info, and ensured up-to-date links and prices. I've also added new FAQ sections on real-life yields, placement considerations, and ongoing ownership costs.
What Are Hydroponics? What Are the Benefits of Hydroponics? What Kinds of Things Can I Grow in a Hydroponic Garden? What Are the Downsides of Hydroponics? Will I Save Money by Growing My Own Vegetables? How Much Can I Really Grow in These Things? Where Can I Put Them in My House? How Much Do They Cost to Keep Going? How I Tested How Does WIRED Acquire Gardens to Review? Best Overall Photograph: Kat Merck Photograph: Kat Merck Courtesy of Gardyn Chevron Chevron Save to wishlist Save to wishlist Gardyn
Gardyn Home 4.0 (read our full review here ) had one of the easiest assemblies and setups out of the box and the most dramatic success of any of the brands I tried. Flowers, kohlrabi, thyme, even a whole cauliflower—all thrived in this pipe-based system with the lights in front to allow for taller plant growth.
Seeds arrive in proprietary pods called yCubes. Part of what makes the Gardyn foolproof is the subscription app add-on, “Kelby,” which monitors your plants via attached sensors and cameras. It delivers customized watering and lighting schedules, as well as maintenance suggestions via AI (which an anonymous source told me is basically OpenAI's ChatGPT with an overlaid prompt). This subscription adds an additional $408 a year to the base purchase price, though it includes a certain number of credits per month, depending on whether you have the Home or Studio model, with which to buy new yCubes . There's a free 30-day trial for Kelby, but you can use the Gardyn without it by relying on manual light and watering controls, and there have been some recent privacy concerns with Kelby (more below).
Each Gardyn purchase comes with your choice of yCube sets: “Salad Lover,” “Budding Florist,” or “Chef Faves.” I've tried both “Budding Florist” and “Chef Faves,” and my favorite is the latter; it has an interesting variety of everything from breen and Tokyo bekana greens to Thai basil and miniature sunflowers. Though Gardyn recommends starting the yCubes in the company's add-on $80 nursery , I've germinated plenty of yCubes right in the system just fine. (Make sure you don't add nutrients until they've sprouted. If you're germinating yCubes later on, when nutrients are already in the system, you can just use a shallow bowl with loosely tented plastic wrap.) The seeds arrive tucked in mineral wool , snug in their little yCubes that slot into larger cups ("yPods") that fit into the pipes. When the Gardyn waters the plants, the yPods fill with nutrient-infused water, and the plants' roots grow right into the water.
Once a month, the base will need to be emptied and scrubbed. Every few weeks, the roots need to be checked for root rot and growth outside the yPod, examined for whether it's time to prune, and/or tucked back in if they've wandered too far. This maintenance is admittedly a bit laborious, but if you do not do it consistently, you will be very sorry when it's time to clean the Gardyn and prepare it for its next planting. (Ask me how I know!)
I now have two Gardyns, a Home 4 and a Studio 2— Gardyn's new model for 2025 , with an upgraded camera and columns—and aside from some funky yCubes (which the company will replace upon request), I have no major complaints about the system, though I will note that the plants in the Studio have been overall less lush due to the Studio's having one light bar rather than two, which is why my primary recommendations remains the Home. I also like that Gardyn offers a Vacation Mode, which adjusts the lighting and watering to slow growth and minimize maintenance tasks while you're away.
NOTE: On February 24, 2026, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released an advisory regarding vulnerabilities in Gardyn Home and Studio devices. These security weaknesses could have allowed someone to take remote control of a Gardyn device, access plant photos, and obtain personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. Gardyn claims these vulnerabilities have been remediated with the most recent firmware update, and advises customers to ensure their Gardyns are internet-connected and running firmware version 619 or later. If you think your device may have been compromised, email support@mygardyn.com or call 844-4-GARDYN. For more information, see Gardyn's Security update for Gardyn Home and Gardyn Studio .
WIRED Foolproof for black thumbs, especially with the subscription Lights mounted on the front allow for unlimited plant height Rockwool growing medium prevents fungus gnats and other pests Gardyn offers a huge variety of seeds Has vacation mode TIRED Requires a subscription to access all features Difficult to clean and reset in between “seasons” Maintenance can be finicky A Garden That's Also a Statement Piece Photograph: Kat Merck Photograph: Kat Merck Chevron Chevron Save to wishlist Save to wishlist Lettuce Grow
I was not aware until I opened the box that Lettuce Grow was founded by Zooey Deschanel and her ex-husband, Jacob Pelenchik, and that despite their divorce, they continue to work together promoting it. Lettuce Grow's Farmstand is certainly a unique structure, with a bulbous, water-filled base topped by tiers set in between rings of full-spectrum LED lights. The whole setup looks not unlike an old-school strawberry planter redesigned as a set piece for 2001: A Space Odyssey . There are models for indoor and outdoor use (the latter is the same, just sans the light rings).
I found the Farmstand to be on the easy end to assemble and set up; everything snaps and clicks together intuitively. It's also important to note that this system is very modular—though Lettuce Grow recommends no more than six levels for stability, if you buy a Small Farmstand (18) and decide later on that you want to make it a Medium (24) or a Large (36 plants), you can buy extra levels and light rings that snap on in less than a minute.
The biggest issue I had with the Farmstand is that, at the outset, the company sends grown seedlings (each Farmstand comes with credits for users to pick the plants they want), which is helpful in terms of success, but in my case, resulted in a massive whitefly and aphid outbreak. A search through Lettuce Grow's Farmstand Community Facebook group revealed pest-infested seedlings to be an extremely common issue. Because of the fact that the water cascades down over plant roots instead of the plant cups having constant contact, the Lettuce Grow is best with seedlings, so for my second grow, I used bare-root strawberries I bought from a different vendor. However, these too eventually became infested with aphids and spider mites. (For my third grow, I plan to grow my own seedlings.)
It's also worth noting that the 20-gallon reservoir renders the unit immobile once it's full, and this makes it difficult to empty and refill. Lettuce Grow sells a dolly for $60 , but I wish it were included. I also highly recommend using a smart plug to control the timing for the lights and pump. Lettuce Grow sells its own for $25 , but it disconnected daily from the Lettuce Grow app in my testing. I didn't find much to like about the Farmstand app, so I used a different, Alexa-compatible one .
WIRED Unique space-age vibe Roots grow into the center, so it's easy to clean Maintenance is relatively simple TIRED Lettuce Grow's proprietary seedlings could introduce pests Twenty-gallon water reservoir makes it difficult to move and empty No vacation mode Best for Beginners Photograph: Kat Merck Photograph: Kat Merck Chevron Chevron Save to wishlist Save to wishlist AeroGarden
AeroGarden and I go way back. I’ve had multiple AeroGardens since the brand’s inception in 2006, which is why I was sad when the company announced it was going out of business in late 2024 . But now it’s back with a spiffed-up line of systems, including the flagship Bounty. It comes in two iterations: the Bounty Elite (pictured) with Vacation Mode, 50-watt lights, a color touchscreen, and slick sunrise/sunset lighting; and the Bounty Basic, with 30-watt lights and none of the above. Both systems hold nine plants, have telescoping stems for the lights, and come with a removable, cage-like trellis that can support and corral wayward herbs or vegetables.
The general form factor is the same as the OG tabletop gardens, but now with the ability to see the water level on the screen (the Basic has one, but it’s not color or touchscreen), as well as more efficient lights, quieter pumps, and the ability to adjust light intensity and set a schedule. The pump runs about every half-hour and is not noticeably audible unless the water level is at 50 percent or less, at which point the garden will sound exactly like a pet drinking water. ("Is that your cat?" a friend asked after a couple of hours of sitting near the unit when it was low on water.) Lights stay on about 16 hours, and you can choose which hours in AeroGarden's app. (The app is handy but not necessary—I abandoned it after about a week of it repeatedly “forgetting” my garden.) The Elite also has Vacation Mode, which is rare for these tabletop gardens and a critical feature if you're frequently away from home.
Each AeroGarden comes with a set of branded sponge-and-basket pods preloaded with herb seeds. My press tester also came with the Salsa Garden kit , which consisted of six tomato pods and three jalapeños. The tomato plants are hardy, healthy, and ready to flower, but because they germinated first, they've overtaken the poor jalapeños, which are anemic-looking and barely visible beneath the tomato leaves. A variety of AeroGarden refill kits are available , but I can tell you the AeroGarden baskets take the same generic refill sponges I recommend for the LetPot below, so do what you will with that information.
WIRED App not required due to screens and buttons on the front Bounty Elite has Vacation Mode TIRED App isn't the most reliable Pump noise can be loud if water is low Best Budget Option Photograph: Kat Merck Save to wishlist Save to wishlist LetPot
