Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

NOTE: Before deciding to buy this model, look at the just-announced LED version that AeroGarden (AG) claims to be a major improvement: More effective lighting and cheaper over time. Although the LED version lists for $100 more than the fluorescent light version, the fluorescent lights are a major expense. The fluorescent lights list at $35 (as a set of 3) and need to be replaced every six months -- comments on the AG website indicate that these lights often *burn out* around 6-8 months, not just that they become less effective. The LED version is advertised to last 3-5 years, or $210-350 worth of fluorescent bulbs. And the operating cost is less. Other than the LED lighting, that model seems the same as this one. However, see the comments below about (poor) quality of construction -- the LED model might not survive long enough to reap the benefits. Limited review: I was given this product in exchange for an honest timely review. The time limit requires me to post this review well before I have had the experience of a full cycle of growing plants. I am commenting on my early experience and will update this review as appropriate. Because of my professional background, I tend to be much more critical in my evaluations of products. You may well decide that various of my comments are irrelevant/unimportant to you, so I have tried to structure this to make it easier for you to spot and skip such comments. Details: As an engineer (software) I not only developed products but dealt with the company's marketing people about design decisions. And another part of my job was evaluating products, both competitive analysis and for purchasing decisions. One lesson-learned from dealing with Product Managers (Marketing) was to play close attention to their visible decisions because they are highly predictive of decisions that you don't immediately spot. ---- My first negative reaction came with unpacking the product -- it felt too insubstantial for what it was. It was not just me. I asked several neighbors to give me their quick first impression (no hints) and the responses were "cheesy", "flimsy", "cheap" and not built to last. However, in looking through various comments, I couldn't find complaints about this being a problem, so maybe it is tougher than it looks, or maybe people adapted. First, the plastic could easily have been a bit thicker in both the tank and the hood. Second, the pole for holding up the hood is probably more than strong-enough, but the impression was "cheap". The cutting-corners was evident in that AG didn't even bother to de-burr (smooth off) the rough ends of the pole. But most worrisome is that the sockets for the pole in both the base and hood are relatively thin-walled -- I would have thought they needed to be much thicker to handle the torque of even a partially raised hood. Note: I don't know how the construction of this model compares to earlier one (for you to extrapolate from the reviews of those models), but the taller (extensible) pole is an advantage for growing taller plants, but creates torque greater than those models. And the hood carries more weight from an additional bulb (3 vs 2 in the previous model). Because I know to be very careful about this, I expect that I can keep it from breaking prematurely. However, if you plan to let children help you, there may be a problem. And if you have a cat, you may have a problem: I couldn't use the initial place I planned to put the unit because I knew that my cat would be rubbing against it (curiosity and scent-marking). And I think it would be the height of folly to grow catnip in this unit (one of the seed kits that AG sells). The biggest example of corner-cutting and unimaginably bad design is the trellis. This is thin cheap plastic bar that seems to be capable of *guiding* the growth of plants, but not supporting plants such as tomatoes, much less supporting tomato plants while you are picking. The trellis was not designed for reuse from season to season: Connecting the two halves is permanent, thereby greatly increasing the likelihood it will be broken during storage. Although I don't see this being a significant factor itself in your buying decision, this is indicative of the pervasive problems with this product. ---- One of the basics of Marketing is to do multiple things to make your customers happy with their purchase. If this were not a review unit, I would have had significant buyer's remorse. 1. The cost and frequency of replacement lighting was a major surprise (see above). Having used straight fluorescent grow-light tubes, I expected an operating life of 2-3 times these, and a lower price. 2. The need to immediately buy supplemental items. For example, I hadn't considered the need to change the water in the tank. I judge it impractical to carry the tank to the sink, because of (1) the lack of grips suitable to the weight, with the risk of both spilling the water and of breaking the tank, (2) no good way of leaving the growing plants behind (at my location for the product). So the alternative is to siphon out the water into a bucket -- not great in several regards, but the lesser evil. And surprise, AG sells a siphon pump separately, but you can likely get one from a fish/aquarium store. 3. Badly over-priced supplies. For example, paper labels for the pods cost $0.26 each (in bulk = 50 count). For comparison, file folder labels cost less than $0.04. The pod baskets which are trivial pieces of plastic cost $0.34 each (in bulk). The plug for unused holes is a combination of these two and is further marked up to $1.33 each (from $0.60). Furthermore, this is the wrong way to plug the holes -- the plugs should have been a more robust construction and should have been included, not an after-market purchase. Then there are the "Grow Domes" which are essentially the little plastic cups you put Salsa in at Mexican take-out: $0.30 each (in bulk). Advice: Before making a purchase, look at the price of supplies and decide if you are going to feel that you are being gouged. If so, that is likely to adversely affect your use or enjoyment of this product. 4. Difficulty find a location for the unit. You are instructed to *not* locate this product where the plants will get sunlight because that can overwhelm them. This eliminated most of my prime locations for this unit. I was surprised that the product couldn't handle this. Then eliminate locations where draining and refilling the tank will be a problem. Then ... From what I have figured out, the product was designed on the assumption that you would find a location suitable for its requirements, rather than being designed to be adaptable to where you wanted to put it. Note: One can adjust either the starting time or ending time for the lights, but not both. Setting one automatically resets the other to have a fixed period the lights are on. I wanted to put the unit in a south-facing garden window and set the start-time to be roughly sunset, with a 6-hour runtime to supplement the natural light. You can't do this. The closest approximation I found is to disconnect the unit's lights and leave the windows lights on until bedtime. 5. Mediocre instructions. While setting up the unit is easy and intuitive, there is much more to using it. There is not a coherent user manual. Instead there are several overlapping documents (equiv to Quick Start Guides), various FAQs and lots of blog-style postings. Many of these are erroneous, ambiguous, contradictory or incomplete.[1] It took me more than a 10 days to start up my unit because I repeatedly reached my frustration limit trying to hunt through the web pages to find what I thought were answers to basic questions (I am not a "Just do it" person). There were too many clicks and searches yielding too little result. I kept muttering that it shouldn't be that hard. Part of what you are paying for with a product like this are instructions and guides to use it successfully. But as in the manufacturing, there are big deficiencies here. Note: My professional background makes me inclined to get a more complete understanding than the typical user, partly from a well-earned paranoia. And I do understand that there are people for whom ferreting out such info is part of the joy of products such as this. 6. In poking around on the AG website, I discovered many complaints about problems with the water pump. Under "Accessories > Replacement Parks" the description for the pump begins "Keep your garden growing at its best with periodic pump replacement". Looking at the pump in my unit, I had to wonder if the reliability problems were simply the result of AG skimping on this part. 7. When I went to register my unit, the web site offered $125 of coupons for signing up for the newsletter. 90% of those were discounts on buying other models. Hold it. I have just started using it -- I am hardly ready to buy another, either for myself or as a gift. Marketing wisdom is that those coupons should either be to reduce the shock of the cost of supplies or to encourage purchase of add-ons that could make the user more satisfied/enthusiastic with operation. ---- Using for transplants: I was strongly considering using this to start transplants in the spring, but after looking at the details, I am reconsidering. 1. In looking at comments on the AG website, I found numerous complaints about poor success rates. I expected transplanting from a hydroponic environment to a normal garden to be more involved than normal transplanting. What I expected to find, but didn't, were articles of the form "How to successfully transplant" and "Common mistakes made in transplanting". 2. One needs to look at the comments under their "Seed Starting System" and not just the description. This is Styrofoam and people report that it is often non-reusable because it breaks as you remove the inserts (Grow Sponges) for transplant. And it floats on the surface of the water -- none of the air circulation around the roots that AG advertises as so beneficial (and I didn't find an explanation of why). And why don't they need the Grow Domes and the Pod Labels? Especially since the Pod Labels are advertised as useful/important in reducing the evaporation of water from the tank when you have the normal 7 pods vs 66 pods for the Seed Starting System. 3. The insert is similar to the Hydrofarm JSEF55 Smart Float Grow Tray with Plugs (and about the same price per position). Searching keyed to that product and its ilk may produce useful advice (I haven't looked yet). ==== Examples of problem in the documentation ==== 1. The maintenance schedule omits any mention of the existence of the filter on the water pump, much less cleaning it and changing it (every 6-8 months). I discovered this when scanning the product offerings on the web site. Similarly, the online maintenance schedule hadn't been updated to include this model (the Ultra). This sort of sloppiness is common. Plus: The filters are very inexpensive, bur rather than including several changes, you have to purchase them, with S&H making them *very* expensive (better alternative: go to a B&M fish/aquarium store). 2. When I clicked on what was advertised as an online tutorial for new owners, what I got was a brochure targeted at potential buyers formatted to be a glossy hardcopy handout. Most small startups try to avoid this mistake, and there is no excuse for a mature company to do it. 3. The documentation for the control panel is minimal -- just enough to get you started. I put water in the tank and started experimenting, but who knows what I missed or misunderstood. 4. When I looked at the advice on growing seeds for transplants, it said that the baskets came in two parts which were held together by the Pod Label. And in the AG product listing, there are "Easy Transplant Baskets" that "snap away". However, when I looked very closely at the right picture, "snap" seems to mean "break" not "disengage". Minor, but this is an example of the casualness of their descriptions. 5. For the seed kits, the descriptions of the plants can be vague. For example, it treats "cherry tomato" as good enough, ignoring/oblivious to the fact that there are a wide range of cherry tomatoes for different tastes and uses. I know that they have adapted some of the plants to better fit, but why not say "similar to variety X"? 6. Statements with no explanation. For example "baskets help regulate moisture levels in pods". I could find no info on when I needed to change what was happening or how to accomplish that. Or was this simply puffery? 7. Fertilizer is specified using different units in different places: Milli-liters, fluid ounces, and "season". I can convert between the first two, but why don't they just give both together (eg, with a parenthetical). As to "season", if you look around on the AG website, you can find the Rosetta Stone. This is yet another example of AG not putting what seem to be normal efforts into making their documentation user-friendly. -- Douglas B. Moran