REVIEW – We are in the day and age of eating healthy, and in my household, we grow all of our leafy diet and many of our greens organically at home. While we have a great outdoor garden that produces enough food in the summer to last throughout the year, we don’t want to stop growing in the winter. We want to produce food all year round. One way to do this is with hydroponic systems, Enter the Vertefarm Hydroponic Home Garden.
What is it?
The Vertefarm Hydroponic Home Garden is an indoor hydroponic gardening system that caters to both novices and seasoned gardeners. It features Vertefarm’s innovative Root Recirculating Drip Irrigation system that ensures optimal plant growth and prevents root rot and dehydration. The UV light technology sterilizes circulating water, maintaining a clean environment. The design includes full-spectrum grow lights to optimize plant growth efficiency, and the automatic control system reduces effort. This can be managed through a user-friendly app.
What’s included?
- 1 x Vertefarm Hydroponic Home Garden System
- 1 x User Manual
- 48 x Starter Plants with Nutrients
- 1 x EC (Electrical Conductivity) Meter
- 1 x Set of PH Strips
Tech specs
Design and features
- Peak Nutrition. Enjoy vegetables harvested minutes ago, rich in vitamins and nutrients.
- Purity Guaranteed. Grow your hydroponic plants, pesticide-free.
- Natural Air Purification. Enhance your indoor air quality, naturally cleansed and humidified by plants.
- Simplicity at its Best. Enjoy gardening with minimal effort, thanks to automated water and light control.
- Eco-Conscious Cultivation. Cultivate 48 plants year-round in just 0.25 square meters, saving space equivalent to 20 square meters of land.
The Vertefarm Hydroponic Home Garden is made from food-grade materials and features 48 growing pods on the front. The base is the water tank that uses a built-in pump to irrigate the plants. The scheduling for irrigation, the growing lights, and the water acidity/alkaline balance are controlled via the app. Vertefarm also included an EC meter. On the front, two full-length growing lights can be swung left or right to provide light where needed. The floating water measurement stick in the base has three colors: yellow, green, and red, which let you know when the water is low and needs to be refilled.
Assembly and setup
Assembling the Vertefarm Hydroponic Home Garden requires several steps, but it is not difficult. It takes time and attention to ensure that all the parts fit correctly. Here are some photos and a video from my assembly experience:
The first part of the setup involves attaching the four casters. Two of the casters are lockable, and two are not. It makes sense to install the lockable casters in the front so that they are easily reachable when moving the Vertefarm.
Once the wheels were on, it was time to attach the two vertical aluminum poles. These poles are essential since they are the foundation for keeping the sections together and properly aligned. The parts for the Vertefarm come in two boxes (A&B).
Next, it was time to stack the sections that make up the pods. Time must be taken to align these sections properly, ensuring that they snap together snugly. Keep in mind that water is dispensed to all of the pods via the internal pump. Any opening will result in leaks.
Once all the sections are properly stacked, the next step is to attach the water hoses and the electrical wires to the LED light poles. Once the electrical connections are made, the light poles can be attached. Be aware that this Vertefarm is tall. If you are shorter than 6 feet tall, you might need a step stool like I did. 🙂
The design includes slots in each channel to house the water hose and wires. Magnets are included that you insert into the slots to hold the channel covers in place magnetically.
Two nice covers are included for the base. The left section in the base is for storing the supplies, and the right section is for adding water and nutrients.
Vertefarm sends live seeded plants that have been seeded in plant cubes, I believe this material is organic Rockwool. The last step in assembly is to insert the plants with the attached cubes into the pods. There is a floating plastic rod that indicates the existing water level and when to add more water.
Just in case you missed a step, here is a quick timelapse video of me assembling and setting up the Vertefarm:
Performance
The Vertefarm Hydroponic Home Garden produces great leafy greens and is simple to use and maintain. Even if you do not have what is commonly known as a “green thumb” you can successfully grow your greens.
Vertefarm also includes an EC Meter that allows you to test the water to determine if there are adequate nutrients. It also tests the PPM (Parts per million (ppm) is a unit of measurement used to express the concentration of chemicals or impurities in water) and temperature of the water.
App:
The following screens show some of the app’s functionality. It allows you to monitor the system, the quality of the water, and the need for nutrients.
Overall, this is a fantastic hydroponic system. The design and construction are well thought out and engineered and all the parts work together flawlessly. While those front LEDs do get quite hot and should have a warning label, they produce great light that produces healthy growth and nice plants. The design is also attractive which is great since this system is designed to be used indoors and even caters to apartment dwellers allowing everyone to eat healthy. It can be integrated into any design in any room. When the plants are being watered, you can hear the water flowing and the result gives you the relaxation of a calming water fountain. In addition to the live plants that can be purchased from Vertefarm, my wife has also purchased Rockwool cubes on her own and successfully planted seeds and grown jalapeno peppers, wheat grass, other varieties of lettuce, etc.
Now it’s time to reap the benefits and enjoy a healthy salad:
What I like about the Vertefarm Hydroponic Home Garden
- Everything is included to get started right away, including live plants
- It is nicely designed and sturdy
- The EC Meter and PH strips are included
- The app provides good controls
- Plants grow well
What needs to be improved?
- The external facing side of the LED lights gets very hot and can inflict a burn. This can be especially dangerous for children.
Final thoughts
The Vertefarm Hydroponic Home Garden works very well to grow your food indoors all year round. The system is well-designed, attractive, and well-built. Even a novice with a not-so-green thumb can be successful using this.
Price: $650.00
Where to buy: Vertefarm website
Source: Vertefarm provided a free sample for this review. Vertefarm did not have a final say on the review and did not preview it before it was published.
