The price of this product makes it possible for us to have an indoor garden that can be used as a regular or hydroponic system and not have to spend $1000.00 or more to do so like so many others.

After a lot of research, we decided on the Smart Farm for our vertical gardening solution because of the packaged system with all of the components and the price advantage over the other options. We wanted a garden we could install on our back deck to grow all of the lettuce, tomatoes, herbs and spices we regularly use for dinner. The large planter areas on this model make it easy to plant 1-3 plants per section and with 20 sections we still had room for some extras like strawberries and peppers. Assembly was super easy and the pump, timer and drip system work flawlessly. We only planted our plants yesterday so no word on the yield yet but it seems like this is exactly what we wanted. The kit includes the hydroponic nutrients to fill the generous 16 gallon reservoir about 7 times. I emailed Mr. Stacky and they sent us plenty of coco growing medium at no charge which arrived the day after the Smart Farm. We decided to buy some Perlite and mix it with the coco for planting. The only other things we purchased to get our garden growing was plants, a pH monitor and some pH down solution.

I wrote a longer review but lost it while I was adding my pictures, so I'll post this first to get the pictures and a short summary. Maybe I'll rewrite whatever I lost later.

The system is great if you'r willing to google and learn things while building it. If you're a do-it-yourselfer and want to get started with hydroponics but don't know what to get, this is a really amazing kit. Just know, it doesn't teach you hydroponics and some of the pieces are things you could get on your own at a local hardware store, but this is a kit with all the parts you need to get started.

After owning this product for atleast a year now I felt pretty ready to write a review. The package shipped fine and I also purchased coco coir and perlite to fill it with. I also purchased a small grow light since it was winter. To start I had it water twice a day for 3 minutes. My seedlings LOVED it. My biggest issues were that it needed to be in a south facing window. I had it in a north facing window where it got no sun and the grow light wasn't enough, so anything not within 6 inches of the grow light died. My second issue was that it wasn't movable once filled. By the end of winter I had some cilantro in the second to top tier and two mini tomato plants with ripe fruit on the top level.

Unfortunately I decided to take it down all together and remove the plants. The hydroponic system just wasn't for me. I didn't enjoy having to add nutrients and my plants had very few root systems. I just recently re assembled the product with standard potting soil. I also put it on a little stand with wheels purchased at home depot. I also now have a South facing window for it. I'm going to attempt to grow flowers over the winter instead of vegetables.
I truly do love this system for a small home especially with kids it is such a great learning activity. So do I regret buying it? Nope. I think any "growing issues" are user error and not applicable to the system itself. Would I buy it again? No not at that price. When I received it I realized I could have easily made my own system for much cheaper. All you would need is some stacking planters, a 5 gallon bucket, a small submersible pump, and some PVC pipe and fittings. I'm excited to see how it grows with potting soil versus hydroponics. Will update later down the road.

I bought this for a back porch hydroponic system. Within 3 days, the first hydroponic pump burned out. I contacted the seller and they were amazing. Within a day they had shipped me a new pump. The unit is sturdy and easy to put together.

If you're going to grow hydroponically know the system is really soil designed. When you drop your stacks down, make sure your center piece of PVC is covered with something ( I used tin foil). Particularly if you use perlite or hydroton to grow in. Otherwise as you slide them down you shove perlite or hydroton down the center tube and it clogs.