**** WOW!! ****
THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST INSIDE HYDROPONIC GROWING SYSTEM-- EVER!! IT'S --TRULY-- THE ULTIMATE!! AND, JUST WOW!!-- IT REALLY IS SO VERY EASY- FOR ME AND THE KIDS!! WE'VE TRIED MANY OTHERS... AND JUST RECENTLY, ANOTHER BRAND THAT WAS ON SALE DURING THE 2 AWESOME AMAZON SALES DAYS!! BUT, THE OTHER BRAND WAS IMMEDIATELY RETURNED. IT'S TRUE THAT YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
THIS AEROGARDEN ELITE, IS TRULY ONE OF THE BEST BUYS I'VE EVER MADE. IT'S REALLY IMPRESSED ME, EMENSELY!! I WAS TFULY SHOCKED ON HOW EASY IT WAS TO SET UP AND GET STARTED. I'M NOT MECHANICALLY INCLINED... BUT, IT WAS REALLY SO SIMPLE & SO EASY FOR ME TO DO, ALONE! I IMPRESSED THE HUBBY.
**** THE AEROGARDEN ELITE, IS THE ONE I BOUGHT... AND, I AM SOOO GLAD THAT I DID! IT'S SOO WELL MADE, IT LOOKS GTEAT- GOES WITH EVERYTHING, NO MATTER WHICH ROOM I PUT IT IN.
IT ACTUALLY TELLS YOU EXACTLY WHAT TO DO, AND WHEN!! THERE'S NO GUESSING, NO FORGETTING ANYTHING, ETC.. - IT'S JUST SO EASY!!
*** I FOUND OUT THE BASE PLATFORM HAS BEEN INCREADED AND IS NOW SO BIG & HAS 9 PLANTING AREAS... THAT IT'S SO STURDY AND STABLE ENOUGH TO SUPPORT GROWING VEGETABLES (even ones that'll require small trellises, before they grow up to 2 feet tall & you can prune them, constantly, to make them THICKER, not just tall and look "limby".... they'll be REALLY bushy and BEAUTIFUL!! - which helps them stay healthier and become much THICKER and heartier, before you replant them)- SO THEY'RE READY FOR HARVEST, FOR SALADS, ETC... THAT ARE FRESH CUT... AND ANY HERBS, PEPPERS, ETC.!
I CAN'T WAIT FOR OUR 2nd PLANTING
IT SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY INDOOR HYDROPONIC GROWING SYSTEM THAT CAN ACTUALLY USE OTHER PRODUCTS, LIKE MIRACLE GROW & HAS KITS, SO YOU CAN PLANT ANYTHING YOU WANT TO.
WE STARTED BY GROWING FRESH CATGRASS AND FRESH CATNIP... WHICH ALL SPROUTED SO FAST- LIKE JUST DAYS!! IT'S BEEN SOOO MUCH FUN WATCHING THE CATS "MUNCH" AWAY, AS THEY CONTINUE TO GROW... AND, THEY HAVEN'T HURT THE PLANTS, AT ALL!
THE KIDS ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT THEY PLANTED A GARDEN JUST FOR OUR FUR BABIES AND WATCHING THEM REALLY "LOVE" EATING THEIR OWN GARDEN-- MAKES THEM SO HAPPY & THEY HAVE SO MUCH FUN!
-- ESPECIALLY KNOWING THAT THEY PLANTED THEM. IT'S GIVEN OUR KIDS A LOT OF JOY AND A MAJOR SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT!
WE DIDN'T EXPECT THIS TO BE A "LEARNING EXPERIENCE", AT ALL. BUT, IT HAS BECOME A MAJOR ONE. THE BEST PART IS THAT OUR KIDS DON'T EVEN REALIZE THAT THEY'RE LEARNING ABOUT ANYTHING, AT ALL. THEY'RE ACTUALLY LEARNING A WHOLE LOT; ABOUT PLANTING, GROWING, TAKING CARE OF THEIR PETS. SOON, THEY WILL BE HARVESTING ON THEIR OWN, AFTER WE PLANT OUR OWN GARDEN- FOR THE FAMILY. I'LL TEACH THEM HOW TO "PRUNE" THE YOUNGLING PLANTS, TO MAKE THE PLANTS AS THICK AND LUSH AS POSSIBLE, BEFORE IT'S TIME FOR US TO BE ABLE TO START TAKING FRESH CUTTINGS DIRECTLY FROM THE PLANTS, TO PUT IN OUR OWN RECIPES!! THE FRESHER THE INGREDIENTS, THE BETTER THE FOOD WILL TASTE... AND, THAT'S JUST GUARANTEED BY NATURE, ITSELF!!
I CAN HARDLY WAIT FOR THE TIME FOR THAT TO START HAPPENING!!
THEY TRULY --LOVE-- SHOWING OUR FUR BABIES HOW MUCH THEY'RE LOVED & BEING ABLE TO GROW FOOD THAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY NEEDING MORE OF, IN THEIR DIET & THAT'S ACTUALLY SO GOOD FOR THEM-- AND NEEDED. "INSIDE CATS" DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO GRASS FIBER GROWING OUTSIDE... AND, THE WRONG KIND OF GRASS, WILL GET THEM SICK OR REALLY UPSET THEIR STOMACHS AND MAKE THEM THROW UP EVERYWHERE. OUTSIDE, THEY EAT GRASS- TO HELP SETTLE THEIR TUMMIES OR THEY HAVE A NATURAL "CRAVING" FOR GRASS AND FIBER. GROWING THE RIGHT CAT GRASS ASSURES US THAT THEY'LL BE GETTING THE COMPLETE NUTRITION THEY NEED & FIBER, AND WE KNOW THAT THIS GRASS WON'T MAKE THEM SICK.... --AND, WON'T HAVE ANY PESTICIDES OR CHEMICALS ON IT, FROM BEING OUTSIDE, IN THE YARDS.
WE LOVE OUR AEROGARDEN ELITE!!
-- I HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE DECIDE TO BUY IT... CAUSE IT'S DEFINITELY BEEN WORTH IT AND A LOT OF FUN FOR THE FAMILY!!

This was a gift for my wife on X-Mas. Easy to get started and plants grow very fast. The light is bright and when the plants are growing it gives a nice relaxing ambience to a kitchen void of greenery. We have already dehydrated a bunch of dill and basil, about 40 days. I'd highly recommend this model and personally wish I'd the bigger model so I could grow more.

I loved this thing out of the box. Very easy to set up and I started with four pods of salad greens (which all turned out to be red leaf lettuce) plus thyme, dill and Italian parsley. I also ordered some of the plant your own pods and some seeds, so five days after initial setup I planted a Tiny Tim tomato and a miniature pepper plant.

ALL of the pods germinated within the first week, even those that were labeled as taking 2-3 weeks to germinate. The lettuce is growing gang busters, and I got to harvest after only 3 weeks. Now to be sure, this is not enough lettuce to feed a family, but a fresh personal salad or two each week is nice. I just trim a few leaves here and there as they start to get tall and block light to other plants. And then new leaves grow.

The dill was maybe a mistake for me: it grows fast and tall, and if you trim it, it just gets bushier. And I don't use that much dill. (But it sure smells nice when I cut it.) I also made a mistake planting the thyme in the back amidst the lettuce: it's a shorter plant and constantly in danger of having its light blocked by the lettuce. But it's doing well, and so is the parsley. (The pods are labeled as to whether plants are tall or short; I just didn't notice this at first when I planted.)

The tomato plant is about 5 inches high after 4 weeks; the pepper similar. I have no idea how long it will take them to produce something edible. But you know what? I don't care. The whole thing looks so lush and I so enjoy watching green things grow ... and no weeding! And no bugs!

Right after setup I ordered another one for my daughter, who planted only herbs. And recently I ordered still another one of these for myself, this time to plant flowers and perhaps expand my lettuce supply.

Now there are a couple of things to know:

The first is that the LED lights are VERY bright. You need a room for this where no one is disturbed by the bright light because they have to be on 11-14 hours a day. Fortunately, you can set the schedule to work best for you: mine goes off at 10 pm.

The second is that Aerogarden doesn't tell you up front that they are going to recommend removing all the water and replacing it sometime before the third or 4th feeding. And for this you need a siphon. Aerogarden sells one (and you can get it here on Amazon) but there are other choices as well. Just keep this in mind and have one on hand before your first month is up.

Otherwise, I'm just delighted with this device. I noticed there's a version for kids that has windows in the base so they can see the roots growing. I might have to consider that for a birthday present because my granddaughter keeps taking the lid off to look in and see all the roots.

This thing is NICE! Christmas present from my wife. Set up was simple. Didn't even look at the directions. Touch screen controls all make sense. Absolutely quiet. Light is super bright. WiFi connection was easy. Works with my iPhone X. Now we wait and see if they grow!
Update- 2nd week, I'm seeing sprouts. 4th week, all pods have sprouts. After 7-8th week, growth has exploded!!!! Harvested first basil and parsley! This thing is amazing!

I was very much set on having an Aerogarden because I've seen others functioning very well. I received my unit this week and set it up and after multiple attempts, the lights still has not come on as scheduled. I did a chat with Customer Service who quickly wanted to send me to another site where I would have to pay a dollar As a trial and then a $49 membership. It's a very simple problem they could not be fixed and I will unfortunately have to return it. Customer Service could've solved this problem and the cost of the return. I'm very disappointed in the Customer Service. Prepping to return found and resolved lights. Keeping my Aerogarden Bounty.