I was hoping to grow a few small vegetables during winter. The directions were easy to follow and it works great!

I used to have an Aerogarden system that hummed so loudly and irritated my soul, so I stopped growing hydroponically. I wanted to try again since I miss growing fruits. I was scared to try this Ahopegarden system for fear of the same thing happening. To my surprise, the thing is absolutely quiet! I have it set up in my room for fear of my small children tampering with it. I am a light sleeper and I was able to sleep through the night with this thing on. The instructions were easy to follow, which made setup easy, and the system came with all the parts in the box. The bright lamp extends higher than I thought, which was a pleasant surprise. Hopefully I’ll get to see my plants bear fruit. I will update with pictures soon. Happy hydroponic gardening!!

I got the black Friday discount, it was delivered within two days, the seeds came two days later, planted them immediately, they started growing within two days. Easy to use and it is self-explanatory registered the product as a reasonable guarantee. Looking forward to eating lettuce in about 3 to 4 weeks.

At the current price level, this Ahopegarden growing system offers 12 growing spaces while others in the same price range only offer 6 spaces. One of the biggest players in the hydroponic business, AeroGarden, has many kits that are more expensive than this growing system that only offer 6-9 growing spaces. Here's something noteworthy, AeroGarden is closing down its business on January 1st 2025, something I just learned while writing this review. That's unfortunate news, because they offer the best beginner friendly, truly foolproof systems. Let me explain more on that:I own three hydroponic systems. The AeroGarden Harvest, the AeroGarden Farm 24Plus, and this Ahopegarden 12 Pod Growing System.I'm not going to compare the Ahopegarden system to the Farm24Plus. The Farm24Plus cost fives times as much as this system, and for this reason has many more features that aren't available on the Ahopegarden. I can compare it to the AeroGarden Harvest, a small system with 6 pods.Where the AeroGarden Harvest shines is that it tells you when you need to add nutrients to the water (simply based on how much time has passed). The Ahopegarden does not have this feature. This is a fairly important feature, as plants can grow poorly and even die with inadequate nutrients (or too much). You will need to manually keep track of when you add nutrients, using your phone or a sticky note to remind you when to add nutrients again. The instructions book does at least offer some insight on how much nutrient to add, and a good rule of thumb would be to add nutrient every two weeks.Secondly, in my years of hydroponic growing, I've found that 16 hours of light is too much for plants like lettuce and herbs like basil. These plants will bolt under this much light, and 16 hours is the lowest setting you can use on the Ahopegarden. It will still take awhile before the plants bolt, but this means that unless you manually cut off the light, you risk your greens and herbs bolting and becoming bitter.Third, there are small open holes in the top of the Ahopegarden that I'm unsure what their purpose serves (included in the pictures). There is no mention of them in the instructions book. These holes are problematic because light hitting the water will cause algae growth (harmless to plants, but not fun to clean). The other problem with algae is that it can attract fungus gnats, and these holes will allow easy access to the water for these insects. Sure, you can mitigate this issue by covering them with some black electrical tape, but seeing as these holes serve no purpose, I don't understand why they were incorporated in the first place.Here's my take: If you're completely new to hydroponics, I would normally tell you to spend a bit more and buy an AeroGarden system. The features available on AeroGarden systems make them very beginner friendly, as they will let you know when nutrients need to be added and generally make the entire process fairly automated. But AeroGarden is going out of business, so it will be interesting to see who takes their place.If you have some experience with hydroponics and have owned other systems, this Ahopegarden system may work well for you. I like that it offers 12 pods at a price level lower than some 6 pod systems, but it's missing an important feature (nutrient levels), lacks more customized settings (for things like light schedules), and has a design flaw (unnecessary holes). It still makes growing plants much easier and faster than you would in soil, as long as you're providing the correct amount of nutrients.One final thing that should be mentioned, I have a lot of 3rd-party grow baskets and grow sponges, as well as the official AeroGarden version of these. They all fit within the Ahopegarden, so you do have options to buy generic versions of these to use with this system.

it's only been 1 week and the lettuce is starting to bud and grow! I'm excited about growing my own plants for a healthier lifestyle.

Perfect, slick design. Easy to set up and use. I can’t wait until the seed starts to sprout.

I just got it, it came with everything it said it would, and fast delivery I’ll update my review once I start planting

I purchased the product a week ago and planted jalapeños. I am starting to see themsprouts and can't wait to watch them grow!