There is a tradeoff between more automation and less customizability, but even the lowest-maintenance options on this list will vastly expand what you can grow in your kitchen. It’s too much for me maybe I would have graduated to grow lights and oxygen pumps eventually, but I love having an indoor garden automate out some of the work. Hard-core plant people love the control offered by the latter, but it can be a barrier to entry for the casual kitchen gardener. Hydroponic growing can be as simple as drilling holes in a food-grade plastic tub, filling it with a fertilizer solution, and waiting (if you’re curious, that’s called the Kratky method), or as complicated as choreographing a system of grow-light timers and fertilizing schedules customized for your plants’ needs. Many indoor gardens use a form of hydroponics, the practice of growing plants’ roots in nutrient-fortified water instead of soil. “The roots of herbs are somewhat simplistic. (The best strategy I’ve found to avoid this: Trim the herbs’ stems like flowers, place in a cup of water in the fridge, and cover loosely with a large Ziploc bag.) I’ve tried growing herbs in pots with limited success: “Generally, city kitchens do not have the full sun required to keep herbs alive,” says Sera Rogue, owner of Brooklyn gardening company Red Fern. As a heavy herb consumer, I hate spending money on a sad bundle of grocery-store mint that wilts within a couple days. An indoor-gardening kit is a great insurance plan guaranteeing that you’ll always have access to fresh herbs, plus any other produce with a short harvest-to-wilt window, like lettuce and flowers - you can pick your greens minutes before you use them.

Indoor garden system download