My Honest Review of Click and Grow Indoor Garden
Read below for my honest review of Click & Grow indoor gardening system, including the pros and cons and basic overview of how to use!
I was contacted by the team at Click & Grow earlier in 2023 asking if I was interested in trying out their indoor smart garden. I was interested, but had to get the okay from my husband, who is our family’s green thumb! He was excited to get some fresh produce growing during the cold winter months here in the Midwest. I let the Click and Grow Garden team know that we were willing to try it out, and they sent it to us mid-December!
After almost three months, I thought it was time to document my thoughts about this smart garden and what has worked well for us (as well as what hasn’t worked)!
Read on below for our experience with the Click & Grow Smart Garden.
Table of Contents
Click and Grow Smart Garden 27 Overview
The Click and Grow team sent us the Smart Garden 27. The Smart Garden 27 comes with three Smart Garden 9 grow units (where the plants actually grow), and a stand made of birchwood with three tiers to place the three smart gardens.
Altogether, this smart garden is fairly compact, measuring about 47” tall, and just over two feet wide.
Included in the package were 27 plant pods to get us started. These pods are kind of like large coffee K-Cups, except they are filled with soil and seed. They’re designed to self-water from the water tank in each of the units. Pretty cool!
Setting up the unit took about 30 minutes from start to finish. I am fairly challenged when it comes to putting things together, but this was very do-able for me and the instructions were simple and clear.
We were pleasantly surprised with how fast set-up went! Once the smart garden and stand is set up, all you need to do is plug the gardens in, fill the water tanks, and drop seed pods in the openings. Very easy.
How to Use Click and Grow Seed Pods
To insert the plant pods, it’s as easy as dropping the pre-seeded pods in the open slots of the Click and Grow smart garden and filling the water tank. There are small plastic covers you will want to put over the top of the seed pods to make a greenhouse effect.
Using the plastic cover will help the seed germinate and sprout quicker! Check the photo below to see the little plastic covers on a few seed pods we were germinating (bottom row). Once the seed has sprouted and the plant is visible above the soil, you can remove the plastic cover.
If you want to grow with your own seeds, you can buy pods without seeds and sow your own seeds in them! Click and Grow calls them their “grow anything” plant pods.
Is Click and Grow Hydroponic
No, not technically. Hydroponic gardens do not use soil and Click and Grow is a soil-based system. There is a small amount of soil in each pod.
However, the garden is a self-watering system. Each seed pod has a funnel on the bottom with a hole in it that dips into the water tank. Each water reservoir holds about a gallon of water. You are able to test the water level by pressing down on the bobber top. If it pops back up, there’s still water in the tank!
I really like this watering system because it’s super-efficient. The plant takes what it needs, when it needs it! There’s no water pump to maintain, and overall, less water is used. It’s a great option for hydroponic gardening with minimal effort.
Also, if you’re like me and prone to overwatering (over loving) your plants, this takes all of the guess work out of watering.
Find the entire lineup of smart gardens and seeds on the Click and Grow web-site, check it out here! You can enter the code BLACKBERRY for a 10% discount on your purchase.
Our Favorite Seed Pods
Hands down, our favorite seed variety so far has been green leaf lettuce! It is SO bountiful. We had our first harvest (about a gallon-sized bag of lettuce) only 3 weeks after starting the seeds. Each green leaf lettuce pod has given us 4-5 harvests. The romaine lettuce varieties are slower growing than the green leaf lettuce, but they are thriving, too!
Other salad greens like red kale and Pak choi grow similarly to the romaine. Each pod has given us 3-4 harvests and we’ve been able to have awesome salads!
All of the herb varieties are also doing very well. After 2.5 months, we have not had to replace/re-start any of the herb pods yet. For herbs, we have successfully grown basil, parsley, mint and catnip. I am making sure to keep them trimmed before they go to seed!
Next up, I’m going to try rosemary, dill and chives and I’m sure they will be successful as well. Other than lettuce, we’re using the Click and Grow as an indoor herb garden, mostly.
We have had mixed results with the pepper pods and cherry tomatoes. They did put on fruit, but seemed limited in how tall they could grow, since the light source is fairly close to the plants.
The only seed pod that has been a total flop for us has been the wild strawberries. They grow just fine but put on the tiniest (cutest) little strawberries. I just don’t think the root system is big enough for the strawberries to fully develop.
We did have a few seed pods that never germinated but Click & Grow customer service happily replaced them for us! If you have this issue, they will work with you to make sure you have everything set up correctly, and if you do, they will send your replacement pods quickly.
Pros and Cons of the Click and Grow System
Click and Grow Pros
Ease of Use: Even though we have the larger Smart Garden 27, setting up the system took about 30 minutes from start to finish. The light settings mimic natural sunlight and automatically rotate the light cycle for you. We only had to fill the water tanks about every 5 days. Overall, this system is easy to figure out.
Low Maintenance: The Click and Grow system are a great option if you are a lazy gardener! Other than watering, there is not much maintenance involved at all.
Good for Limited Space: The compact size of this countertop garden is definitely a plus! If you buy a single Smart Garden 9, it will fit easily on your kitchen countertop. If you buy a Smart Garden 27 like we have, it is vertical in design, taking up minimal floor space in your living room or kitchen, and freeing up your counter space.
Attractive Design: Putting the Click and Grow Garden in your living space or even your bedroom would not look out of place! It works in small spaces and has an attractive modern design.
Healthier: Growing plants inside allows will naturally keep bugs off your plants, allowing you to enjoy the nutrients from your veggies without having to use pesticides or harmful substances.
Clean: I have seen some reviews complain about mold or algae growing in their system’s water tanks. We have not had that issue, but we always leave one plant pod space open to make sure there is air flow to the water tank.
Click and Grow Cons
Best for small plants: We did not have as much luck with plants that grow taller than the system itself. The plant growth seemed stunted once it surpassed the top bar where the light bars are. The height of the light may be a limiter if you’d like to grow larger plants. We did try growing vegetables like sweet peas and tomatoes. These plants produced for us but were fairly limited in yield. I believe these larger plants need more headroom and more soil to hit their optimal growth and production. While the small size of this garden is certainly a bonus when you have limited space, it also limits what plants will grow well.
Price of Seed Pods: I think the price for the garden units is fair, but I do think the price per pod is a bit expensive. I have been ordering the large packs of green lettuce to reduce the price per unit. Also, I am also now experimenting with the “Grow your Own” pods and reusing old pods to save a bit of money.
The Verdict
I think that the Click and Grow system is one of the best indoor gardens out there for growing leafy greens and fresh herbs! These are two items that are wildly overpriced in the grocery store, and really offer quite a bit of savings if you grow your own.
If you have limited space, like we do, I recommend starting with a Smart Garden 9 for your kitchen countertop to grow lettuce and herbs. Or there is an even smaller, mini countertop option called the Smart Garden 3 available.
If you know that you will want a wide variety of plants, the larger Smart Garden 27 is a great option! Make sure to use the discount code below for savings if you purchase!
Find the entire lineup of smart gardens and seeds on the Click and Grow website, check it out here! You can enter the code BLACKBERRY for a 10% discount on your purchase.
If you have any questions, I’d love to help! Just leave me a comment below and I’ll get back to you in 1-2 days.
Click and Grow provided me with a smart garden to test in my home. If you decide to purchase a smart garden, I may receive a small commission from your purchase, but your price will not change.
Did you try the garden using your own soil and seeds. If so, how did the plants do compared to the prefilled pods.
Hi Li! We just started experimenting with reusing the plastic pods and filling with our own seeds and soil. We used the Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil and basil seeds. It germinated quickly and seems to be happy! I have not harvested yet but have not noticed any big difference between our homegrown pod and the basil pods we used in the first round of growing. We will be doing more of our own pods for sure.
Are there any molding issues within the water reservoirs?
Hi Doria! We have not yet had an issue with that in the water tanks. I will occasionally leave a hole empty for a bit (when a plant is spent and I don’t have a seed pod ready for it), and I think that may help with keeping the tanks aired out.
Hi is there any sample set provided?
Hi Kader! Are you asking if there are sample seed pods included with the garden? Just let me know!