I must confess I love having an herb garden in my house. I grew up living on 11 acres of land with my parents having a huge garden. We were taught at an early age how to weed and care for a garden and often had fresh herbs and homemade meals. Now that I have my own house, I still love the taste of that garden in my own home.
Luckily it is easy to have fresh herbs in your own house with a kitchen countertop hydroponics kits. I have owned, tried, and reviewed quite a few different models. Having owned an AeroGarden, I wanted to try the biggest alternative, Click N Grow, so I could compare them side by side to see which was better.
In order to make it a fair comparison, I wanted to try out their base models and decided on the AeroGarden Harvest and the Click N Grow Smart Garden. This comparison will work well across all of the AeroGarden and Click N Grow platforms.
Click N Grow 3 Compared to the AeroGarden Harvest
I will compare the Click N Grow 3 to the Aerogarden Harvest in 11 different categories. I don’t think the weight of these categories is equal, but will hopefully help you in making a decision on which one to buy. I chose these two models because they both retail for around $100.
Cost to Purchase
Click N Grow
AeroGarden
See Price at AeroGarden with 40% off coupon
Edge: Even
Speed and Ease of Set Up
To test how easy the system is to set up I had my 12-year-old set it up for me. He used the manuals for each to set them up.
The Click N Grow Set Up
- Open the package
- Pull the water basin out of the box
- Pull out the wicking sponge and cup that will hold the grow capsule
- Put the grow cup into the open slots for the water basin
- Open the package with the grow sponges
- Place the 3 grow sponges into the water basin cups
- Place cap and cover over the grow sponges
- Fill with water until the float is even with the top of the water basin cover
- Attach grow lights
Total time for my 12-year-old: 5:41
The AeroGarden Harvest Set Up
- Open the package
- Pull the water basin out of the box
- Pull the tape off of the water basin
- Put the pods out of the pods and nutrients box
- Put the pods into the water basin
- Put water into the basin to the fill line
- Place covers over the grow pods
- Raise grow light to have room to add nutrients
- Remove nutrients from box
- Using teaspoon or nutrients lid add nutrients
- Adjust grow light to its lowest setting
Total time for my 12-year-old: 7:37
Both systems were very easy to set up. The two things that took slightly longer for the Harvest were the time to add nutrients and the extra time required to fill the water basin.
Advantage: Click N Grow
Intensity of Lights
Click N Grow
The Click N Grow LED lights use 13W lights.
AeroGarden
The AeroGarden has LED lights that use 20W.
Advantage: AeroGarden
Quantity of Basil Raised
Both of them grew quite a bit of basil. I was able to cut back both of them a few times to get more basil. Overall with the larger light and ability to add nutrients, I found that the Aerogarden grew significantly more basil.
Advantage: AeroGarden
Quality of Basil Raised
Both of the basil plants looked healthy, however the Click N Grow looked a little darker and had a deeper flavor. Both systems produced quality basil leaves that tasted great in pesto and on their own.
Advantage: Click N Grow
Cost of New Grow Kits
Click N Grow
3 seed kits averages around $10 so the average per pod is $3.33.
AeroGarden
6 seed kits are between $12-$15 depending on type purchased. This averages $2-$2.50 per pod.
Advantage: AeroGarden. The price is similar if a lot of Click N Grow packages are bought together.
Cost to Operate
Click N Grow
LED lights use 13W lights that consume 6.2KWh per month. However it only has 3 seed pods. The average amount per seed pod is 2 KWh per month.
AeroGarden
LED lights use 20W lights that consume 12KWh per month. The AeroGarden has 6 seed pods. The average amount per seed pod is 2 KWh.
Advantage: Even
Maintenance During Plant Growth
Click N Grow
The Smart Garden requires very little maintenance or care while your plants are growing. All you will have to do is keep the water level up the fill line. The SmartGarden does not have any automatic reminder you will need to check the float that sits at the end of the water basin.
When the float is below flush with the top of the water basin, it is running low. Just pour water into the slot around the water basin float until the top of the float is flush with the water basin. The water will require very little filling during the beginning stages of the plant growth. When the plants are large, water will need to be added at least every other day.
AeroGarden
The Harvest requires a bit more care than the Smart Garden does because it requires nutrients to be added periodically. The best part about AeroGardens when it comes to maintenance during plant growth is that it has some really smart features.
There are two very important sensors or timers that help you keep up on your plants. These sensor lights turn red when it is time to add nutrients or water. When the nutrients or leaf sensor turns red, add one capful of nutrients to the water basin. When the blue water droplet sensor turns red, add water up to the fill line in the water basin. If both the water drop and leaf sensor turn red, fill the water and then add nutrients. The nutrients have to be replaced every two weeks.
Advantage: Click N Grow
Ability to Grow Using Your Own Seeds
Click N Grow
This is not an option that is available for the smart soil pods of the Click N Grow.
AeroGarden
Sponge kits can be purchased without any seeds pre-seeded. Kits are available with blank pods and planting sponges. To plant your own seeds, simply add 2-3 seeds to each basket to plant your own seeds in the AeroGarden. The baskets can be re-used at least 3 or 4 times if they are cleaned well. To get the best results, thin the sprouts to 1-2 per pod.
Advantage: AeroGarden
Long Term Maintenance
Click N Grow
The Click N Grow requires water to be filled and the LED lights will eventually burn out. The cost of a replacement LED light is around $23. The Click N Grow requires you to replace the seed pod kits every time. There are no nutrients to buy.
AeroGarden
The AeroGarden requires a lot more cleaning after use. It also requires water and nutrients refill. Both the pump and the LED lights have to be replaced when they go bad. The pump costs about $13, the LED light costs can vary and must be bought through the AeroGarden site.
Advantage: Click N Grow
Maintenance after One Grow Session
Click N Grow
After each use the water basin must be emptied and cleaned out. New seed pods need to be put into the basin and then the machine needs to be turned on.
AeroGarden
The roots must be removed from the water basin taking special care to remove all roots near the pump. The water basin must be cleaned thoroughly with soap and any excess water residue must be cleaned with a toothbrush. After cleaning, water must be put in the basin and then new seed pods and nutrients are added. Cleanup is significantly more time consuming with the AeroGarden.
Advantage: Click N Grow
Appearance of the Countertop Grow Systems
Both the Click N Grow and AeroGarden look good out of the box. The Click N Grow is just a little more sleek looking. Because it does not use a pump, the Click N Grow will look slightly better after use.
Advantage: Click N Grow
Final Thoughts and Recommendations
My personal favorite of these two is the AeroGarden. The main reason for me is the ability to avoid buying seed pods every time. This can take your cost down significantly to raise your own plants indoors. This savings is almost $2/pod. As an avid gardener spending a little more time on cleaning up the water basin or adding nutrients is not a big deal.
However, for the gardener that doesn’t want to clean or do much maintenance and just wants to use the pre-made seed pods then the Click N Grow is probably the best solution for you. Either of these products will leave you with some great basil perfect for making your own pesto or using to season your food.
FAQs
What is Smart Soil?
Smart Soil is the key technology of the Click N Grow System. It creates a balance between the nutrients, PH, and oxygen levels. It is inspired based on some NASA space growing technology. Time release nutrients and things that a plant needs to grow are pre-installed in the smart soil. The soil is also pH balanced to improve plant growth.
Is it difficult to use a hydroponics grow system?
No, in fact a 12-year-old set up my system in less than ten minutes. It is much easier to use a hydroponic system like AeroGarden or Click N Grow then growing plants in a pot. Just follow the step by step instructions from either and you will have your system put together and running in no time. Hydroponic systems take the guesswork out of gardening.
Does an AeroGarden take up a lot of space?
Herbs in the ground typically require about 4 square feet (0.4 square meters) per herb. An Aerogarden only takes up about 2 square feet (0.2 square meters) of space.
