If you want to grow herbs indoors then one of the cleanest and best methods is to use hydroponics…
The Smart Garden 3 is an ideal way of growing without knowing too much about gardening…
What is the click and grow 3
The click and grow 3 is a 3 pod indoor hydroponic system…
It is formed out of plastic so will last a long time…and is reusable…
It is a very pleasing design which will not look out of place in any kitchen or even living areas….
With the led grow light intensity and length of on time ideally suited for all the plant cycle, from germination to flowering.
How does the smart garden 3 work
The smart garden 3 is a hydroponic unit that works on the wick system…
This is where a wick is dropped into a water reservoir and transports it to the growing medium…
The growing medium absorbs the water and as the plant uses the water and it evaporates then more is supplied by the wick…
This is the perfect self watering system for certain growing mediums…
All you need to do is to make sure the wick is submerged in water at the bottom…
And you don’t overfill the reservoir to drown the plants…
There is a float at the end that the shows the water level in the reservoir…
The led light is on for 16 hours a day and off for 8 hours….
There is no off switch for the lights, so the ideal time to switch them on is first thing in the morning and then leave them on…
Setting up the click and grow 3 smart garden
The click and grow 3 comes packaged well in a sleeved box.
Removing the sleeve shows a welcome message from click and grow with the side of the reservoir….
Within the box with the welcome message contains the pre seeded smart soil units…3 basil in this case…
They are sealed within a plastic outer…
Pulling off the top exposes three smart soil preseeded pods …
Lifting the main unit out of the box also pulls the lower box as it is attached via a cable…
The cable is the power lead for the lights…
The lower box contains the power pack and different mains plug adapters…along with the extensions to raise the lights above the plants…
There is a little tip on the wrap for the light cable about switching the unit on just after getting up due to the light period…
With all of the extensions added the light cable is still 54 inches ( 137cm), so you need to find a mains outlet within this distance of where you place the smart garden…
With all the extensions inserted the lights reach an impressive 13.5 inches (34 cm), allowing your plants to grow to almost this height…you need to factor this in when placing the Click and grow 3…
Lifting the space helmets or grow domes from the grow cups you can see at the bottom the round wick….
There is a tab on the grow cup allowing you to write on there what you are growing …..
Snapping on the correct adapter allows you to plug in and switch on the lights…
Don’t look directly into the lights as they are very bright…
And if you turn the reservoir upside down your will find the float falls out of the end slot…
Don’t forget to put this back…
Now is the time to open the smart soil pack and pop them into the grow cups…
Position the unit in the place you will be growing and make sure the grow domes are in place…
Fill the reservoir with water 50.7 US FL Oz or 1.5 L
The water level indicator will reach about 1/2″(12mm) above the top of the garden…
When the smart soil absorbs the water then the float will drop to the top of the garden…
Pushing the float down, i marked the lowest level and about half way between…
This shows me when the system has absorbed a lot of the water and needs refreshing…
And that is essentially it…
No fuss no mess just growing….
How long do smart pods last
The smart soil pods contain everything your plants need to grow…
With all the nutrients releasing slowly over time…
Just adding water to the reservoir is all that is needed to maintain the smart garden…
As the grow cups contain the root mass there is a limit to how large and long your plant will grow…
With the roots being contained it does make it easier to transplant your plant into a pot to be grown on, indoors or even outdoors….
If you do move them outdoors make sure you acclimatize your plants or you may shock them and check for the conditions needed for them to grow…
The nutrients will typically last for 2-6 months dependant on the plant…
Unused smart soil will last up to a year if kept dry and in a dark place…
Maintenance of your smart garden
The main maintenance will be to keep your plants away from the lights…
Pruning the plants will allow them to bush out rather than just seek the light…
If the plants get too close to the lights then pull the cable from the reservoir and pull off the lights…
Add an extension arm and refit the lights to the top…
Feed the light cable into the slot and back into the reservoir…
Top up the water when the float goes down and don’t overfill it…
So it really is a simple system to keep in the kitchen or living room for fresh herbs or salad leaves…
What sort of pods are there
There are over 50 types of replacement pods…
Want some color in the living room …select the flowers ( cockscomb, cornflower , bizzielizzie)
Or some fresh tea go for the spearmint, lemon balm, sage or stevia…
Or more herbs …basil, oregano, rosemary, and dill…
So you can see that you have loads more to grow…
And if there is something you really want to grow and it isn’t in a seed pod kit.. there is always the experimental pods…just the smart soil and you supply the seeds…
Just remember no root vegetables…there just isn’t the room…
The other type of pod available is one with slits in it allowing the roots access to the water reservoir…
It prevents the soil dropping through but does allow for massive growth benefits for your plants…very similar to the aerogarden…
What do i think of the smart garden 3
In my opinion the smart garden 3 is a nice unit designed for people who like the idea of hydroponics and indoor gardening but don’t have much luck with plants in pots….
Just topping up the water tank with…water rather than having to measure out nutrients makes it a lot easier that the aerogarden…
The plants will not grow as large as in the aerogarden due to the constriction of the roots and the running out of food in the smart soil…
Having the light extensions loose means that you have to store them somewhere until you need them…
Then you have to dismantle the led grow light arm from the reservoir to add them…
It would have been nice to see the light arm as an extension…
I am sure they looked at that and decided not to do that…
And not having any noise, compared to the constant trickle of the original aerogardens or even the intermittent trickle of the newer ones, such a luxury at times…
So if you are interested and can use a pod coffee maker then you can grow in the click and grow system…
You get a high tech device with low tech maintenance…all the work is done in the plant pods, plant cup and lighting…
This is the smaller of the two in the range, they do a 9 pod unit where the led lighting is across the whole of the top which secures either side…looking like a bag with handle…
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Are they worth it…if you don’t have a green space to relax in then why not create your own…
I can see these placed around the house, in the living room, hall and kitchen…
You may need less lighting on when using them…
So let me know if you are thinking of getting one and what you are going to grow…
Thanks for reading….
I have been growing plants hydroponically since 2009. For years before that i was reading books and looking at systems and saying ...no way...
But once i had taken the plunge with the tomatoes outside, then there was no stopping me.
I tried out most of the systems and started to refine them, getting the plants to grow more efficiently.
Now I am more interested in indoor hydroponics and the challenges it presents. Being able to control the environment, feeding the correct nutrients and giving the correct length and type of lighting....