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I dream of having a huge garden, but I also refuse to live outside of a city (at least for now). So that backyard garden is a bit of a pipe dream. However, I’ve found a great alternative that allows me to harvest fruits, veggies, herbs, and flowers while living in an apartment.
Gardyn is an indoor hydroponic garden that uses a water tank and bright grow light to foster plant growth in indoor conditions that wouldn’t be typically conducive to garden life. I’ve been using the Gardyn Studio in my apartment for about three months, and I love it.
Gardyn vs. other indoor smart gardens
What drew me to Gardyn over, say, AeroGarden or Click & Grow is the sheer size and number of plant slots. My Gardyn Studio holds up to 16 plants and measures 1 foot 5 inches W x 1 foot D x 4 feet 6 inches H. It fits nicely in a corner of my apartment and takes up about the same amount of space as my snake plant.
Gardyn also has a Home version, which has a larger footprint and holds up to 30 plants. This would be a great option for families or households that are trying to be self-sufficient and rely less on grocery store produce.
I like Gardyn’s options more than the typical countertop size of other indoor gardens because they feel like I can actually harvest real amounts of food, rather than just snipping some herbs now and then.
The Gardyn Studio has 16 slots for plants.
Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable
How Gardyn works
Setup is fairly easy and straightforward, if a little bit time-consuming. I assembled the posts and popped each yPod into place. There is a handy guide for each starter kit that shows which yCubes each plant should go in.
The Gardyn Studio fits nicely in the corner of my living room.
Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable
After placing all of my plants on the Gardyn, I filled the tank with water and plant food, and it’s been relatively self-sufficient since then. I’ve been using Gardyn’s AI assistant, Kelby, which creates schedules for me. So my Gardyn regulates its own light and water schedules. I just have to refill the tank, occasionally clean the tank, maintain roots, and trim/harvest the plants.
I saw growth within a few days
The Gardyn app says to expect sprouts within seven to 21 days, depending on the plant. I saw sprouts for most of my plants within three days, with a couple of stragglers coming past the seven-day mark.
This was taken three days after I set up the Gardyn Studio.
Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable
I received the Budding Florist starter kit that includes seven greens, three herbs, and six flowers. Each plant grew at a different rate, but after two months, my entire Gardyn was bursting with life.
At the three-month mark, I’ve had to frequently harvest and trim back my plants to avoid them growing out of control. Not everything in the starter kit is something I’d eat, so I got a little lazy with my harvesting. But if I were growing only flowers, fruits, and veggies that I like, the abundance would be incredible.
The Gardyn app hosts a wide selection of plants you can buy to swap into your Gardyn. And if you pay for a membership, you get five free shop credits each month to use toward new plants.
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Harvesting the plants
My leafy greens grew faster than the rest of the plants, so for my first harvest, I simply grabbed some butterhead lettuce to go on top of some burgers I grilled. As the rest of my plants have matured, I’ve been experimenting with different salads and adding chopped bunching onions and purple basil to dishes for some extra flavor. (They were particularly good on a baked potato and lasagna soup, respectively.)
I have to confess, I am historically not a big salad eater. I hate the crunchy white parts of romaine, so most salads from restaurants or grocery stores just aren’t my cup of tea. However, the butterhead and green salanova lettuce from my starter kit are the perfect leafy greens for my tastes. I make a little honey lemon dressing and croutons from homemade sourdough to create a refreshing side salad with my dinners throughout the week.
The butterhead lettuce I grew made for the perfect burger topper.
Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable
Side salad and bunching onions courtesty of my Gardyn.
Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable
The produce from Gardyn tastes so fresh, and it feels good knowing exactly where my food came from — and that it’s pesticide-free.
The flowers have been a little more difficult to harvest, just because their stems are so short. But I’ve made some mini bouquets, and I also just love the brightness and color they add to the corner of the room where my Gardyn sits. Gardyn also sells a vase that accommodates yPods that would be a great option to let the flowers shine on their own.
I grew a whole freakin’ sunflower in my living room!
Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable
Like I said, sometimes I get lazy with pruning my plants, but after everything is full-grown, you will definitely need to manicure the Gardyn to avoid overcrowding. If I neglect my plants for a week, they’re fighting each other for space.
Kelby is my new best friend
Gardyn users have the option to pay for Kelby, which is Gardyn’s AI assistant. A one-year membership costs $22 per month (or $264 per year), and a two-year membership costs $19 per month ($228 per year).
It’s super helpful to be so hands-off and let things happen automatically. But you could definitely get by without Kelby if you don’t want to dish out that kind of money — especially if you already have some experience taking care of plants.
Kelby set my watering and light schedule for me, and I’ve been able to make adjustments as needed — I shortened my light schedule and adjusted the brightness during certain hours because having a bright light blasting in my living room at 11 p.m. simply was not in the cards for my journey.
The reminders to clean my tank or add more water have been really helpful. I don’t need to pay too much attention to the device itself since I get these alerts directly to my phone.
Vacation mode was nice when I went on a week-long lake trip with my family. I knew my plants wouldn’t die while I was gone, but they also wouldn’t grow out of control.
A Gardyn membership also includes the five monthly store credits, free shipping monthly, exclusive member-only plants, 60% off all plants and plant food, vacation mode, and unlimited timelapse videos.
Is Gardyn worth it?
As someone who lives in a city and has no plans to move somewhere with a yard anytime soon, the Gardyn feels totally worth it. I can’t count the number of times I’ve frustratedly thrown out produce from the grocery store that I swore I would eat before it went bad. Being able to just snip what I need from my Gardyn lets me eat fresh produce whenever I want and cut down on food waste.
I also have such a sense of accomplishment harvesting food and flowers that I grew by myself — made even more satisfactory by how little work it’s actually required from me.
If you just want to grow a few herbs and maybe some cherry tomatoes, you’d probably be better off with a smaller (and cheaper) tabletop hydroponic grower. Yes, Gardyn is pricy, but if you truly want to commit to a garden but don’t have the outdoor space, it’s a worthy investment.
