Harvest Lite, Cream

Got my first one as a gift, then purchased two more. I did have trouble with one being defective but I want to say I had a wonderful experience with Aerogarden replacing the unit. I've noticed that most of the negative comments are coming from people who have had an earlier iteration of the aerogarden. This was my first and I really like it. It's super easy to put together and use. The light and timer are activated by the censor on top the hood, no buttons. Also, it has a safety mechanism, if the water runs low it will shut off the lights and pump. SO, when you are setting up, fill it with water before assuming it doesn't work because the lights and pump aren't coming on. The directions need to be a little better even with it being simple. They drop off after explaining how to connect the power and pieces together. They should take you through the entire set up before going off on different topics.

I’ll preface by saying I’m a senior and a gadget guy. A year ago, I bought the Aerogarden Harvest (another gadget) on sale, but didn’t set it up for another 10 months. Why? Well, I sometimes buy things on sale, but really want them as a gift down the road for someone. Then, as a senior, I forgot about it until after Christmas. A few months later, I realized that the Aerogarden has a 12-month warranty, so I figured that I better get started with it. Unfortunately, the included pre-seeded herb pods looks like they were all opened, so I had no idea what I was really planting until they started to sprout and I did a lot of juggling their name stickers. The unit was brand new in its original packaging, but the seed pods were definitely tampered with. I’ll call this Harvest model the 1.0 to avoid confusion. Four of the six pods sprouted and I was happy with that. I could have contacted Aerogarden to get replacements, but I planned to get another Aerogarden, and I’d have more than enough things to plant, especially after I bought a lettuce greens pre-seeded pod kit. My wife saw what a fun time I was having with the Harvest 1.0, that she figured that she’d surprise me a 2.0 for Father’s Day. I had read about and watched review videos about the Harvest 2.0 being a dog of a system. I writing here to explain that in my limited experience, that’s not the case. One review mentioned the inconsistent grow light timing to the point that I thought it was going to be on a random schedule. That’s not what I experienced. There are instructions on how to set the 2.0 grow light and the two Harvests I own have the same exact 15-hour schedule down to the minute, but are set up differently from each other. My only fear about opening this present and making the return more difficult was that this person was correct and my light schedule would be based on random times. Nope, it works fine. I believe that this person may missed this point in the directions or received a defective unit. The same reviewer mentioned that his 2.0 unit did not come with clear grow covers for holding humidity and didn’t know if that was an error or if the unit wasn’t supposed to have the grow covers. The 2.0 doesn’t have the grow covers included. Several reviewers have also pointed out that the 2.0 only puts out 15w of light compared to the 20w of the 1.0. I’m not experienced enough with hydroponic gardens to know if this will be a significant Achilles heel going forward. It’s plenty bright and if I didn’t already own the 1.0, I wouldn’t even notice. The Harvest 2.0 doesn’t come with pre-seeded pods. It comes with six grow your own pods and a pack of Black Seeded Simpson lettuce. This setup has given me the experience setting up my own pods that I only used one pod for the included lettuce seeds, and used the other five to start growing my own select herbs and tomatoes. I plan to never purchase pre-seeded pods ago as this was so easy. A new user will probably want to simultaneously order either pre-seeded pods with herbs and/or vegetables to gain experience with growing something other than the included lettuce. I also noticed that the water pump is smaller than the 1.0 pump and has a correspondingly smaller sponge filter. I didn't notice the filter until the first cleaning because it's on the bottom of the removable pump rather than on the pump's side like the 1.0. I have no reservations about recommending the Harvest 2.0 as an introduction to hydroponics or to add to an experienced user’s collection.

Update about two months later: I just downgraded my rating to a one star. The first pods I started never sprouted at all. So I bought some of the pre-seeded pods from the same brand that were guaranteed to sprout. Out of six pods only three sprouted. I am working on getting my refund on those but I never thought I would need to save the empty box for lot numbers on the pods. I don't know why things won't sprout in this Aerogarden. I finally found the instructions online and followed them to the letter. What a waste of money. Arrived today and I was shocked to find there were no instructions or seed pods. I bought a different brand a couple of months ago because this one was a little more than I wanted to pay and it came with everything but seeds. It is working great and I have basil coming out of my ears! So when this one went on sale I jumped to get it to add to my herb garden collection. Red is my favorite color too. If I didn't have the instructions from my other hydroponics set I wouldn't have any idea what to do. I don't know if I should complain to the company or not. In the video the lady got everything with her Aerogarden, but in the fine print description it says seeds and pods sold separately. But instructions? Don't they think someone might need those to get started? My husband just found safety instructions that say things like don't submerge in water. Duh! And a code to scan to get a quick start guide. Well since my smart phone doesn't have a scanner that won't do any good. I am really disappointed in this product, and if it wasn't red and I got it on sale I'd send it back.

Don’t go generic, this is truly worth it for results. Especially for the basil, leaves were so tender, grew quickly, so quickly that I have had to place in pots and start more because I couldn’t use it faster than it was growing. Beautiful leaves. Delicious and way better than store bought fresh basil.

I love it but the seeds they give you don’t work and missing the domes for each plant None of them worked I waited 24 days nothing I went out brought seeds in 5 days they were spouting Basil lemon and 5 others all beautiful Was missing the domes I had to buy them

I've been using this AeroGarden for about 3 months now, and I have to say, it's extremely easy to use. The unit is pretty solid, doesn't leak at all and even looks good. The adjustable light moves up and down easily so when the plants start growing, it's effortless to move the light higher. Because of the material used in construction, there doesn't appear to be any issues with the possibility of rust so I expect this to last a long time. Keep in mind, this unit does not come with the seeds or seed pods but it's easy enought to order those seperately like I did. I also recommend adding the specific fertilizer to add to the water becuase it's seems to help the plants get started.

This garden is very easy to use. Whether you use pods or plant your own seeds, it just works. I'm amazed how quickly seeds sprout and grow and how I am able to use herbs in just a few short weeks.

Got this with the AeroGarden tomato and celery pods. The pods grew quickly but reach up to the light long before the tomatoes fruit. The light really needs to extend a few inches higher than it currently does to account for veggies that will not be transplanted to soil. The lettuce is also up past the highest extension and gets "burned" by the lights. UPDATE: I've now had the Harvest 2.0 for almost a year and have found two problems -- not just with Aerogarden but all of these small hydroponics systems. 1-This is NOT a garden. This is a great seed starter to transplant after your plants reach 6-9 inches in height. Seeds germinate very quickly and the plants grow very fast. They quickly outgrow the "garden". All those photos you see on Amazon, I don't know how they could possibly get that full of plants in this device - especially with all that fruit in the photos. 2-If you are purchasing a hydroponics setup for the first time, what I have learned the hard way is that you need to spend a little more and get a unit that has a light head that will extend from 6" to at last 24". Anything shorter and your plants, especially tomatoes, will grow right over the light head. Also, many of my plants I tried growing in the Harvest 2.0 suffered from severe "sunburn" because they grew up to the lights so fast. Just an FYI, the Aerogarden trellis does not work very well with the Harvest 2.0 because the light base is about 3/4 inch too high for the trellis to reach the cover. Also, the Aerogarden AeroVoir Garden Watering System add-on is a fantastic add-on. It saves a LOT of hassles watering your system and wondering if its at the correct water level.

This is a very nice small, compact hydroponic garden. I have grown lettuce and herbs very successfully in this little unit. The "leaf" button on the top of the light panel is a little tricky to figure out at first. Very easy to take apart to clean.

Love the product, the only thing was that when I received the item it was fitted with an American plug as they know it was being delivered to UK, but happy with the product.