The Gardyn Indoor System
Set up, and the first week. Is it worth the money?
Do you love gardening?
Does your area have a limited outdoor growing season?
Are you interested in being more self sufficient?
Interested in growing chemical free food for your family?
Have you ever considered buying an indoor hydroponic system for your home? If you have, Gardyn may be for you. The Gardyn, is an indoor hydroponic growing system that allows you to grow a plethora of pesticide free, fruits and vegetables.
In 2019, my family bought our first home. And before I had painted any walls, bought any new furniture, or new décor, I ripped out half of the already too small back yard. And started a garden. My very first. And I was in love.
There is something extremely satisfying about cooking and or eating something that you grew from a seed or tiny sprout. You nurtured it, loved and cared for it until it became a tasty treat. And believe me, the fruits from your own garden taste so much better than anything you find in a store.
Unfortunately, the state that I live in has an extremely short growing season. Summer weather isn’t consistently warm/hot until after the fourth of July and is usually over by the end of august. So while my first couple garden seasons were successful, they were too brief to be productive. By productive I mean producing enough to supply us, at least partially, through the winter months.
Unbeknownst to me, my husband had listened to my complaints about the short growing season. And he started doing his research. Without a word to me.
My goal, (even more so since the pandemic messed up supply chains) was to be more self sufficient. So that we didn’t have to depend on the grocery for our every need. I don’t want to have to buy lettuce every time I go to the store, when I should be able to grow it at home.
And our limited growing season was really interfering with my ability to be more self sufficient. I live right in the middle of town, so I can’t just expand my garden space to make up for the limited season, so we needed another solution.
Through his research, he discovered the Gardyn system. It was a bit on the pricy side, but if we can grow all year around, it will be worth it. Because in the off season, fruits and vegetables are really expensive. When you are making salads for a family of five, the cost adds up quickly.
So he bought me a Gardyn, and an Aerogarden, hydroponic system.
Set up for the Gardyn was actually really easy. The irrigation tubing doesn’t have slack, so it was a tight fit to connect, but that was the hardest part about the setup. Fat man fingers, tiny tubing, no slack.
Over-all, putting the unit together was fairly easy, and took less than 30 minutes to assemble and get running.
The app, which is a monthly subscription, is amazing. Even more so for the new gardener. The other day, I received a message to check the pods to ensure they were getting proper water, and sure enough, two were not. I emailed Gardyn for help; they responded in less than two hours. I do not know what the problem was, maybe I didn’t have them in all the way, because when I took the pods out and re-inserted them, they were getting water appropriately.
The unit works just fine without the app, if you aren’t interested in the monthly subscription. But the subscription does come with the app, the Kelby assistant, and ten pods a month. The app, its self has an amazing amount of features, and guidance. It is completely worth it, at least until you know what you are doing. The unit also has cameras, which the app/tech support can access, in order to help you troubleshoot.
It is really compact, so it fits into a small corner of your home. It is only two feet wide, and a foot deep, but quite tall. I believe it’s between 5 and 6 feet tall.
We set it up on Thursday, and by Sunday we already had lettuce sprouting.
The first week in, and the only con that I have noticed so far is that it gives off a lot of light. Which is to be expected. We have ours in our living room, so that was a minor issue, that was easily fixed by purchasing a four panel room divider. I also had to reset the light schedule, because the “lights off” time was scheduled in the middle of the day, while they set the peak light for midnight. So I changed that around.
So as I close out my first week as a Gardyn owner, I can say that I am 100% in love. I’m excited to see that four days in, and I can see seedlings emerging. And I can’t wait to see my Gardyn flourish.
More Gardyn updates to follow.
Gardyn referral code: rfstephanie72795
Rowen is a mother, Wife, Domestic Violence Victims Advocate, community volunteer, and nature lover. Most of her time is spent with her family or volunteering in her community. Rowen has a degree in Psychology, with a concentration in Family Counseling and Minoring in criminal justice. Writing has been her passion since high school, and she enjoys using it to help others.