I have an aero garden aquaponic system I’ve used for years, but it needs frequent refill once the plant grow to a large size. The plants would dry out if I go on vacation for a week. I got this larger hydroponic system to replace it. The thing that made me pick this over the other ones I was looking at was the automatic water refill and automatic fertilizing. It allows me to be truly hands off for a long duration without worry.
The kit has 21 pots, which I think it’s a bit overkill since the plants will start crowding. If you’re planting narrow herbs that goes straight up, that would work. The herb I’m most interested in is Thai basil, which spreads out like a tree. In my old hydroponic, I can only grow two. This one I can grow about 5 spaced out. I recommend covering the openings that you’re not using to minimize water loss to evaporation. I used the included humidity covers and they sit nicely upside on the openings.
Another improvement on this hydroponic system is the lights. It’s much brighter (twice the wattage) and the light can be adjusted way higher. This allows for much more vertical space for the plant to grow. My old one constantly hit the light and requires trimming.
Overall this was a huge improvement over my old hydroponic system. We like having access to fresh herbs in our kitchen year round and it’s pest free.