Gardyn Home Kit 3.0 Review: The Smartest Garden Yet!
Retail Price: $899
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Disclaimer: Gardyn sent us a unit of the Gardyn Home Kit 3.0 free of charge to review, but all thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are our own and were not discussed with the company prior to publishing.
I absolutely love my home, but given the small backyard that we have and the majority of shadows that are cast throughout the day, it’s pretty challenging to grow a variety of plants and vegetables in our backyard. On top of that, we get frequent visitors from various pests, and the overly hot sun that seems to affect everything in the summer. The lack of environmental control makes all of this even more intimidating for someone like me, who doesn’t have a green thumb, to attempt to grow anything.
This is where the Gardyn 3.0 comes in. It’s an indoor hydroponic system that uses AI technology to create a controlled infrastructure for you to grow your own produce locally without pesticides. There’s no soil which means no mess indoors and it emits zero carbon emissions and uses 95% less water.
As a family of two who eat about 80% of our meals at home every week, we’ve been growing our Gardyn for almost three months now and it’s been noticeable how different our produce has been when compared to greens purchased at a grocery store. How well has it held up and should you buy one? Let’s take a closer look.
how does the gardyn work?
The Gardyn ships in convenient packaging with assembly instructions both via video and manual. It does require some assembly of putting pieces together, but once you get it setup, it’s quite easy to move around. You essentially have your tank, lid, LED lights, cameras, and towers that you place your yCubes in that allows water to flow through. Installation can be done with just one person, but is slightly easier with two. Your kit will also come with plant food, an accessory bag, a sleeve for when you’re harvesting, and grow caps with your yCubes. When assembling the Gardyn for the first time, I noticed how modern it was despite its simple and sleek design. Its size and vertical build requires minimal movement for maintenance and harvesting once it’s placed and can fit in virtually any indoor space. We’ve gotten tons of compliments from friends and family who visit who recognize it immediately as a decor piece. Additionally, if you’re concerned about how bright the LED lights may be or how much more electricity it’ll cost, I can confidently say that there was minimal impact to our electricity bill and the LED lights add a comfortable aesthetic to our kitchen and dining area.
Once you have your Gardyn installed and set up, the Gardyn app uses a subscription membership that features Kelby, an AI assistant that utilizes Gardyn’s sensors and cameras to monitor temperature, and humidity in order to make adjustments to the water and light to maintain responsible growth. More on Kelby later, but the app is great for getting reminders to conduct tank refreshes and let you know when your plants need anything.
It took our Gardyn about a month to begin seeing noticeable growth in crops and we were able to start harvesting our vegetables 6-7 weeks after we placed our yCubes in. Gardyn does sell a nursery accessory that allows you to begin growing your yCube seeds in a separate space so you don’t have to wait as long, but once your produce does begin growing out of the seedling phase, you’ll start seeing some rapid growth from there. From there, you can harvest all your vegetables or use the cut and come again method and continue growing vegetables for months to come.
what is a ycube?
One of the coolest features of the Gardyn is the large variety of yCubes that they offer. Essentially, yCubes are the home that your seeds germinate and grow in that fit into your system. All Gardyn seeds are organic, locally-sourced and non-GMO which helps you eat as clean as possible. And because you are cutting your produce directly from your home, you’re getting more nutritional value and reducing single-use plastic packaging when you harvest your Gardyn. Since we typically have every yCube space filled, that means that we can harvest and cut from 30 options at a time. While I personally enjoy filling my 30 yCube spaces with mostly lettuce options, you can choose from over 50 different varieties of fruits, vegetables and flowers in the Gardyn app and website. I still believe that depending on where your Gardyn is placed and where your home is, some plants will still grow better than others. For example, tomatoes took quite a while for us to grow while lettuce varieties thrived in our home.
How do you maintain your gardyn?
Now that we’re a few months in with our Gardyn, I wanted to share what maintenance is like for the system. The simple version: it’s fairly easy. There are a few steps that I do each week to ensure my plants are in tip top shape. The first few times I did this, it took some trial and error but now that we got into a good groove, I feel confident taking care of my system. Gardyn is fantastic at explaining how to take care of your unit both via help articles and online videos.
First, it’s important to trim your roots on a regular basis for each yCube. This allows for optimal growth and stops your plants from competing for resources with one another. You’ll notice that some plants grow much more quickly than others and some seeds in your yCube grow more.
Secondly, you’ll need to refresh your water tank every 30 days, but you should add water and plant food as needed. The Kelby app reminds me when to refresh my tank and how much water I have in my reservoir, so I’ve gotten into the habit of changing the water out every 30 days and adding plant food when Kelby suggests it. You will have to reconnect your Gardyn every time you refresh your tank, which is a little bit of a pain, but if your system works properly, it should only take a few minutes of time. During this process, you’ll be required to lift your tower up and place it standing up on the floor. This allows you to grab the tank and empty the water and refill as needed. A full reservoir is about 5 gallons of water, so do this with a friend or partner if you need extra help lifting.
Finally, harvest regularly. This is key to helping your plants grow and it simply makes sense to do it often. According to Gardyn, harvesting with the system gives you about the same amount of produce as a 1,300 square foot outdoor vegetable garden! While I often harvest a lot of my plants all at once, I have been enjoying cutting and trimming as I need when I’m preparing lunches during the day too. I love taking my small gardening shears and clipping what I need for a salad or for garnish. It’s also very easy to harvest with the Gardyn too. Simply pull your yCube out of its spot, place it in the conveniently included sleeve, and cut away.
The Gardyn app and settings
kelby - the ai assistant
One of the best features of the Gardyn is without a doubt, its app and the AI Assistant Kelby. Kelby is available with a Gardyn membership and is able to directly monitor each aspect of your Gardyn through the cameras on your unit and offer recommendations and instructions when it sees fit. Kelby can also look after your plants while you’re away on Vacation Mode and remind you to give your Gardyn food, water and more. Without Kelby, you’re still able to manage light and water schedules within your app and order new yCubes at $4.99 a piece.
The Gardyn app itself is very easy to use and has worked great on my iPhone 13. Controlling your water and lights is a seamless experience and you can even access a live view of your plants and view a timelapse. The app is also a universal area where you can get help, shop for accessories and yCubes, and read through tutorials. I’d eventually love to see a community social network section in the app for Gardyn owners to connect on and share photos with.
what is gardyn membership and is it worth it?
I mentioned the benefits of Kelby that come with a Gardyn Membership, but there’s a few other perks as well. For those who love growing, the membership gives you 10 monthly plant yCube credits and free shipping. Gardyn exclusively offers some plants only available to members so there’s more variety for you to pick and choose from. For those who want to grow or swap more than 10 each month, members also get 60% on additional yCubes. Finally, a membership gives you access to additional Gardyn support if needed from their team. As of the publishing of this review, all Gardyn purchases come with a 30-day free trial, but membership is $39 per month with a discount for those who prepay for a one year or two year membership.
The Gardyn membership isn’t necessarily cheap, but I have definitely appreciated the benefits of Kelby with my Gardyn. Yes, you are able to successfully grow plants without a membership, but for those who prefer a no-hassle and convenient check-in method instead, or if you want to rotate through different varieties of plants regularly, there are many benefits to the membership that can make the subscription worth it.
how is gardyn 3.0 different?
If you’re teetering between the Gardyn 2.0 and 3.0, here’s what’s changed in this newest version:
Assembly: The new Gardyn is easy to assemble. It requires no screws or tools and is supposed to be even faster to put together than its predecessor. We can attest that we just attached everything and they fell into place by snapping in.
New lid design: Gardyn has redesigned the rubberwood lid to be stronger and easier to maintain. It’s even safer now to keep all the electrical parts of the Gardyn safe from water.
Simpler cleaning: The Gardyn 3.0 has an updated watering system compared to its predecessor that makes taking it apart and putting it together easier.
Recyclable packaging: The new Gardyn comes in just one 100% recyclable package.
Improved AI: Finally, the Gardyn 3.0 features more advanced algorithms that Gardyn claims will boost your plants’ germination and optimize growth.
how is gardyn’s customer support?
While I had an overall positive experience with my Gardyn and love its features and functionality, there was one hiccup that I wanted to share about my interaction with Gardyn customer support that I felt made my experience with my Gardyn even better.
As mentioned earlier, part of the Gardyn maintenance process means refreshing your tank every month. This involves disconnecting your Gardyn from its network prior to refreshing the tank and then reconnecting it after. It’s a relatively simple process: after you’ve placed the lid back on your tank after changing out the water and adding plant food, hold down the silver button on your lid and then reconnect to the Gardyn network through your WiFi.
Our initial Gardyn lid turned out to be faulty and did not re-pair again after this first refresh. Over the course of two days after we did this for the first time, we tried and tried again to re-pair the lid but it just refused to work. I finally contacted Gardyn support and was almost immediately sent troubleshooting instructions and a handy guide on how to water your tower without connectivity. This at least allowed us to keep our current crops alive while the system was down. After a few more back and forths with customer support, it was clear that I had potentially received a faulty lid and Gardyn promptly sent me a new lid, tracking number, and instructions on how to re-pair once received. Once I received my new lid, I sent the old one in with the provided shipping label so that they could recycle the faulty lid and troubleshoot it better.
While I was nervous during this process and had a few questions in mind about Gardyn’s overall durability, all of my doubt was reassured by the excellent customer service I received and thorough documentation that they provided. I have not since experienced any connectivity issues with my Gardyn nor any other problems with my lid and I’m certain that if it were to happen again, the support team would be right there to help.
is the gardyn worth it?
Priced at about $900 USD, the Gardyn 3.0 offers a lot of functionality and features. I love the way it looks as both an art piece and garden in my home. It’s even more rewarding and especially enjoyable being able to grow vegetables and eat them without the messiness or hassle of maintaining an outdoor garden with soil and pest control. What absolutely sets Gardyn apart is its well developed app and Kelby. It does actually feel like there is a coach watching over your shoulder as you grow. For new owners, I think this is an especially useful feature. Despite its higher price point, growing 30 plants at a time allows you to maximize time and space. I do think it will balance the budget over time with the rising cost of food and occasional shortages in markets that we now see at our local grocery stores. On top of that, 30 plants is quite a bit and even just one full harvest of our Gardyn can last us up to two weeks of salads and stir fries. While membership will vary depending on how you want to control your Gardyn, Thanks in part to the Gardyn, I do look forward to getting back into the kitchen to whip up a meal everyday with something I’ve grown myself.
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Lida
Always the number cruncher, the former narrative journalist turned data scientist, can’t help but find herself bursting with excitement with each new generation of tech gadgets. After all, predicting future trends is Lida’s forte. Any gadget that survives Lida’s torturous, adult working woman itinerary of over 700 notifications a day deserves praise!