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AeroGarden almost died. Scotts Miracle-Gro pulled the plug in January 2025, then reversed course and relaunched the brand in spring 2025 with a trimmed lineup. The Farm models are gone. What’s left is nine models across three families: Sprout, Harvest, and Bounty. They all do the same thing: LEDs, water, a pump. But the price spread runs from $50 to $275, and the marketing is not always honest about why.
Here’s what actually matters.
Which Model Should You Buy
Most people should buy the Harvest 2.0 . Six pods, 20W LED panel, about 12 inches of grow height. The footprint is roughly 4.5 by 10.5 inches and it stands about 17 inches tall with the light arm raised. Water tank holds about a quart. Street price sits around $66 to $70, which is less than dinner for two at a mid-range restaurant. That’s the recommendation for most people.
The Harvest Elite adds WiFi and a stainless steel finish on some models. I don’t think the WiFi does enough to justify it. You’ll check on your plants by walking over and looking at them, not by opening an app.
The Bounty (nine pods, 30W LED, 24 inches of grow height) makes sense if you want to grow tomatoes or peppers indoors and you’re serious about it. The tank is bigger at about 1.5 quarts. The extra height matters. For herbs, you won’t notice a difference, and you’ll spend $110 more for the privilege. The Bounty comes in a Basic (no WiFi, ~$180) and an Elite (WiFi, stainless finish). Skip the Elite. That $40 premium buys you an app you’ll use twice and a shinier housing that your basil doesn’t care about.
The Sprout is fine. I know the upgrade marketing pushes you away from it, but if you just want fresh basil on your counter and you’re not interested in running a serious growing setup, the Sprout does that. Three pods, 10W LED, about 10 inches of grow height. Very compact. At around $79 it’s actually more expensive per pod than the Harvest, which is a little annoying, but you’re paying for the smaller footprint. If counter space is tight, that trade-off makes sense.
AeroGarden Harvest 2.0, Indoor Garden Hydroponic System with LED Grow Light, Holds up to 6 Pods, Charcoal
6-pod hydroponic system with 15W LED light, grows herbs and vegetables up to 12 inches tall indoors year-round
Check Price on Amazon
AeroGarden Bounty Basic - Indoor Garden with LED Grow Light, Black
9-pod hydroponic system with 30W LED light grows herbs and vegetables up to 5 times faster than soil gardening.
Check Price on Amazon
AeroGarden Sprout - Indoor Garden with LED Grow Light, White
Compact 3-pod hydroponic system with 10W LED light, grows plants up to 10 inches tall, ideal for herbs and small vegetables indoors
Check Price on Amazon
The Models Nobody Should Buy
The Farm models (12-pod and 24-pod) were discontinued during the 2025 shutdown. They show up on eBay occasionally. Skip them. Replacement parts are gone, AeroGarden won’t support them, and competitors like the Mufga 18-pod ($60) or DRYADES 16-pod ($100) give you more pods at a fraction of the price with current warranties. See the systems guide
for those comparisons.
The Harvest 360 exists. I don’t know why. The cylindrical design looks cool in photos and is annoying in practice. Pods around the outside of a drum means uneven light distribution, and the whole thing takes up more counter space than a standard Harvest while holding the same number of pods.
What the Marketing Doesn’t Say
AeroGarden sells seed pod kits. That’s the real business. A 6-pod herb kit runs about $16 to $20, which works out to $2.67 to $3.33 per pod. Each pod is a grow sponge, a plastic basket, and a few seeds. That’s it.
You can buy blank grow sponges in a 50-pack for about $15 to $20. That’s $0.30 to $0.40 per pod. Use your own seeds from a garden center (a packet of basil seeds is $3 and contains maybe 200 seeds) and you’re looking at pennies per grow. AeroGarden doesn’t advertise blank pods prominently because selling you pre-planted kits at a 10x markup is how they make money. I’ve grown cilantro, dill, and Thai basil with blank pods without issues.
So the hardware is a one-time cost, but the pod kits are designed to keep you spending. Know that going in.
The nutrient solution is also marked up. A 3-ounce bottle costs $8 to $10. At the recommended dose of 4ml every two weeks for a 6-pod unit, one bottle lasts about 3 to 4 months. That’s roughly $25 to $30 per year on nutrients alone. Not terrible, but generic hydroponic nutrients work just as well for a fraction of the price. I cover alternatives in the nutrients guide .
One more thing worth mentioning. AeroGarden comes with a 1-year limited warranty. Their customer service is generally responsive if something goes wrong with the pump or LEDs in that window. After a year, you’re on your own. The pump is usually the first thing to go.
The First Month
Here’s roughly what to expect after you plug in your AeroGarden and drop in pods.
Days 1 through 3: nothing visible. The pump cycles, the lights run their 16-on/8-off schedule, and you stare at grow sponges wondering if you set it up wrong. You didn’t. Be patient.
Days 5 through 7: you’ll see the first sprouts poking through. Basil and lettuce are fast. Dill takes a bit longer. Some herbs like mint and oregano can take 10 days or more.
Weeks 2 through 3: things start filling in. This is when the AeroGarden starts looking like the marketing photos. Leaves get bigger, stems thicken up. Add nutrients on the schedule the unit reminds you about (every two weeks for the Harvest).
Weeks 3 through 4: first harvest. Basil is usually ready before anything else. Pinch right above a leaf node. This isn’t optional. If you let basil grow straight up without pruning, it gets leggy and bitter once it flowers. I was lazy about pruning my first grow and the basil bolted within six weeks. Don’t repeat my mistake.
After the first month, you’re in maintenance mode. Top off water every few days (the Harvest tank is small enough that it drops noticeably), add nutrients on schedule, and prune regularly. That’s it.
Ongoing Costs
The hardware is the cheap part. Here’s what the recurring costs actually look like for a Harvest 2.0.
Electricity: 20W running 16 hours a day is 0.32 kWh per day. At the national average of about $0.16 per kWh, that’s roughly $0.05 per day. Maybe $1.50 a month. You will not notice this on your electric bill.
Nutrients: $25 to $30 per year with AeroGarden brand. Half that if you switch to a generic hydroponic nutrient. I use General Hydroponics FloraGro and it works fine.
Pods: this is where it gets you. If you buy AeroGarden seed kits, you’re spending $40 to $60 per year assuming you replant every 3 to 4 months. Switch to blank pods with your own seeds and that drops to maybe $5 to $8 per year.
Total annual cost with AeroGarden pods and nutrients: roughly $70 to $90. With blank pods and generic nutrients: more like $15 to $25. The difference is real.
Lights and Grow Height
All current AeroGarden models use full-spectrum LED panels. The mix is white, red, and blue diodes tuned for photosynthesis, not just brightness. PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) is what plants actually use, and it matters more than the lumen number on the box. AeroGarden’s PAR output is modest compared to a standalone grow light, but it’s enough for herbs and salad greens at close range because the light sits only a few inches above the canopy.
The Harvest runs its lights on a timer: 16 hours on, 8 hours off by default. You can adjust this. For herbs, the defaults are fine. For tomatoes or peppers in a Bounty, max out the light hours. The Sprout’s 10W panel is enough for three pods of herbs but I wouldn’t try anything more demanding in it.
Grow height is often the limiting factor people don’t think about. The Harvest gives you about 12 inches of clearance between the pod deck and the light. The Bounty pushes 24. If you want to grow anything that gets tall (basil that you let flower, larger pepper plants, cherry tomatoes), that headroom matters more than pod count. I’ve had basil physically pressing against the Harvest light panel by week six. It still grew, but the leaves touching the LEDs got scorched at the tips.
If you outgrow the built-in lights, adding a separate grow light above the unit is an option, but at that point you’re building a custom setup and the AeroGarden is basically just a fancy water reservoir. Nothing wrong with that. But know where the ceiling is, literally.
Water and Maintenance
The Harvest’s quart-sized tank needs topping off every 3 to 5 days depending on how many plants are actively growing and how warm your kitchen runs. Once plants are established and drinking heavily, every 2 to 3 days. The Bounty’s 1.5-quart tank buys you a bit more time between fills.
Use room-temperature water. Cold tap water shocks the roots and slows growth for a day or two. I just fill a mason jar and let it sit on the counter for a few hours before adding it.
Between grows (every 3 to 4 months when you replant), drain the tank, wipe it out, and run a cleaning cycle with a diluted white vinegar solution. Algae builds up on the inside of the tank and along the water channels. It’s not harmful to plants in small amounts but it looks gross and can clog the pump over time. Five minutes of cleaning every few months prevents problems later.
The pump filter (if your model has one) should be rinsed at the same time. Mineral deposits from tap water accumulate there. If your water is especially hard, you might need to descale with vinegar more frequently.
Noise
The pump runs on a cycle: 5 minutes on, 25 minutes off. During the on cycle, you’ll hear a low hum and the sound of water circulating. It’s not loud. But it’s audible in a quiet room, and at 2 AM it can be surprisingly noticeable.
Kitchen or office: fine. Bedroom: depends on how lightly you sleep. I kept a Harvest on my desk for a while and the pump cycling was enough to pull my attention during phone calls. Moved it to the kitchen counter and forgot about the noise entirely.
Some models let you adjust the pump timing. But the default cycle is designed around root oxygenation, so I wouldn’t mess with it unless the pump is actually bothering you enough to justify the risk of slower growth.
The Short Version
Get the Harvest for most uses. Get the Bounty if you specifically want tall plants or more than six pods. The Sprout is underrated. The Farm is probably not what you need.
Deep Dives
I’ve written detailed comparisons and growing guides for specific AeroGarden topics:
Model comparisons:
- AeroGarden Sprout vs Harvest — I ran both for 8 weeks
- Bounty vs Harvest — when the upgrade is worth it
- Bounty Basic vs Elite — the WiFi isn’t worth it
AeroGarden vs other brands:
Growing in AeroGarden:
Supplies:
Troubleshooting: