I Grew Herbs in the iDOO 12-Pod Hydroponic System for 8 Weeks — Here's My Honest Take

My first grow in the iDOO 12-pod system started the same way most of my hydroponics experiments do: with excessive optimism and a windowsill covered in seed packets. Eight weeks later, I had a tray full of basil, two kinds of lettuce, and some very strong opinions about this unit.

The unit I’m reviewing is technically listed under the BESSERITE brand buy on Amazon on Amazon (ASIN B0DB84CT79), but it’s the same iDOO-style 12-pod design that keeps showing up under a rotating cast of brand names. Same reservoir shape, same light arm, same general layout. If you’ve been searching “iDOO 12-pod review” and landed here, this is the one.

Unboxing and First Setup

Setup took me about 20 minutes, and that includes the time I spent reading the instructions twice because I was convinced I was missing a part. I wasn’t. The kit comes with the reservoir, the light arm, pods, grow sponges, plastic pod covers, and a small packet of starter nutrients. The instruction sheet is thin but adequate. Everything clicked together without much fuss.

The pod covers, those little plastic domes you put over empty slots, are genuinely useful for keeping algae down, and I appreciated that they were included. A lot of budget units skip them or include maybe four. This one covered all 12.

The light arm goes into a track on the back of the reservoir and locks at different heights. Mine had five adjustable positions. Getting it in initially felt a little stiff, and I was nervous I’d crack something, but it loosened up after the first adjustment.

One thing that annoyed me right away: the power cord is short. I had to rearrange my shelf to get it close enough to an outlet. Not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing if your nearest plug is across the room.

The LED Light, Does It Actually Grow Plants?

Short answer: yes. Longer answer: it’s better than I expected for this price range.

The light panel sits overhead and puts out a full-spectrum white light with some red LEDs mixed in. It’s not the kind of pinkish-purple blaze you get from some cheaper grow lights, which was a relief, my partner already gives me grief about the glow from my other setup, so a slightly more neutral light made the kitchen cohabitation easier.

I grew basil, romaine, and some cilantro in this run. The basil was the star. By week four it was noticeably fuller and taller than a simultaneous test I was running with a single-bulb desk grow light over soil. The romaine was slower but came in dense and healthy. Cilantro, as always, did whatever it wanted.

The light runs on a built-in timer, which defaults to 16 hours on and 8 hours off. I didn’t override it and the plants seemed happy. If your kitchen gets a lot of natural light you might want to adjust, but for my north-facing shelf this was the right call.

Pump Noise and the Reliability Question

Let me just say it plainly: this pump is not quiet.

It’s not so loud that you’d hear it from another room, but if your unit lives on a kitchen counter near where you eat or work, you’ll notice it. The intermittent cycle means it kicks on every so often rather than running continuously, which helps, but when it does run, there’s a low hum with a slight rattle if the reservoir isn’t sitting perfectly level. Shimming it with a folded piece of cardboard fixed the rattle for me.

Now, the elephant in the room. There’s a thread on Reddit (r/hydro, fairly active) where a grower reported their pump failing completely within the first month. It’s not an isolated anecdote, a few replies confirmed similar early failures on units in this style and price range. I want to be honest about this: my unit made it through the full 8 weeks without an issue, but I can’t promise yours will. This is a budget-tier pump in a $80-ish system. The failure rate seems higher than what I’ve experienced with AeroGarden units over the same period.

What I’d suggest: run the pump for a full week before you plant anything. If it’s going to fail, it’ll likely show signs early. And keep an eye on whether water is circulating, the roots will tell you fast if it stops.

Height Adjustment Over 8 Weeks

This is where the system genuinely impressed me. The adjustable arm kept pace with my basil, which hit the underside of the light panel in my AeroGarden Harvest within six weeks but had more room to grow here. I moved the arm up three times across the 8-week run, and each adjustment took maybe 30 seconds.

The mechanism is a simple push-button-and-slide design. It held position firmly each time, no drooping, no slipping overnight. For anyone growing taller herbs or planning a cherry tomato experiment (I haven’t, but I’ve thought about it), this flexibility matters.

Third-Party Nutrients, What I Actually Used

The starter nutrients included in the kit got my seedlings going for the first couple of weeks, but I switched to a third-party A&B solution around week three and saw a noticeable improvement in leaf color and growth rate.

I used the Hydroponics Nutrients for AeroGarden buy on Amazon two-bottle set, which runs about $11 and covers a lot of refills at the recommended dose of 5ml A and 5ml B per liter. The instructions say to mix each separately into 100ml of water before adding to the reservoir, and that actually matters, don’t just dump them in together or you’ll get some unwanted precipitation.

At the full recommended rate my basil looked fine, but the romaine showed slight yellowing at the tips by week four. I pulled back to about 3/4 dose and it corrected within a week. This is consistent with what I’ve seen in other leafy green grows, they often prefer a lighter feed than the label suggests. If you want more detail on getting nutrient ratios right for different plants, my post on hydroponic nutrients for beginners covers the logic behind it.

The iDOO-style reservoir is compatible with any standard liquid hydroponic nutrient. You’re not locked into a proprietary pod ecosystem the way you are with AeroGarden, which is a real advantage if you want to experiment.

iDOO 12-Pod vs. AeroGarden Harvest, The Real Comparison

I’ve run the AeroGarden Harvest in my kitchen for about two years, so I have a decent baseline. Here’s how they actually compare:

The AeroGarden Harvest tops out at 6 pods. The iDOO 12-pod gives you double the growing capacity, which matters if you cook a lot and want to grow more variety at once. I had basil, cilantro, and two kinds of lettuce running simultaneously, which I can’t do in the Harvest.

The Harvest’s pump has been more reliable for me over time. This isn’t a small thing. I trust it. The iDOO’s pump is fine until it isn’t.

AeroGarden’s light arm on the Harvest is also height-adjustable, but the range is smaller. If you want to grow anything past about 12 inches, you start running into issues. The iDOO gives you more headroom.

Price-wise, they’re often within $10-20 of each other depending on sales. If reliability is your top priority and you only need 6 pods, the Harvest wins. If you want more pods, more height, and you’re okay accepting a slightly higher risk of pump hiccups, the iDOO 12-pod is a real option.

Two Alternatives Worth Knowing About

If the 12-pod setup feels like too much for a first unit, the Ahopegarden 10-pod system buy on Amazon is worth a look. It’s around $54, sits at 4.6 stars from over 3,000 reviews, and includes a two-mode light (one for leafy greens, one for fruiting plants) along with a see-through water level window that I genuinely think more systems should include. The window is a small thing but it means you’re not guessing when to top up. The light arm adjusts to 14.5 inches, the timer runs automatically, and the overall size is compact enough for a tighter counter. It’s a solid first-timer choice.

For a tighter budget with fewer pods, the TILTOP 8-pod buy on Amazon in black is a clean-looking unit with an automatic pump and timer built in, and height-adjustable light. It’s a smaller footprint if counter space is genuinely limited. I’d put it in the same reliability tier as the iDOO, reasonable expectations for the price, but don’t expect commercial-grade pump longevity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you use tap water in the iDOO hydroponic system? Yes, but let it sit out for 24 hours first if your tap water is heavily chlorinated. Chlorine off-gasses on its own and won’t do your roots any favors in concentrated form. If your tap water is very hard, you may also see mineral buildup in the reservoir over time.

How often should you change the water in an iDOO growing system? Every 1-2 weeks is the standard recommendation. I topped up with fresh water weekly and did a full reservoir change every two weeks. You’ll want to rinse the reservoir when you do a full change, algae builds up faster than you’d expect.

Is the iDOO growing system pump loud? Louder than AeroGarden, quieter than a fish tank filter. It’s not something you’d hear from another room, but you’ll notice it in the same room. If your unit is on a hard surface, make sure it’s level or the rattle gets worse.

Do third-party nutrients work in the iDOO system? Yes, any standard liquid hydroponic nutrient works. I had good results with an A&B two-part solution. Start at a lower dose than the label recommends for leafy greens, full strength can tip into overfeeding territory faster than you’d expect. For more on this, the AeroGarden nutrient alternatives post has a dosing breakdown that applies to iDOO-style systems too.

Can you grow tomatoes or peppers in a 12-pod countertop system? Cherry tomatoes are possible with the taller height adjustment, but you’ll need to manage them aggressively, they want to take over. Peppers are slow and I’ve had mixed results in units this size. Herbs and leafy greens are where this system genuinely shines; anything that wants to get tall and bushy will push the limits of what a countertop unit can handle. If lettuce tip burn is something you’ve dealt with before, the same conditions that cause it in AeroGarden apply here, worth reading up on before you start your first lettuce crop.

Eight weeks in, I’m still using this unit. That’s probably the most honest endorsement I can give. The pump hasn’t died, the basil is absurdly productive, and it earned its spot on my shelf. But I went in with clear eyes about what a budget 12-pod system can and can’t do, and if you do the same, you’re less likely to be disappointed when the pump runs louder than you hoped or the cord doesn’t reach the outlet you wanted.