AeroGarden Classic with Gourmet Herb Seed Kit, White | 
| Brand: AeroGrow
List Price: $199.95
Buy New: $115.00
You Save: $84.95 (42%)
New (32)
Rating:  177 reviews
Sales Rank: 195
Color: White
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 15
Dimensions (in): 16 x 9.5 x 11.8
MPN: 2103-00W
Model: 2101-00W
UPC: 833304004197
EAN: 0857459001511
ASIN: B000FI4O8Q
Release Date: February 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | The original indoor garden | | • | Everything you need to grow now | | • | Easy, foolproof and 100% guaranteed | | • | No dirt, no mess, no green thumb required | | • | Over 400,000 satisfied AeroGardeners |
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Product Description
Using the built-in Plant Lighting System, grow Plants Anywhere in your home any time of year. The Full daylight spectrum allows you to grow anywhere with no natural sunlight needed while being energy efficient. The Plug & Grow(tm) Bio-Dome(tm) Seed System has 100% Germination Guaranteed. Pre-seeded grow pods enclosed in their own mini-greenhouse for ultra-fast seed germination usually within 24 hours. Computerized Smart Garden Technology Guarantees 100% Success with no Green Thumb needed. The built-in reminder system automatically alerts you to add water and nutrients. The built-in light timer automatically turns lights on and off with no set up required. The Aeroponic Optimizing Chamber creates a Near-Perfect Rainforest Growing environment. Plant roots are suspended in the air in a 100% humidity, highly oxygenated aeroponic growing chamber and bathed with ideal levels of nutrients and water for maximum growth. Just add water and nutrients and you're ready to grow twice as fast as dirt. Micro-processor automatically adjusts nutrient delivery, light cycles and water flow for specific plant types for faster healthier growth.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 172 more reviews...
 Works as Advertised - Classy Product November 28, 2006
P. Schmidt (Chicago, Illinois USA)
549 out of 555 found this review helpful
see update at end of review
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I was lamenting about only having frech lettuce, herbs, chives, and tomatoes from may garden during the long fall-winter-spring parts of the year. The refrigerated stuff from the grocery store goes bad right away and does not taste as good as the fresh stuff from the garden, either.
Then I saw a Time Magazine page on the new AeroGrow AeroGarden, and I just had to try it out. After reading the AeroGrow website before making the purchase, I realized that buying one garden would not work for me, as the tomatoes cannot be grown in the same garden as lettuce & herbs. This is partially due to the large amount of room taken up by the tomatoes, and also because the lamp/watering cycle is different and finally because the nutrients are different.
So, I bought two gardens, along with the Salad Greens seed kit and Cherry Tomato seed kit. Each garden comes with a mixed herb kit, so I figured to mix in a few herbs with the other seeds, and if they did not work, no big loss.
The products came quickly and the instructions for assembly were very clear and well written with excellent diagrams. I came to realize that this somewhat pricey product at least comes from a company that produces a classy product (a rare thing these days). I found a space on a shelf beside the basement stairs, and placed both assembled gardens there. I also bought and placed a digital thermometer with maximum/minimum temperature memory readouts ($10 at Radio Shack), because I was unsure of what temperature extremes the plants might experience in that location (68-72 as it turns out).
The seed kits contain pre-seeded planting pods. Each pod is basically a plastic cup shaped frame with two pieces of foam rubber inside the cup part, like two slices of bread with the seeds sandwiched between them. They simply insert into the seven holes in the top of the garden's water tank. The Salad Greens and Herbs come with seven pods per kit, while the Tomatos come with three pods plus four hole plugs-the plants are bigger so three of them take up thw whole space available. The hole plugs prevent evaporation of the water through the unoccupied holes.
The water tank holds exactly one gallon of regular drinking water. Well water is not recommended, presumably because of impurities, and since I am on a well I bought two one-gallon plastic jugs of 'drinking water' at the store for 50 cents each and filled the tanks with their contents. A pump in the tank takes water and pipes it to the rim of each of the seven holes in the tank's top, and here the trickle of water flows into the foam sandwich of each seed pod. The foam stays moist and the rest of the water drips back down into the tank. The garden's 'computer' cycles the water flow on and off according to the amount recommended for the type of plant being grown. A water level sensor turns on a flashing red light when it is time to add more water to the tank.
The top of the garden is a reflector with two compact-fluorescent lamps, of the variety that has the special ultraviolet (UV) coating that causes the emmitted light to resemble sunlight. The reflector rides on a vertical pole that extends up from the garden's base, so you can raise and lower the lamps as required to keep them the correct distance above the plants. The garden's 'computer' also turns the lamps on and off according to a schedule tailored to the type of plant. If using the gardens in a place where the light might be a problem at night, you can syncronize the computer so that the lights are on only during the daytime and off when you are trying to sleep.
The seed kits come with little clear plastic cups that cover each pod until the seeds have germinated, then you can dispose of them. The kits also come with a bag of nutrient tablets, which you add to the water tank when the computer prompts you to by flashing a red light. The nutrients are tailored to the type of plant being grown, and there are enough of them to feed the plants during their anticipated life span.
I planted one garden with five salad green (leaf lettuce) pods, plus one pod each from the Herb kit, chives and parsley. The other garden got the threee pods from the Cherry Tomato kit; two reds and one yellow variety.
Each seed pod has a label that tells you how many days to wait for plants to appear after germination. All of my plants appeared like clockwork.
I have had the gardens for about six weeks now, and have been enjoying salads containing lettuce, parsley and chives plus other odds and ends from the fridge, for the last two or three weeks. The lettuce and herbs are all beautiful, with no problems from bugs or too much/too little water, excessive temperatures, etc. No need to wash the plants or check for bugs or pick off bad spots, everything goes straight to the salad bowl. What a joy! Even with only five lettuce plants, I have to eat two meals including salad each day to keep up with the growth. This would easily feed two people, and if all seven salad green pods had been used, three people.
The tomatoes are all doing well ahnd have been pruned according to instructions. It will be some time yet before they produce flowers, and then fruit. But based on the health of the plants, I expect a good yield.
Each seed kit comes with a full color manual/booklet that covers all aspects of 'planting', germinating, feeding, pruning (if required) and then harvesting the plants. There are also photos of plants where things have gone wrong (leaves burned because the lamps were not raised up as the plants grew taller, etc) with clear instructions on how to recognize problems and correct them. Harvesting instructions clearly tell how much can be taken at a time without killing the plant, and so on.
The AeroGrow gardens are a well designed, well built product with excellent documentation. All my visitors are amazed at how well the product works, and many have gone out and bought their own. I anticipate years of improved eating because of this product.
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Update November 2007
I used my two gardens all Winter (2006/2007) until it was time to start getting produce from my real (outdoor) garden in the Summer, at which time I put the little gardens to rest for the season. During their use, I got a large crop of cherry tomatoes, all of which were beautiful. I went through on crop of lettuce and salad greens, and when the lettuce finally bolted, I replanted with only lettuce (no chives, etc this time) and got another couple of months worth of lettuce. I have now fired them up again in the Fall, and have nice little plants popping up. Aerogrow has more seed options available now, so I have planted a more interesting kind of lettuce.
Grow herbs, flowers & fruit in the worst environment June 12, 2006
Stephen Hayden (Landover, MD United States)
200 out of 227 found this review helpful
This device waters your plants and turns the lights on and off based on the setting. Add the nutrient plan and you have some of the fastest growing plants out there. It comes with a seed kit, but I couldn't tell which one is included. Probably Salad (the fastest growing, 3-4 weeks!) or Gormet Herbs (the most popular). Here are some of the specs:
It takes a standard plug, instead of a 3 prong, so it can plug in anywhere instead of just the kitchen. The bowl holds 14 cups of water. That's one pint shy of a gallon. The light goes on for 15 1/2 hours to 17 hours depending on the plant, and the water goes over the roots & sponge for the lights on time or longer for thirsty plants. You have to hand polinate (a rapid 10 second wave in each plant) the tomatoes & peppers every other day when flowering, and the Peppers & International basil require you wash out the bowls every 4 weeks, but otherwise there is very little maintenance. The light comes on when the water is low and another light comes on when the 2 weeks are up and the plants need more nutrients, but other than that you can pretty much forget it. The lights also work to help my potted plants grow when near it. The plants like human comfortable temperatures (61-80 F) but the peppers & tomatoes will produce more fruit if safely over 70.
The nutrients are different for each plant (I have a breakdown on my dinubabear site) and come in 2 to 4 sets in a kit (Starting, sprouting, normal & fruiting). You give 2 nutrient tablets every 2 weeks.
Aerogrow guarentees their kits to sprout as described, or you can call them & they will replace their kits.
New kits will be available in September, such as French, Italian & Japanese herbs.
Why Didn't Someone Think of This Sooner??!! July 6, 2006
NuJoi (Chicago, IL United States)
172 out of 175 found this review helpful
I love this product -- no dirt, no bugs and no chance of over-watering! This is very easy to assemble and easy to use. Just add water and a couple of nutrient tablets every two weeks. There's even a light that tells you when you need to do this.
I planted my Gourmet Herbs on June 15 and I was ready to harvest the basil before the fourth of July! If you follow the instructions, there's no way to mess this up. The herbs lasted about six months. My only caution is (and this is noted in the instruction booklet) that the lamps are on about 16 hours a day and they are bright at night. I can close off the bedrooms, so it doesn't bother me.
I highly recommend this product to anyone one who has tried to grow herbs indoors in the past. Aerogarden's customer service team is the best -- they know their stuff and are vary helpful. I had a problem with one of the herb kits and they have really worked to fix the problem.
Update: I read another reviewer's note about installing a new pump. I had a seed pod that never sprouted and after being shipped a replacement pod that also didn't work, Aerogarden sent me a new pump. I installed it last night with a new kit. The instructions were clear and it was pretty easy to do. I liked doing it myself in five minutes instead of sending the unit somewhere to be repaired. It still was an inconvenience, but my positive experiences with the product far outweigh the annoyance of the installation.
Update:
My first kit was the gourmet herb and as noted above, I had problems with the cilantro. I have since replanted my garden by mixing the French, Itallian and new Gourmet Herb kits and they've worked beautifully,especially the cilantro. The new pump has made all the difference. My oregano is even more hearty this time around. With the mew pump, all of my herbs are doing better. After almost two months of growth, the thyme appears to be the least robust of the bunch, but still has a good yield. It's in a back corner spot.
 UNRELIABLE November 16, 2006
Dwight (USA)
126 out of 149 found this review helpful
Well, Aerogrow is sending me another unit. They have already taken the trouble to send me a replacement bowl which fixed the first problem and later, they sent a replacement pump which shut down the entire system. I don't like contacting them and then getting replacements. My aerogrow setup does not look like the flourishing results at the local kitchenwares store. My consumer experience thus far has stank despite customer service's efforts to fix the problems. Customer service has remained courteous and attentive. They have mailed out parts promptly but does that buy them my silence? Well, I can see how the positive reviews are true on this site so make up your mind after reading all of them. Mine is just one experience. I lost money and I lost time and will start all over again once I receive the new unit. If I had ordered through amazon, I would have just returned it for a money refund. So if you want to try hydroponic growing as I did, then go ahead and buy this but I urge you to buy from amazon. Good luck.
Here were my issues that were all responded to by aerogrow's customer service:
(1) I was misled that by ordering directly from aerogrow instead of Amazon at the cost of Amazon's free shipping, I would become a special customer and receive discounts on future purchases on seeds and more machines. But when I wrote to aerogrow about not receiving any membership packet, I was told that the additional purchases should be made at the time of the initial purchase (when I have no experience with the worthiness of the aerogrow product)
(2) aerogrow had to send me a new bowl because when I received the product the red indicator light for low water level was already on and NEVER shut off. Following the suggestions from the phone rep did not solve the problem at all. The new bowl fixed the problem.
(3) Then I realized that deep in the growing period a number of herbs were not growing at all and was told that I had received a bad pump and would have to install a new one that Aerogrow would be sending me and that I would have to start all over again from the beginning with another packet of herbs that would be included in the package.
(4) I unplugged the aerogrow and installed the pump according to the BLURRY pictures on the instruction sheet and now the entire machine will not turn on. Changing the pump is messy and not recommended. Don't throw away the attaching screw for the old pump because Aerogrow doesn't give you anything but the pump and the blurry instructions.
The remaining survivors are going to die but that's okay because I have a brand new packet of seeds and in two months, I MIGHT have herbs, right?
(5) I put the new plug in today and now the machine won't turn on at all. HELP!
This product just isn't reliable and it is priced too high to be this risky.
(6) Aerogrow reps always maintained a friendly tone and polite demeanor in dealing with me. However, I still felt wronged. When the replacement never showed up after weeks, I emailed requesting a full refund, offering to ship the machine back to them so they could investigate the problem. They said that I could chuck the old machine, the new one was at the post office because of a wrong address and that they would credit my credit card. I have to check to see if they did. I don't want another aerogrow anyway.
A Nice Item That Makes a Horrible Racket August 28, 2007
M. Boomgarden (Chicago, IL, USA)
100 out of 103 found this review helpful
I bought an AeroGarden for my wife back in May. I'll start with the positives: It's a clever, generally well-designed item that generally functions well and is a nice addition to the kitchen. It's really great to have easy access to fresh herbs. In fact, if not for my one big complaint, I'd seriously consider getting another AeroGarden, so we could grow a greater variety and have a continuous supply of herbs.
However, there's a fundamental design problem with the AeroGarden's pump. After having the AeroGarden for about a month, the pump became terribly noisy, to the point where it could be heard vibrating in adjacent rooms. After running through a few steps with customer service, they sent me a new pump. However, because they've apparently had so many problems with the pumps, they were back-ordered and it took about three or four weeks for the replacement to arrive. Once I replaced the pump, the AeroGarden was again a welcome cohabitant, virtually silent except for the gentle sound of water trickling through the system.
All was fine until I pulled out the last crop of plants and inserted new seed pods and nutrients. I thoroughly cleaned out the reservoir unit, but within a few days, the pump (a replacement) started getting noisy. I just called AeroGrow's customer service department and they are shipping another pump.
The customer service folks have been very helpful, but they've acknowledged that there's a design problem. The pumps get noisy because tiny bits of root or nutrients get past the foam filter in the base unit, then get sucked into the pump's impeller. A small nick in the impeller throws off the balance of the pump and they become increasingly noisy. The only answer--at this point--is to periodically replace the pump.
So, just a little shy of four months into AeroGarden ownership, I will soon be on my third pump. I'm hopeful that they'll get this figured out at some point. They're very understanding and helpful in replacing the noisy pumps, but it appears to me that there's a fundamental design problem. As much as I like the AeroGarden when it's functioning as it's supposed to, I can't in good conscience recommend buying one at this time. I'd wait until they get this problem sorted out.
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