Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 33
 Well designed unit. Lots of fun. Lots of herbs. February 1, 2008
Gary Baker (Manchester, CT)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
This is a nice unit. I'm sure some people have had a part break on them, but that has never been the case here. This whole system is well planned and all the details worked out better than most any product I've ever seen. We followed the directions, and everything come out perfect. Seems like you would have to be really sort of 'slow' to mess up using this product. Sure, there is always a chance of a poor batch of seeds I expect. But after 4 'plantings' we've never had a single issue.
The seed pods are all nicely labeled. Every plant sprouted on exactly the day the instructions said it would. They tell you which plants to put in which holes so that they all get the right amount of light. They tell you when to add water and how much. It tells you when to feed it (drop in 2 pills.. how hard is that ?) If you trim the plants when and how it tells you, you can keep them even and they all will bush out into large nice beautiful plants that supply you with great herbs as often as you would ever want for a few months. Reading the other reviews we purchased a 2 pack of the light bulbs (for $19 total).. to have on hand, since several people complained they didn't last long.. well 18 months later.. we've had to replace one. Yes they are bright.. plan accordingly. Once I noticed the pump was having trouble... I stuck my hand in the water... moved the roots away from the intake.. fixed.. maybe a 4 second repair. We have been thinking about a second unit, since one crop last a pretty long time.. 4 to 5 months of harvesting (herbs).. and we wanted to have other stuff going at the same time. Also might use one to start a few things then transplant them outside. The unit does what is suppose to do perfectly. Seeds are too expensive... but they are just so easy... I'm working out making my own pods.. not only to save a little, but pick and choose my own plant types.
I always read these reviews with a grain of salt, so to speak. I've seen idiots out there that can make a mess of about anything. You could sell them a rubber ball and they would complain the ball didn't bounce well after they ran over it with a truck...and they called customer service, and customer service was unresponsive.. really. And with a little work, you could mess this unit up. At some point, you need to know how to screw in a light bulb, actually snap it in. I don't know how good the customer service is.. I've never had to call them. Seeing that you have a pump that pumps water through a mass of growing roots.. it will need attention there once in awhile.
If you want to grow 7 herbs indoors, or a few other things, this is a great way to do it. It's a little costly.. so is growing you own garden outside if you add it all up, tools and consider time spent. This takes very little time. Is easy. Is fun to watch, it can be right there in the kitchen with you. Makes a great night light if you want to cycle it at night...lol But if you do spend just a little time trimming the plants , how it says.. they tell you when and where to cut each plant depending on what it is... it's a great little system ! Useful and fun.
 Poor light socket design - poor manufacturing January 12, 2008
Geoffrey P. Cheeseman (Nederland, CO)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
I've had the AeroGarden for about 8 months and the bulbs often flicker. I tried tightening but they never seem secure. Eventually, one of the bulbs fell out and smashed onto the floor, leaving glass everywhere. Even the replacement Bulbs I purchased from Amazon seemed to slowly work their way out.
I contacted AeroGarden directly and they suggested to push the pins together to get the bulbs to stay socket and make better electrical contact.
When that didn't work, they even sent me a new hood, explaining that they have had reports of this issue with older hoods that were not manufactured well (likely China, I suppose). Anyway, it was great they made that offer, but the replacement hood was just as bad, and the lights started flickering right away. I think the hood / bulb socket is a *very* poor design.
 AEROGARDEN January 10, 2008
BW
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
One grow bulb burned out after a week. Switched bulb positions to make sure it was the bulb. Email to the company -- no response. Voicemail -- no response. Finally ordered new package of bulbs from Amazon to keep the plants going. Then, after one week a polite person called and said she would send a new bulb.
AeroGarden December 8, 2007
Average Customer
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
The AeroGarden arrived in mid October and was started a few days later. Within a week the pump started to make noise. The company immediately shipped a replacement with no questions asked. It has been quiet ever since. The booklet that comes with the herb seed kit has a theoretical schedule of the stages of the plants life. Perhaps it is because we live in Arizona but the plants grew like weeds. In three weeks we were harvesting large amounts of the herbs. Two months later we are still harvesting and have given bags of fresh herbs to friends. The unit was placed in the kitchen and makes a very bright night light but you can change the schedule of the light to accommodate your needs. We plan to try other seed kits if the herbs ever stop growing and die out.
Waste of Money January 16, 2008
R. Smith (Chicago, IL United States)
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
I bought my Aerogarden about 3 mos. ago and at the time gave it glowing reviews that were apparently premature. Everything started out great with this product but it didn't take long to have it lose it's appeal. First, with the exception of Basil that grew like a weed, everything else was underdeveloped, scrawny and useless. I followed the instructions to the letter and still, Chives, Dill, Cilantro, Mint and Parsley all grew either far, far too slowly to be useful (unless you want enough chives for one baked potato every two weeks), or they were utterly unusable. For $150 I got probably $4.00 worth of useful product in 90 days. And, then things started breaking. Seemed like I was contacting AeroGrow every week to get something fixed. They're responsive yes, but who wants to spend their lives on hold with a CSR every few days?
In the end I threw a fit with the company and asked to return it. NOW suddenly they weren't so responsive. They ignored me, then they started sending me replacement parts and seeds when I asked for a return shipping form. Finally after three phone calls and a nasty email I got my return form and sent this thing off into the ether yesterday. Now let's see how soon I get my money back.
So, to sum up...it's a cool toy, no doubt, but still have too many bugs to really be worth while and CERTAINLY NOT worth $150! I'd buy this thing again if it were $29.99 maybe. I say, go to the store and buy the fresh herbs. Buy this thing and you'll be doing that anyhow...unless you're content eating your body weight in Basil everyday.
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