Bountiful Indoor Garden

Unboxing the AeroGarden Harvest - The Tub

The tub is an active participant in the AeroGarden Harvest growing system. The AeroGarden Harvest tub has these tasks.

The Tub

The tub contains a water pump and a water level sensor. The tub is contoured to fit snugly into the AeroGarden Harvest base. The tub has a recessed center area where the pump resides. The water level sensor is positioned so as to be visible when adding water to the reservoir.

Close-up of the AeroGarden Harvest tub, with the water pump and water level sensor visible
Inside of the tub, which contains the water pump and the water level sensor

The pump gets its power from a socket on the back of the AeroGarden Harvest base. The power cord runs up the back of the tub, over the top of the tub, and down the back of the tub, where it plugs in on the base. The socket is labeled, “Pump”.

The cord for the pump is in a recessed area so the plug has a rigid appendage you can grip to help you push the plug in or pull it out. It’s very helpful. The cord is long enough you can lift the tub up and forward just enough to access the plug, even if the tub contains water.

Close-up of the water pump power cable plugged into socket on the AeroGarden Harvest base
Close-up view of the water pump power cord plugged into socket on the base

The Water Level Sensor

The water level sensor is a nifty piece of engineering. Rather than risk compromising the integrity of the tub to run a wire to the computer, the AeroGarden Harvest uses a weight on a bobber. The computer knows the water level is low when the bobber sinks to the point the computer can detect the weight (probably just a magnet). The tube controls the vertical movement of the bobber.

You can remove the water level sensor tube by twisting counterclockwise and pulling up. Catch the bobber as it comes out, and make a note which way is up. You may want to clean roots from the sensor tube when cleaning your AeroGarden Harvest, but otherwise you’ll probably never need to take this off.

Water level sensor from the AeroGarden Harvest
Water level sensor

The Water Pump

The water pump is just a small fountain pump, pulling in the water at the bottom and pushing water up a tube to the receiver built into the tray.

A filter (not shown) protect the pump intake from roots. The filter slides into the water pump mount built into the tub base.

The AeroGarden water pump is removable and replaceable. Replacement pumps sold on Amazon are fairly inexpensive.

The vertical column and cover detach. Two small phillips-head screws hold the pump assembly securely in place. Use a small screwdriver (size #0) to carefully remove the screws holding the cover in place.

AeroGarden Harvest water pump, the vertical tube, and the cover
Water pump, vertical tube, and mounting cover
  • COMPATIBILITY - Replacement pump model #200623, pump will work with Harvest Elite, Bounty, Farm, Extra Ultra. Easy intallation and takes you a few minutes to install.
  • HIGH PERFORMANCE - The maximum head reaches 23.6 inch; there are 5 levels of flow adjustment and the maximum flow rate reaches 80 GPH.
  • HIGH QUALITY - Corrosion resistant and waterproof housing designed for long time immersion in nutrient solution.
  • PACKAGE LIST - The package contains 1 pump and 10 filters. Check your pump connector and model before installation to determine if this pump is suitable for your equipment.
  • AFTER-SALES SERVICE - Our products provide one-year warranty service, if you have questions about our products please communicate with us in time, we will contact you within 12 hours.
(* = affiliate link / image source: Amazon partner program)
×
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on https://www.amazon.com/ at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.

You can adjust the volume of water the pump pushes to the tray by turning the dial on the pump. Turn clockwise to increase water volume and counterclockwise to reduce the water volume.

Close-up view of the pressure control dial on the AeroGarden Harvest water pump
Water pump pressure control dial

Key Takeaways

In this article you saw how the tub actively participates in the growing system. The tub contains the water pump and the water level sensor.

The AeroGarden Harvest tub also supports the included six-pod garden tray. You can swap out the tray with a tray for starting seeds (23 of them!) or a tray for growing microgreens. The other two trays are sold separately.

Click the Next Page button to continue to the article on The Tray.