Surviving in a Post-AeroGarden World

AeroGarden announced its closing effective the first of January, 2025. Farewell, good friend.

What Just Happened?!

AeroGarden dominated the Hydroponic Growing System market. The name AeroGarden was synonymous with Hydroponic Growing System, becoming almost a generic term for the product category similar to Kleenex, Xerox, and Coke. But being the best known is no guarantee of long-term success.

In late 2024, AeroGarden announced the closing of its doors effective the end of the year. Products remain for sale on Amazon [affiliate link] through the end of the year but few if any are available on the AeroGarden.com website.

AeroGarden specialized in convenience, quality, and innovation. By including seeded pods in the box, the company made their gardens the perfect all-in-one gifts or starters for first-time gardeners. The quality of the product was top-notch. And they covered the gamut of indoor gardening needs with options supporting 3, 6, 9, 12, and even 24 plants. The floor-model 24XL provided a full three feet of vertical space for your plants. And you could stack the Farm model gardens!

The evidence of the end was there. Over the past year, models started disappearing from the company website and Amazon. Sam’s Club clearanced the Harvest 360 model it sold. But who expected the major player in the market to completely shut down?

Other manufacturers offer Hydroponic Growing Systems. Hydroponic Growing Systems are simple products and so popular you’d think the market could support a high-end product line from AeroGarden in addition to the cheaper alternatives. Apparently, not.

What Made AeroGarden Special?

AeroGarden played a major role in the Hydroponic Growing System market. The company was an early provider of hydroponic indoor food gardens. Over time, the company built a loyal following of indoor gardeners.

AeroGarden had the floor-based Hydroponic Growing System market just about all to itself. Most floor-based Hydroponic Growing Systems offered by other companies stack plants vertically, whereas the Farm series was a flat garden. With the optional anchor kit, you could stack a Farm 24Plus atop a Farm 24XL to grow up to 48 plants using just a few square feet of floor space.

The Bounty series offered the opportunity to grow medium-sized plants on a countertop. The 24″ light deck height meant you could grow tomatoes and peppers in addition to lettuce and herbs.

The AeroGarden Harvest series may have been the most popular Hydroponic Growing System on the market. At least, apparently, it was at one point. The device was compact and offered basic conveniences. However, with a 12″ light deck limit, it’s best suited for lettuce and herbs. It certainly grows tomatoes and peppers, but you’ll need to prune the height of these plants often.

AeroGarden standardized the pod sizes across its entire product line. You could own a 3-pod Sprout and a 24-pod Farm 24XL and use the same pods in both.

AeroGarden offered starter trays for its Hydroponic Growing Systems that allowed you to start seedlings for transplant to a soil-based garden. You’d just pluck the grow sponge/plug from the tray once the seedling was ready and move it outdoors. Of course, you can do this with any Hydroponic Growing System, but the tray converted a 6-pod Harvest to a 23-pod seed starter.

AeroGarden also offered trays to grow microgreens in the Harvest series and Bounty series. The AeroGarden products were simply very versatile.

AeroGarden seemed to have everything going for it, but could not compete in a market saturated with less-expensive competitors. As you shop for your next Hydroponic Growing System, keep in mind what made AeroGarden special, and look for the company following that path.

With AeroGarden Gone, What Next?

Your AeroGarden appliance continues to grow food, just as it has done reliably for years. It’s OK. Continue using your AeroGarden devices as before. You can get supplies and most replacement parts from third parties.

You cannot assume the company will continue to offer updates to the phone app. You probably need to prepare for it to go away entirely. All Wi-Fi-enabled devices function using the control panel, so your garden won’t “shut down”. If you own or believe you will buy an AeroGarden Bounty or Farm garden, perhaps you should download and install the app now. The company promises “extended” support for the app, but that doesn’t mean the app will be available in the store for new users.

You’ll need to find alternative suppliers for replacement grow sponges/plugs, pods, and nutrients. Several third-party companies offer compatible sponges and pods. However, you’ll probably be adding seeds to your pods manually from here on out.

Expanding your garden or replacing worn-out AeroGarden devices involves finding worthy alternatives. AeroGarden competitors will quickly fill the void left by AeroGarden leaving the market.

AeroGarden stated their products will be available on Amazon until the end of 2024, but retailers will be selling AeroGarden products until their inventory runs out. You can search for AeroGarden products still on sale on Amazon and stock up today [affiliate link]. Get them quickly; they won’t be available for much longer!

Manufacturers such as Mufga, LetPot, Ahopegarden, RainPoint, and iDOO seem to be the contenders for replacing AeroGarden as the dominant products on the market. However, with the market so splintered, it’s possible no one manufacturer dominates the field as did AeroGarden.

The countertop indoor garden market continues to expand. You’ll have no lack of selection here.

Rather, the void left by AeroGarden will be in the floor-based garden beds. The Farm series provided growers the option to grow a large number of plants in a small space, a few very large plants like squash, or a few very tall plants like tomato, pepper, or sunflower. AeroGarden offered the ability to stack Farm models, so you could grow 48 plants using just a couple square feet of floor space. This style of gardening is where AeroGarden may be missed the most.

The Bounty series offered a 24″ clearance under the grow light for tall plants. Perhaps more manufacturers will take up the slack here. LetPot offers an interesting pair of gardening appliances that come close to the height of the Bounty but outperform it elsewhere.

I expect eventually some manufacturer will fill the market gap left by the Bounty series and maybe even the Farm series. We’re already seeing some activity in this area.

Can AeroGarden Competitors Fill The Gap?

Companies other than AeroGarden offer quality Hydroponic Growing Systems. While none seem to have reached the popularity of the AeroGarden Harvest series of gardens, they’re on their way to achieving it. What are your options for growing food using Hydroponic Growing Systems from these up-and-coming manufacturers?

Here are some alternatives to AeroGarden you can explore.

The light deck rises to 20″ high on the LetPot LPH-SE 12-pod garden [affiliate link]. You can even interact with it through a Wi-Fi app like on the Bounty Elite. The 5.5 liter (5.5L) reservoir capacity keeps your plants fed longer. And you get two light modes so you can customize the light to the plants you’re growing.

The 21-pod LetPot LPH-Max [affiliate link] falls between the AeroGarden Bounty Basic and Bounty models. The 36 watt (36W) light exceeds the power of the Bounty Basic light but is less than the 40W Bounty. You get 21″ clearance for your plants and a 7.5 liter (7.5L) water reservoir that should greatly reduce the number of times you need to top it off. Even better, the LPH-Max comes with a 2-pod tray with larger holes so you can grow tomatoes and other plants with thicker stalks. These people are getting imaginative! And you control this appliance with a handy 4.8″ LCD screen or Wi-Fi.

Superegrow introduced a possible alternative to the AeroGarden Farm series. With a maximum plant height of 32″, the Superegrow 6100F [affiliate link] approaches the vertical space of a Farm 12XL and Farm 24XL. You gain a great degree of control over the pump and lighting settings with this garden device. A 7 liter (7L) water reservoir provides enough water for even the thirstier plants.

The Click & Grow Indoor Herb Garden Kit [affiliate link] resembles a long, skinny toolbox with a handle. If you have no interest in adding seeds to grow sponges yourself, look at the Click & Grow product line of 3, 9, and 9 with Wi-Fi gardens. The company offers packages of 3 or 9 pods with a wide variety seeds for herbs, greens, flowers, and fruits [affiliate link]. Here is something interesting: the pods include the nutrients for the plant. Note: the pods are incompatible with AeroGarden appliances.

An alternative to a flat floor-based garden is the vertical garden. It’s a column, with plants growing out its sides on all sides, having a water reservoir as the base. Learn more about vertical gardens as an alternative to countertop gardens in the companion article, Limited Floor Space? Go Vertical With Your Garden!

AeroGarden will be missed, no doubt. But even the great AeroGarden can be replaced.

Can You Still Get AeroGarden Supplies?

Yes, you can continue buying pods, sponges, and other compatible accessories. Two factors come into play here. AeroGarden sold enough Hydroponic Growing Systems to ensure the demand remains strong for years to come. Moreover, some manufacturers designed their devices to be compatible with the AeroGarden pods. Owners of those devices need replacements, too.

The Haligo 128-Piece Seed Pod Kit [affiliate link] equips you with 50 sponges, 50 labels, and 12 pods, along with nutrients. Regardless of the company making the product, so long as the pods fit and the grow sponges hold together in water, you should have no reason to be concerned.

If you’re concerned AeroGarden-compatible supplies will become difficult to find, consider stocking up on compatible pod kits. How many plants will you start growing per year? You’ll need a grow sponge/plug for each.

You can reuse the plastic pods. Clean them well and sterilize them between crops. Substitute aluminum foil for the stickers or buy them online. Keep and reuse the transparent lids; those are harder to fashion yourself. In a pinch, you can clean out the transparent snack cup [affiliate link] after you eat the fruit in it.

The GoorDik 150 Grow Sponge Kit [affiliate link] should keep you in business for a long time. If you use the AeroGarden Seed Starter trays, having a large supply of grow sponges makes sense.

With AeroGarden gone, their pre-seeded pods go away, too. This is a shame. Those pods almost always worked, were replaced if they did not, and produced good food. The trend in the market seems to be going away from pre-seeded pods.

The AeroGarden fertilizer will probably go away. The primary appeal of the AeroGarden fertilizer was the ease of having a single bottle. Many companies offer a two-bottle plant-food solution. Changing how you feed your plants may be the greatest inconvenience of losing AeroGarden, beyond not being able to get more gardens. Try the TPS Nutrients Liquid Plant Food [affiliate link] as a one-bottle substitute for the AeroGarden fertilizer.

Even the pump for AeroGarden devices [affiliate link] can be had from third-party providers. This part may not work with other devices, and as demand wanes, so too will supply. If you’re serious about keeping your AeroGardens operational, maybe you should have a few spare water pumps handy.

Key Takeaways

AeroGarden offered high-quality, innovative products. They certainly pioneered the Hydroponic Growing System industry. But AeroGarden certainly isn’t the only provider of Hydroponic Growing Systems. The Hydroponic Growing System market is just getting started. Great things are coming!

Keep your AeroGardens in good condition, and you’ll surely get many years of service from them. But fret not; losing AeroGarden by no means losing the ability to garden indoors. You’ll try something new when you buy your next Hydroponic Growing System and you’ll find that—while it’s not an AeroGarden—it’s still a darn good Hydroponic Growing System. It’s just different.