hydroponic vertical garden farmstand review

Let me start out by saying, I don’t have a green thumb, and I am just a wannabe gardener. That being said, I have done WWOOFing (an organic farm exchange) a handful of times, and in 2020, my partner and I put down some roots on 5 acres of high desert land where we are trying to slowly build a sustainable farmstead. In this post I review the Farmstand by Lettuce Grow. So far we’ve been experimenting with the Farmstand for 6 months, and I can say confidently that whether you’re new to gardening or you’re an expert, this hydroponic vertical garden tower will have you beaming with pride when harvest time comes!

But first, let’s cover the basics…

Hydroponics is a type of horticulture that involves growing plants without soil. Instead, you use a growing medium (e.g. coco coir, peat moss, etc) and add mineral nutrient solutions to the water. It also requires a small amount of power to run a pump and timer so that it can be a completely automated system.

Advantages of Hydroponics:

  • Typically uses 10x less water than traditional gardening
  • Production increases 3x to 10x in the same amount of space
  • Crops can be produced twice as fast in a well-managed system

Vertical Gardening is exactly what it sounds like, it’s just gardening that uses vertical space and upright growth habits to reduce the amount of space needed.

So combined, hydroponics and vertical gardening are powerful and sustainable concepts to save water and space, while increasing your gardening yields.

The Farmstand

The Farmstand is an all-in-one self-watering self-fertilizing hydroponic vertical garden. It literally only requires 5-minutes of maintenance once a week, allows you to grow up to 36 plants in 4 sq ft, and it takes 95% less water than traditional gardening.

It comes with everything you need to get started growing your own food from home (including a 20-gallon water tank, pump, timer, nutrients, stirrer, and a pH test kit).

The best part is this thing is an all-in-one system that’s super easy for beginner gardeners (no green thumb required)! Oh and did I mention it’s made of ♻️ recycled ocean-bound plastic and for every ten purchased they donate one to a person or community in need.

Farmstand Weekly Maintenance:

  • Add nutrients in bag A, stir
  • Add nutrients in bag B, stir
  • Top off water
  • Check Ph level (if high, add Ph down)

The Cost: $350-$650 (depending on the size and how many tiers you want)

While that price tag may seem expensive (I know I was skeptical about spending so much), I can attest to the fact that it’s truly worth it and will probably pay for itself in a year or two! But, more importantly, you are paying for simplicity, convenience, and the ability to produce fresh farm-to-table nutritious veggies in your own home.

If you are on a tight budget though, I recommend starting with the 12 plant Farmstand (which comes with 2 tiers) and then adding on more tiers down the road (that’s what I did). Fortunately, shipping is free on the Farmstand and extension kits, so this is a practical way to build your garden as you go.

You can grow indoors or outdoors, and we’ve done about half and half, with great success both ways. If you do grow indoors, I suggest putting it by a south facing window with direct sunlight, and buying a heavy duty plant dolly to rotate it 90 degrees once a week so that all your plants can get an equal amount of sun. If you don’t have a great window spot for it, then you can get custom grow lights from Lettuce Grow or some more affordable grow lights with an adjustable stand on Amazon. We have our Farmstand in our greenhouse now, but that’s definitely not necessary.

You can get seedlings delivered ready to go straight from Lettuce Grow. These seedlings are already 3-4 weeks into the growing process and ready to be plopped into your Farmstand. We started growing our own seedlings to be more involved in the process and to save some money.

I use these non-GMO seeds, growing trays, and plant starter plugs to grow my own seedlings for my hydroponic system. Sometimes, especially in the winter, I use this heat mat and grow light to help my seedlings grow more efficiently.

I’ve successfully grown cucumber, zucchini, tomatoes (full size and cherry tomatoes), green beans, kale, spinach, and so many other leafy greens and herbs 🥬 🥒 🍅 🌿. My partner didn’t believe that it would be able to grow large veggies, but The Farmstand has definitely proved him wrong.

We’ve also been able to take up to two-week vacations, and when we got home, our plants were thriving!

In conclusion, I’m so unbelievably impressed with the capabilities of this hydroponic vertical garden! It truly only takes 5 minutes of maintenance once a week, and somehow this thing magically produces super delicious produce that tastes way better than when I get them from the grocery store.


Feel free to leave any questions in the comments 🙂

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About Author

Anna is an optimist with pessimistic tendencies who enjoys making a short story long, listening to soundtracks from musicals, and watching anything in the post-apocalyptic sci-fi genre. These days you can catch her learning about off-grid living and gardening the hard way, wandering with her partner and dogs through forest roads in a camper, or hiking to waterfalls or glacial lakes. You can also find her on YouTube at Anna and Ryan.

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