As the spring season comes to a close with the heat of the summer blazing our way, the prospects of growing an outdoor garden seem slim to none. The approximation of the heat fosters the perfect environment for the endless challenges of traditional gardening. Optimizing growth for the summer season requires the mastery of cultivation along with being your very own pest control as bugs and furry friends look to snack on your hard work. And the urban living conditions tend to limit the amount of space and sunlight your plants receive. But most importantly…gardening takes time. In urban areas, individuals are on the go and have a loaded agenda with hundreds of other priorities, leaving them with zero downtime to watch and care for their crop as it slowly grows.

This leaves urban growers and healthy living enthusiasts with one choice: starting an indoor garden. A hydroponic herb garden allows for a soilless method of growing. Its magic is performed by leveraging easy-to-implement tech that automates watering and uses adjustable LED grow lights and smart sensors to create a smart greenhouse in a contained and controlled manner.

With an indoor herb garden, one has the gift of life at their fingertips. And it's all in a pollution-free, care-free, and accelerated manner! Summer recipe favorites such as fresh parsley, basil, and cherry tomatoes are an arm’s length away. And not only does a hydroponic herb garden generate a healthier, chemical-free crop, but it also uses less water in doing so. Princeton University recently shared that hydroponics uses up to 90% less water. This is because their irrigation systems have been designed leveraging sensors to optimize the water and nutrient inputs to grow better plants, faster.

Sustainability

Many urban communities aspire to live a greener lifestyle, making a hydroponic approach ideal for their indoor garden. As the plants are watered, the hydroponic system strategically reuses water that is naturally recirculated through evapotranspiration. This creates a circular life for the water within the same system, which is something that is not available to farmers and outdoor gardeners.

Having an hydroponic herb garden also eliminates the negative environmental contribution brought from a supply chain. Your ride to the local market isn't the only emission released in the process of getting your fruits and vegetables to your plate. An immense carbon footprint is generated from the processing, packing, and transportation of a single product.

Quality

Finding the freshest vendor is difficult, especially for those living in urban areas. And it goes without saying that vendors tend to increase prices once the vegetable has gone out of season, leaving a great dent in your wallet. So why not grow your own, year round? The Hydroponics Planet, a resource for hydroponics gardening information, shared that a smart indoor gardening system can boost growth, making the process 25% faster while delivering a 30% increase in yield. In comparison to soil grown plants, hydroponics can grow anywhere from 30% – 50% faster.

Healthy, Educational, and Decorative

Being that the urban lifestyle promotes tidy, compact living, smart indoor gardening systems provide an indoor garden that is small, yet scalable to your growing desires. And with their decorative nature, they fit perfectly into the evolving aesthetic of any modern home. This also makes it an ideal gift for all ages as it awakens curiosity and motivates all to explore and benefit from the physiological value of watching a garden come to life.

In addition, many of the top smart garden companies will send seed pods or plant sprouts at a moment's notice to keep your smart garden in bloom, in perpetuity. This gives you sufficient time to keep a continuous cycle of growing and harvesting fresh, natural microgreens and herbs.

Continue learning about indoor gardening and get your very own smart indoor garden today! Explore aspara’s Smart Growers, seed kits, and accessories – all made to help you grow better, faster.

About the Author

Dr Humphrey Leung is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Growgreen Limited, the manufacturer of smart indoor gardening system aspara. He currently dedicates his time and efforts towards developing innovative products, aiming to employ technologies to replicate Nature (in a machine, aspara) to provide the best environments to grow plants (like vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers) easily and successfully at home, making everyone’s life healthier and more enjoyable.