The Best Hydroponic Systems for Growing Veggies Indoors Year-Round
Hydroponics—the practice of growing plants in water rather than soil—is popular because it offers a way to produce a bounty of plants in a relatively small area in an indoor garden. These systems also tend to be user-friendly, so even newbie growers are likely to succeed. Best of all, hydroponic systems often are all-inclusive: They provide the container for growing the plants, and most come with lights, plant foods, and seeds, so you don’t have to be an expert to start growing.
Because of the wide range of consumer hydroponic systems available, choosing the best option can be challenging. To guide shoppers to the ideal product, we recently tested eight different indoor hydroponic systems to evaluate the top options on the market today.
When testing the best hydroponic systems, we looked for ease of use, the number of plants the system would accommodate, and any extra features included. Check out our top picks for indoor gardening with these hydroponic systems.
- BEST OVERALL: AeroGarden Bounty Hydroponic System
- BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK: Moistenland Indoor Garden Starter Kit
- BEST LARGE-CAPACITY: Lettuce Grow Farmstand Hydroponic System
- BEST FOR BEGINNERS: AeroGarden Harvest Hydroponic System
- BEST FOR MICROGREENS: Ingarden Organic Microgreens Starter Kit
- BEST FOR ROOTING: XXXFlower Plant Terrarium With Wooden Stand
- BEST DESIGN: Gardyn Home Kit 2.0 Hydroponic System
- BEST FOR SINGLE PLANTS: Hey Abby Grow Box OG Hydroponic System
How We Tested the Best Hydroponic Systems
When evaluating these hydroponic systems, we considered over a dozen companies and looked at the brand, customer reviews, features of the product, extra items included, and how well the system grew plants. We also looked at durability and ease of use when testing and evaluating these products.
Each product was scored using a rubric that specifically evaluated the watering system, how well the plants in the system thrived, how easy the system was to set up and use, any extra features the product included, types of plants the system could grow, the durability of the product, and how attractive the setup was. We also considered the value of the product for the price.
As we tested each hydroponic system, we looked closely at how well the plants grew and how easy the system was to use and maintain. To do this, we tested each system for a minimum of 6 weeks, and some of the systems were tested for over a year.
Our Top Picks
To qualify as a top pick, a hydroponic system needed to have a water circulation system that keeps the water fresh. For those that are all-inclusive systems, we looked for bright grow lights that can be adjusted in height as the plants grow taller. The following hydroponic systems vary in design and size, but each is well suited to growing healthy herbs and plants indoors.
Best Overall
AeroGarden Bounty Hydroponic System
This Bob Vila Approved product carries our brand’s highest level of recommendation.
Bob Vila Approved recognizes the household and DIY products that impressed us most in our real-world testing and that exemplify core values of the Bob Vila brand, including craftsmanship, innovation, and value for the dollar. Winners of this designation come recommended by our professional review team and are personally approved by Bob Vila.
Product Specs
- Size: 34 inches high by 17.25 inches wide by 11.25 inches deep
- Capacity: 9 plants
- Additional features: Touch screen, vacation mode, trellis, seeds included
What We Like
- All-inclusive system comes with seeds, humidity caps for seed germination, and liquid plant food.
- Generous grow height (up to 24 inches) is ideal for large plants such as peppers and tomatoes
- Easy-to-use touch screen makes scheduling light and water circulation simple and convenient
What We Don’t Like
- Width of 17.25 inches is a bit too tight for all plants to comfortably grow
The AeroGarden Bounty grows up to nine plants and comes with a seed kit of the user’s choice. Thanks to a convenient touch screen, growers can set their own light and watering schedule, and there’s a vacation mode for when the system will be unattended.
One of the system’s best features is its tall grow height of 24 inches—the highest of any smaller hydroponic system in our lineup. The grow height makes it easier to nurture larger plant varieties, such as peppers and tomatoes, without worrying about plants getting their leaves singed on the lights. The system also includes a trellis, which is helpful when growing such larger plants.
The Bounty has a large water reservoir, so the system only needs minimal topping off. It also comes with liquid plant food and humidity caps for seeds to germinate. However, in testing—growing a combination of lettuces and herbs—the width of the system proved a bit short. This led to stunted growth of some plants, while others competed for light. For example, when we placed cilantro and a short lettuce variety next to each other, the cilantro grew taller and blocked light from the lettuce, which failed to truly thrive.
While AeroGarden could fix this problem by making the Bounty wider, we found the solution to be simply using fewer grow stations. When replanting seeds in the system during a second round of testing, we planted fewer plants (six instead of nine) and found that they did better, growing larger and looking more healthy.
Despite the width of the system being a bit short for our preferences, after we figured out how to work around this issue, the AeroGarden Bounty earned our best overall spot for the number of plants it grows, its reasonable price, its tall grow height, and for being an inclusive kit that makes hydroponics simple.
Get the AeroGarden Bounty hydroponic system at Amazon or AeroGarden.
Best Bang for the Buck
Moistenland Indoor Garden Starter Kit
Product Specs
- Size: 19.5 inches high by 10.25 inches deep by 13.8 inches wide
- Capacity: 12 plants
- Additional features: Air circulation fan, water-level window, tweezers for seeds, watering cup
What We Like
- Has a light mode for growing both vegetables and flowers
- Handles on the bottom of the tray allow for easy transportation
- Comes with covers, seed plugs, and plant pods for user-friendliness
- Has a convenient plug at the bottom of the water reservoir for easy emptying
What We Don’t Like
- Not an all-inclusive kit; does not come with plant food or seeds
- The holes on the seed plugs are very small, and it’s hard to get seeds in
- Plants can grow to only 11.2 inches in height, so it’s not suitable for large plant varieties
The Moistenland hydroponics growing system features 12 growing stations, yet it costs less than many six-station systems. The system includes a water reservoir, an overhead LED grow light, and a fan to circulate air through plant foliage. It comes with a 12-station grow deck and a see-through water-level window, so with a glance, users can see how much water is in the reservoir.
Buyers receive 12 growing pods, 14 coconut coir seed plugs, and 12 clear covers to create optimal humidity for seeds until they sprout. Seeds and plant food, however, are not included. The grow lights are on an 18-hours-on/6-hours-off timer, and the watering system circulates every 30 minutes.
In testing, we found the holes on the included seed pods to be very small, making it challenging to get the seeds in. Fortunately, Moistenland does provide a pair of plastic tweezers specifically for transferring seeds into the plugs, which helped somewhat.
The system includes an adjustable light hood that allows room for most but not all lettuces and herbs to grow comfortably to up to 11.2 inches. Some of our plants pressed up against the lights and were damaged when they got too tall, but this shouldn’t be an issue with regular harvesting.
While the plant holes in the system looked to be a bit close to each other, this didn’t cause a problem during testing. However, we found it’s best to start all plants at the same time, as larger plants can block the light from smaller plants when they’re started at different times.
Get the Moistenland hydroponic system at Moistenland or Amazon.
Best Large-Capacity
Lettuce Grow Farmstand Hydroponic System
Product Specs
- Size: 72 inches high, 22 inches in diameter
- Capacity: 36 plants
- Additional features: pH kit, pH stabilizer, plant food, timers for pump and lights
What We Like
- Easy assembly thanks to a single plastic pipe running down the center of the system
- Large (20 gallon) water reservoir means minimal tank filling
- Comes with plant food, a pH kit, and timers, as well as optional app access
What We Don’t Like
- Cord holder on the front of the water reservoir didn’t work well in testing
- 2 separate cords are needed for lights and water pump, which detracts from the system’s visual appeal
The Lettuce Grow Farmstand that we tested has the capacity for 36 full-size plants, making it the largest hydroponic system on our list. The Farmstand comes with a teardrop-shaped base that can hold 20 gallons of water, which means we didn’t have to top off the water reservoir as often as with some of the smaller systems.
The system is adjustable—gardeners can add or remove sections as desired to increase or decrease the number of plants. This Farmstand can hold as few as 18 and as many as 36 plants. We loved that the Farmstand is constructed with high-quality, durable materials yet is also made with recycled ocean-bound plastic; it even comes in 100 percent recyclable packaging.
Despite its impressive size, the Farmstand proved to have a simple assembly process in testing—it uses a single durable plastic pipe that runs through the center of the system.
However, one downside we found is that it can be difficult to secure all the attachments and lights together. While they rotate and lock into place, this proved a bit tricky on some sections.
The Farmstand comes with two timers, one for lights and one for the water pump, which can be set and then left alone, making it simple to set up. However, the system is not controlled through an app, so remote monitoring or setting of lights and watering is not possible. App access can provide alerts about when to add plant food and harvest produce, and the fact that the system does not need Wi-Fi to work may be a benefit to some gardeners.
This system is not restricted to indoor use; growers can choose whether or not to purchase lights (which are not necessary when the system is used outdoors). Starter seedings, plant food, a pH kit, and a pH-down solution (to test and adjust the system’s pH) are included. Gardeners do have the option to purchase additional seedlings (sprouted plants ready to put into the system) from the company. While the seedlings were expensive, they were in perfect condition when they arrived, and we did not have a single plant die throughout the testing process, even though we had to delay transplanting some of the plants by 3 weeks.
We did have another pesky issue with the system. On our test model, the cord holder on the front of the water reservoir didn’t work very well, and the cords kept popping out. Also, the dual cords and timers made this system a little less attractive than some others.
Read our full review: Lettuce Grow Farmstand Hydroponic System
Get the Lettuce Grow hydroponic system at Lettuce Grow.
Best for Beginners
AeroGarden Harvest Hydroponic System
Product Specs
- Size: 17.4 inches high by 10.5 inches wide by 6 inches deep
- Capacity: 6 plants
- Additional features: Water and food refill indicator, humidity caps
What We Like
- Suitable for small spaces; compact footprint can fit on ledges, desks, and beneath cabinets
- Seeds and plant food included to grow 6 popular herb varieties
- Simple to set up, which is a plus for beginners as well as experienced gardeners who don’t want to fuss
What We Don’t Like
- Plants can grow to only 12 inches tall—herbs must be harvested before reaching the top or they can be damaged
- Lights are on 15 hours and then shut off; no option for users to set their own light schedule
Even newbies can stretch their green thumb with this system from leading hydroponic systems manufacturer AeroGarden. The Harvest indoor herb garden provides everything necessary to care for its six growing stations. We loved the simple setup: Gardeners simply insert plant pods, add water and plant food, plug it in, and it’s ready to grow. Humidity caps to help germinate seeds when starting the system are included.
The system comes with six plastic pots and six seed plugs that are already preseeded (with Italian basil, Thai basil, parsley, dill, thyme, and mint) and ready to go. Liquid plant nutrients are also included. For convenience, the Harvest automates both lighting and water circulation. The system turns the LED grow lights on for 15 hours per day, though users can turn the lights on and off manually as well. Water circulation is automatic, and the unit features both a low-water and a time-to-add-nutrient indicator to take the guesswork out of indoor hydroponics.
One downside to this system is that it lacks an adjustable light timer: the lights simply come on for 15 hours a day, then turn off until the cycle starts again. The height of the light hood is limited, too. It only offers about 12 inches for plants to grow, which may prove too short for the herbs. Our dill and our basil, for instance, were damaged because they grew too tall and pressed against the hot light before we could harvest them.
Get the AeroGarden Harvest hydroponic system at Amazon, Walmart, or AeroGarden.
Best for Microgreens
Ingarden Organic Microgreens Starter Kit
Product Specs
- Size: 7.88 inches high by 15.9 inches wide by 5.9 inches deep
- Capacity: 3 seed pads
- Additional features: Extra wicks and power adapters
What We Like
- 3 preseeded pads and extra wicks come with the kit
- The slim design fits easily on a countertop or window ledge
- All pieces except the grow light are dishwasher-safe for cleaning convenience
- High-quality ceramic and metal materials with no plastic parts
What We Don’t Like
- Using the system can be expensive; not a huge harvest yield and replacement seed pads are pricey
- Despite the small size, the system weighs more than 7 pounds
This hydroponic kit from Ingarden is specifically designed for sprouts, also called microgreens. The kit consists of a ceramic water reservoir, over which a metal ledge and individual seed trays rest with a wicking system to provide seeds with consistent moisture.
Grow lights, seed pads, and extra wicks are included, but replacement seed pads are not. Since sprouts grow and are ready to be harvested within about a week, this means gardeners must purchase additional seed pads or a sprout medium and seeds on their own to keep growing.
We tested this product with both the seed pads that the Ingarden came with as well as aftermarket hemp growing medium and alfalfa seeds. Although the seed pads were significantly more convenient, the results were very similar, so this kit allows growers the option to continue growing on their own without having a subscription to Ingarden for additional seed pads, which can be more cost-effective over time.
We loved that this kit is entirely dishwasher-safe (except for the grow lights), which simplifies cleaning and maintenance. The ceramic water reservoir is also a nice change from the traditional plastic reservoirs hydroponic systems typically use and can be a benefit for users seeking to avoid growing plants in plastic.
We also appreciate the simple light timer on this kit: We just pressed a button to set the timer to go off in 12 hours. The grow lights can also be dimmed, and resetting the timer is a breeze with just a few presses of the button.
Another positive aspect to this kit is its small size. We tested it on a kitchen counter where it took up very little space, so we believe just about anyone could find a place for it in the home. Plus, the kit even comes with different power adapters for use in different countries.
One downside to this kit is that the replacement seed pads can be expensive compared with buying sprouts at the store. In addition, we found that the yield wasn’t huge—we used all the sprouts to p