I have two hydroponic grow systems at my house- the Gardyn and the Lettuce Grow. So, this post is from someone who actually has these hydro towers and has used them extensively, not someone just breaking down info available online.

They both have good points and bad points. So, which would I recommend? Read on for the pros and cons for both, and which one I would keep if I only had one.

Deciding Between the Gardyn and Lettuce Grow

I’ve had my Lettuce Grow tower for three years, and my Gardyn for a little less than a year. I have them both inside with grow lights. I grow lettuce, herbs and a variety of vegetables.

The Set Up

Setting up the Gardyn is a little easier, but you have less options for customizing it. With Lettuce Grow, you can choose how many pieces to add to your tower, and you can add on to it later. With Gardyn you get what you get.

Click here to read about my first time setting up the Lettuce Grow farmstand.

The Lettuce Grow requires a little more effect with setting your lights and water timers, which you do yourself manually on the actual devices. The Gardyn is either run by an app or completely automated by their Kelby assistant, which controls the lights and water schedule. However, you have to pay monthly for Kelby.

The Kelby AI assistant can also get a little annoying, messaging you every day with tips and tasks to complete.

The easier set-up winner: Gardyn

Getting Growing

Lettuce Grow jump starts you three weeks ahead with their ready to grow seedlings. Gardyn sends you seeded plugs, which take up to a month to sprout.

I was eating salads within a week of setting up my Lettuce Grow, but it took two months to get anything from the Gardyn, which was a little frustrating.

Time to first harvest winner: Lettuce Grow

Caring for Plants

Adding nutrients to both systems is pretty easy and done once a week. The Gardyn has one solution, where the Lettuce Grow uses a two-part nutrient system.

The thing I like about the Lettuce Grow system is that the nutrients are easily available on Amazon and from a variety of places. It requires standard hydroponic nutrients, where I’m not really sure about the Gardyn’s nutrients and whether you can get them anywhere but from Gardyn.

Nutrients winner: it’s a draw. Both are easy to add nutrients to each week. However, I personally prefer the availability of the Lettuce Grow nutrients.

Maintenance

The Gardyn is more tedious to maintain, but much easier to clean. You need to regularly pull out the plants and cut or tuck the roots into the little container. It’s also recommended to keep your roots trimmed on the Lettuce Grow, but you don’t have to do it as often.

Cleaning the Gardyn involves taking off the entire top of the stand and cleaning out the bottom. It took me under 30 minutes to do the whole thing.

In contrast, the Lettuce Grow system takes me several hours and in a pain in the butt to clean. This is its major drawback. I take each piece apart and clean everything and empty the large reservoir at the bottom and clean that.

However, the Gardyn wants you to clean it once a month, where I only completely reset my Lettuce Grow every 4-6 months depending on how things are growing.

Maintenance winner: for full reset, the winner is Gardyn. For daily maintenance the winner is Lettuce Grow

Growing and Harvesting

Overall, my plants have consistently grown better and longer in the Lettuce Grow farmstand. The reason I’ve kept both systems going is because I often start them out in the Gardyn tower and then move them to the Lettuce Grow after they start growing bigger.

The Lettuce Grow has more room, and the plants get bigger, faster. Also, for some reason, the plants seem to bolt and flower faster on the Gardyn, which makes them unusable. For example, I barely get any arugula before it starts bolting on the Gardyn, where on the Lettuce Grow, I get big bunches that keep growing even after picking.

Growing and Harvesting winner: Lettuce Grow

Overall Costs

Overall, the Lettuce Grow is a little more expensive to get started, but cheaper in the long run. Both systems are going to run between $600 – $800 to get started, depending on what size and options you choose.

Also, Gardyn only has an indoor option, where Lettuce Grow can be both indoor and outdoor.

With Gardyn, you are pretty much dependent on ordering your seed plugs from them, where with Lettuce Grow you can easily get the baskets and plugs anywhere and grow whatever you want yourself.

Cost winner: In the long run, you’ll get more for your money with Lettuce Grow

Lettuce Grow vs Gardyn: Who’s the Overall Winner?

Here’s what it boils down to- do you have no gardening experience and want to be walked through every step and don’t mind continuing to pay a monthly fee for it? Then get the Gardyn. Overall, it’s the easiest to set-up and keep going.

Click here and get a $50 gift card with the purchase of a Gardyn by using my friend code: rfcandy95010

Do you want more control over your hydroponic garden, like to experiment, save money and want a bigger harvest? Go with the Lettuce Grow. My personal pick is the Lettuce Grow, because I do my own starters and can get thousands of seeds for the price of one Gardyn seed plug. It’s more cost effective and you can’t beat the bountiful harvest.

Click here to check out Lettuce Grow! 

Use code: FRIEND-SE2U to save $75

Check out my Reel of the Gardyn when it gets growing: