Living in a crowded inner city means that many residents don't have a garden of their own, so are unable to grow their own fruit and veggies. We've seen a number of indoor growing innovations – including Windowfarms and the Grobo – but last year's OGarden was a little different, growing plants in a rotating wheel with a light at its center. The design has now been updated, resulting in the OGarden Smart.
Like the original OGarden, the Smart version is raising production finds on Kickstarter. And its makers are hoping for repeated success – the first campaign raised over €80,000 and attracted nearly 270 backers.
Up to 90 plants can be grown at the same time in the second generation indoor garden, including leafy greens, herbs, cherry tomatoes, baby peppers, strawberries and edible flowers. The eye-catching wheel can accommodate 60 plants, while an LED lit nursery shelf in the housing below can take 30.
New to the Smart design is automatic watering from tanks housed in the base, with those tanks holding roughly 10 days of water and a warning system notifying users when reserves are running low. Low energy LED lighting at the heart of the device should make for relatively inexpensive indoor gardening throughout the year. This latest model is also reported to be slimmer – at 53 x 29 x 15 inches (134.6 x 73.65 x 38.1 cm) – and easier to use than the original. And the whole shebang draws only 120 W of power.
Indoor gardening with the OGarden Smart starts with seed cups supplied by the company which are placed in the nursery cupboard and the start button pushed. If the list of available plants is not to your liking you can get a bag of virgin earth and seed your favorites.
About three weeks later, the plants should be ready to be moved into the wheel. Then indoor gardeners just need to harvest when ready, usually about 30-40 days after planting. When a plant stops producing, its root ball and earth can be composted for future plant growing.
OGarden's makers reckon that owners should shave a considerable amount from their shopping bills, while enjoying the benefits of fresh, organic fruits and veggies all year round – and without adding plastic packaging to the environment.
Kickstarter pledges for the OGarden Smart System – which includes the device itself, seed cups and some greens to get you started – start at CAD 729 (about US$550). If all goes to plan, shipping is estimated to start in May. The video below has more.
Sources: OGarden, Kickstarter
