Are smart planters actually viable at home? I tested one for 45 days, and here’s my advice

I love plants, but I definitely wasn’t born with a green thumb. I have plenty of them in my home, though they tend to survive rather than thrive under my care. Still, I enjoy taking care of them, and over time, I’ve collected more than I can count.

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As someone with multiple grow lights at home, smart plugs to control them, and different contraptions to keep my plants near south-facing windows, I can appreciate the effort companies like Plantaform make with their products. The latest Rejuvenate is no exception.

It’s a smart indoor garden that grows plants from seed pods using a mix of specialized lights and mist. Rejuvenate can grow many types of plants, and Plantaform sells themed pod packs, like Lettuce Mix, Cherry Tomato Mix, Cocktail Mix of herbs, Herb Essentials, Leafy Mix of lettuce, Edible Flowers, and a Superfood Salad Mix.

I can keep some plants alive but have a terrible hand for others, like fruits and vegetables. I’ve tried growing cilantro, basil, oregano, thyme, and fruits like tomatoes, strawberries, lemons, and oranges. But these have all ended up in wilted, dry nothingness. I only had mild success with cilantro once in an outdoor planter — for like two months.

When I unboxed the Rejuvenate, I could almost see all my green leafy dreams materialize in front of me. This device is pretty big, occupying about four square feet of space, but it can easily sit on a tabletop anywhere in the home. 

Setting it up is easy, but you must follow the instructions to ensure your plants grow to their fullest potential. Thankfully, once you get through the setup, you only have to worry about your Plantaform garden every few weeks.

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The Rejuvenate uses pod packs from Plantaform, which are essentially seed pods with a spongy growing medium. You soak the pods in water and place them on the tower inside the smart garden. The included guides even have recommended placement, and Plantaform itself says not to put different seed pods together. 

I’m a rule breaker, so I put different seed pods together. However, now that I’ve had the Rejuvenate for over a month, I’d never do that again. Plantaform did outstanding work in figuring out the perfect placement for the pods inside the smart garden and which pods to include together in a pack. Mixing and matching isn’t recommended because it will likely throw off the system that makes your garden grow.

The Rejuvenate uses ‘fogponics,’ a mix of aeroponics and hydroponics. The smart garden has an ultrasonic fogger that turns the water inside into ultra-fine mist; it’s a tech very similar to what NASA uses in space. This fog is loaded with nutrients, which you add to the water when you set up the Rejuvenate. It keeps your plants moist, and roots aerated with up to 95% less water than traditional gardening. 

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The Plantaform Rejuvenate includes everything you need. You get pod covers, which you must add when setting up your seed pods to keep them moist, and a tub of fertilizer, which you add to the water. You also get other tools and supplies to help keep your Rejuvenate clean and help with water refills. 

After setting up the Rejuvenate, I added water to the top intake and the bottom reservoir. Then, I added as many scoops of the included fertilizer as my seed pack required. I grabbed my moist seed pods and put them in the tower inside the Rejuvenate, following instructions for better placement. 

Setting up the Plantaform app is crucial because this is how you’ll get alerts every step of the way. I downloaded the app and paired my Rejuvenate, then added my seed pod pack and got started. The app walks you through instructions and follows up whenever your garden needs intervention. 

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A few days in, you have to remove the domes on the seed pods, for which you’ll get an app notification. When the water runs low, you’ll get an alert to refill your Rejuvenate. When you do, you can add how many liters you put into the smart garden, and the app will calculate how much fertilizer you should then add. 

The app is very informative at every step of the process. 

I set up the Rejuvenate in our TV room on an old table, just in case spilled water would be an issue. I didn’t have any issues with water, so I later moved it to my living room. 

After the initial week, you only have to intervene when the app sends a low water alert. In 45 days, I refilled the water four times — which wasn’t bad. When the app tells you that your plants are ready for harvesting, you can follow the harvesting procedure, which turns off the fogger and fans and dims the lights for you. 

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The Plantaform Rejuvenate is the first time I’ve been able to grow food, and it’s taken much less effort than it did to kill all my previous attempts.

The Rejuvenate lights are always on during the day and are very bright, but the smart garden has tinted windows that attach magnetically, so the light isn’t a problem. The unit also has a button on top that you can press, and the Rejuvenate goes into ‘Party Mode,’ where it dims the lights and runs the fogger. This perfectly demonstrates what the device does to visitors who wonder what that giant spaceship is doing in my home. 

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Plantaform thought of everything with the Rejuvenate smart indoor garden, which is a statement I can rarely make of tech devices. The company truly developed a well-thought-out product that makes anyone, gardening experience or not, capable of growing their own food at home.