Lettuce Grow Farmstand Review – Is It Worth It? Pros, Cons, Alternatives, & More

Lettuce Grow Before and After: My Personal Experience

Growing at home with my Farmstand has been incredibly fun, educational, and rewarding. I visually documented my journey from setup to harvest because seeing is believing, and quite frankly I could hardly believe what was happening before my eyes! Check out my before and after photos:

As you can see, I set up my Farmstand indoors using the Glow Rings. It was super easy to get up and running, even as a novice gardener trying my first hydroponics tower. It took me about an hour to set up – here’s a timeline:

Step 1 – 15 minutes

• Unbox and Build the tower 

Step 2 – 15 minutes

• Unbox and Assemble the Glow Rings

Step 3 – 10 minutes

• Add Water and Nutrients

Step 4 – 5 minutes 

• Set glow light and pump timers

Step 5 – 10 minutes 

• Unbox and Plant Seedlings

TOTAL Set up time

• 55 minutes

Hydroponics: Is it worth all the hype?

If you’re still on the fence about Lettuce Grow’s Farmstand, it might be because you’re unsure about trying a hydroponics system over other types of gardening. I know I definitely was.

Hydroponic gardening is unique because it doesn’t rely on soil to grow plants. Instead, it utilizes a well of nutrient-enriched water — like the one at the base of the Lettuce Grow Farmstand. The plants absorb water infused with fertilizer, which promotes root and leaf growth.

Ultimately the choice of a hydropnics tower over a backyard garden depends on how you use your grower and which of your current (bad) habits it replaces. For me, adopting Lettuce Grow’s hydroponic tower into my life has saved me money, made me eat healthier, and taught me a ton. Here are some of the most significant reasons I advocate for hydroponics instead of starting a vegetable garden in your backyard:

Less work

Hydroponic growing saves you time in your day and the time needed to harvest each plant. Imagine only needing to spend 5-10 mins a week on your entire garden vs multiple hours (after setup), including just adding water & nutrients, adjusting the pH, harvesting, and ordering new seedlings. That’s been my experience with Lettuce Grow so far.

Plants grown in hydroponic systems also grow at least 20% faster than plants grown in soil under the same conditions because energy normally expended by the plant in gathering nutrients from the soil is instead directed toward growth. The more controlled environment also allows each plant to grow in near-perfect conditions.

Furthermore, rather than growing outward in the soil in search of food, plant roots grown in hydroponic systems grow long vertically. These plants save energy by allowing their roots to dangle freely and maximize water + nutrient absorption by better leveraging gravity, accelerating their time to harvest.

No soil = Less mess

I worried about setting up a hydroponic tower indoors, wondering how messy it would be to swap seedlings, refill water, and harvest. I was especially worried about the potential to attract bugs and pests, too, but so far my Farmstand has been 100% mess free!

How, you ask? One of the key reasons is that Lettuce Grow provides pre-sprouted plants that are pesticide free and non-GMO. The pre-grown sprouts are delivered in recyclable, eco-conscious packaging, allowing you to harvest them three weeks earlier than usual. More importantly for a neat freak like me, however, pre-sprouted plants don’t require you to touch or move soil around, drastically limiting the potential for mud, bacteria, and odor in your house. Lettuce Grow is unique in this regard, while other tower garden products tend to be much messier.

Less water

When you use a hydroponic system, no water is lost to the surrounding soil. Hydroponic systems are specially sealed to prevent evaporation, and all water run-off can be recirculated back into the system to ensure no water is wasted.

Lettuce Grow Farmstand is especially water-efficient. It uses less than 1 gallon of water per plant, which is 98% less water than traditional farming.

Space-efficient

Even if you don’t have enough space for a proper outdoor vegetable garden, you can still grow almost anything you can imagine using an indoor hydroponic system. Hydroponically grown plants have more compact roots than plants grown in a traditional soil bed, and thus plants can be grown closer together. This allows your Farmstand to only take up 4 square feet vs 20+ square feet outside for a garden with the same amount of plants. 

The growing season can be extended using hydroponics, too. Indoor hydroponic gardens with grow lights can be used all year long, allowing you to grow vegetables indoors, even in the dead of winter. For all of these reasons (and more), Lettuce Grow has turned me into a huge advocate for hydroponics vs traditional outdoor gardening.

Outdoor vs Indoor: Which Farmstand should you get?

Since Lettuce Grow’s Farmstand can be use inside with electrified glow rings, or outside harnessing the natural energy of the sun, you’ll need to decide which is best for you. 

First, the outdoor model can be easily converted into an indoor model with the purchase of glow rings, so you can always change your mind. Both models allow you to grow your own groceries and enjoy the same benefits of a best-in-class hydroponic grower, but there are some key differences to consider.

When choosing where your Lettuce Grow tower should live, one factor may be cost. Not only do Lettuce Grow’s glow rings come at an additional cost, growing indoors also means paying for electricity each month. Lettuce Grow estimates that the Glow Rings use just $0.15-$0.19 of daily electricity, which nets out to <$70 per year on average.

Obviously, this additional cost of growing indoors could vary based on where you live. But depending on the lighting + weather conditions in your locale, your outdoor grower may not yield as much as an indoor alternative, so I caution anyone trying to make the decision purely based on cost efficiency or price per calorie grown.

When choosing between an indoor vs outdoor setup, bigger considerations for me were aesthetics (“where does it look best?”) and ease of access (“is it close to water and power outlets?”). The Lettuce Grow Farmstand isn’t small, after all, and as your sprouts blossom, it becomes visually stunning to look at. At the same time, keeping your tower humming and harvested requires that your tower be in a place that’s easy to access and clean. For me, the best place was tucked away at the end of my kitchen. It’s both close to the fridge and heavily visible, but not in the way of foot traffic.

Does Lettuce Grow really take the hassle out of gardening?

Having overviewed the benefits of Hydroponics in general and described my own personal journey, I hope it’s clear just how easy (and fun!) Lettuce Grow makes vegetable and herb gardening.

When my wife marveled at how quickly and robustly everything blossomed, I had to let her know that it wasn’t my natural green thumb, but rather that Lettuce Grow Farmstand deserved all the credit; they make the process so dead simple that even novice city-slickers like myself can become accomplished farmers with just five minutes per week.

Because the Farmstand is self-watering and self-fertilizing, you only have to complete a few weekly tasks, including the following:

• Adding two scoops of nutrients + topping up water
• Adjusting the pH
• Harvesting plants
• Ordering new seedlings

I’ve also really appreciated Lettuce Grow’s mobile app which sends you reminders and makes your farming tasks even more straightforward. With the app — available for iOS and Android devices — you get access to these convenient features:

• My Farm: Learn more about your plants and when to harvest each of them.
• Plant ID: Easily scan your Farmstand to understand which plant is which. You can also use the plant ID feature to submit photos and get expert advice on plant problems.
• Convenient Alerts: Receive helpful reminders and personalized notifications to know when it’s time to harvest and order new seeds. The app will also tell you when to check water, nutrients, and pH.
• Order Seedlings: Push notifications will remind you when to order based on your growing history and taste preferences.

Lettuce Grow Farmstand is an obvious choice for those with busy schedules who want to grow food, waste less, and eat more healthfully. It’s also ideal for those who are too impatient for traditional gardening and seek more instant gratification. As a new father with less time for personal hobbies, this was appealing.

Perhaps that biggest differentiator that makes Lettuce Grow far easier to use (even compared to other hydroponics growing systems) is that they ship pre-sprouted seedlings. These have been growing at their farms for at least three weeks, which not only increases the chances of germination, but also shortens the time to harvest. As a result, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor — no pun intended — much sooner!

Lettuce Grow Farmstand Reviews – What are customers saying on Reddit?

What do real users have to say about Lettuce Grow Farmstand? Most have had great experiences with growing their own produce, but the general consensus was that it’s expensive and that it’s worth it to purchase seeds on your own. 

Here are some other things you might not have thought of to review before buying:

The Verdict: Is Lettuce Grow hydroponic tower worth it?

Lettuce Grow Farmstand is a convenient, versatile hydroponic tower perfect for those who want to grow their own produce but don’t have much time to dedicate to planting, watering, fertilizing, and harvesting plants or the space for a full garden.

If you’re looking for a simple and convenient approach to gardening, Lettuce Grow has got you covered. Although it does come with a relatively high upfront price, it’s more affordable than alternative DIY hydroponic towers, and a heck of a lot easier than most to maintain. Overall, the Lettuce Grow Farmstand offers many convenient features that create a more pleasant growing experience with user-friendly guides that allow even the most inexperienced gardeners to yield harvests like life-long farmers.

From pre-sprouted plants to a handy mobile app that helps you stay on top of your gardening and farming tasks, Lettuce Grow provides everything you need to grow up to 36 plants at once!

For my family, the indoor Farmstand has been nothing short of transformative. It’s not only changed what we eat and allowed us to shop less often, it’s also helped us reduce waste. Aesthetically the tower looks amazing – friends often demand to learn more. It’s brought us closer to our food, and although Lettuce Grow requires $650+ upfront investment, growing tasty food with an indoor Farmstand has been a ton of fun for my family. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a low-maintenance, high-yield  vegetable garden.