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I have had a fascination with the AeroGarden Indoor gardens for quite some time now, but its price, and lack of customization had me hesitant about getting one. The computer in it that controls nutrient distribution seems to me a bit too easy. I like to play with settings and see what the effects are (with all my toys).

Couple that with the “seed pods” they sell which are nice, but couldn’t they sell blanks so I can grow using seeds from my dad’s garden? The lighting always bothered me too. A compact fluorescent or two will get the job done, but I would prefer something more robust and energy efficient such as an LED light. To me the aerogarden just seemed too limited and expensive.

Then today I came across the “Power Plant Mini” from Prepara
Compared to the AeroGarden, the Power Plant is a much more versatile hydroponics system and I’ll tell you why;

1. NO SEED PODS! It has big sponges that you put your own seeds in.
2. CHOOSE YOUR LIGHTING! there isn’t an attached arm on the power plant mini so you can use any light source you choose.An arm that attaches is available however.
3. INEXPENSIVE! for the price of the aerogarden, you could get 4 Power Plant Mini, or 2 minis and a $100 LED grow lights
4. STYLISH! In my eyes these are far more attractive in the kitchen than the black and green oval that is the aerogarden. They sort of look like they were designed by Apple in the heyday of the original iMac.

The flexibility and simplicity of this system have my head spinning and I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these and try it out. Or I may have to wait for the soon to be released Pro Model and try my hand at that.