I first met LetPot as a brand earlier this year while testing its LPH-SE Senior hydroponic grow system in my guide to the best indoor garden systems. Positioned as alternatives to the long-loved OG Aerogarden tabletop hydroponic systems, LetPot’s countertop gardens (popular enough to have their own subreddit) let you grow any seed you’d like—no proprietary equipment required—using inexpensive baskets and sponges that are ubiquitous on Amazon and run for about 20 cents. (The LetPot sets come with enough baskets and sponges to get you started, but no seeds.) I always recommend the LetPot version as the best budget option for anyone looking to get into hydroponic gardening.
Since then, I’ve tried a variety of smart gardening devices from the brand, which was founded in Hong Kong in 2007 but expanded to the US in 2019. If you’re shopping for a plant lover or gardener this holiday season, these are the products I’ve had the best success with in my home and garden settings and would buy.
The 12-pod LPH-SE Senior, featured in my guide to indoor gardens, has been a faithful dinner table companion for several months now, producing organic baby chard that can be cut every few days for fresh salads. (Food doesn’t get much more local than vegetables grown inches away from your dinner plate!)
The LetPot app is kind of fun, but not necessary once you’ve set the timer for the 24-watt LED bulb, which raises and lowers and flips for easy access. A pop-up gauge tells you at a glance how much water there is, the pump activates itself after 30 minutes, and instructions on when and how to add nutrients are found on the bottle. (Two bottles of dehydrated nutrients are included.)
I also tested a few Aerogardens alongside the LetPot, and while the Aerogardens app, design, and interface are a little faster than the LetPot, the result is the same. LetPot’s LPH-SE is not only cheaper than the comparable Aerogarden Bounty, it has room for three more plants.
LetPot
100-Watt Grow Light
Second on my LetPot hit list is indoor plant productivity. (Although it would also be great for seedling trays.) It also works with the LetPot app, but like the LPH-SE, the app is completely unnecessary once you’ve set the timer, and if you don’t want to deal with the app at all, there’s a wired remote that lets you turn the bulb on and off and adjust the intensity of the light.
The powerful 100-watt light can hang from the ceiling or sit on its telescope stand, rotating 360 degrees to shine where you need it. (Remember that 100 watts is very hot—you don’t want it too close to any leaves.) I appreciate that the light itself is large (2 x 3 feet), so it prevents the plants from getting leggy. Another thing to note: Although the description says the stand can extend up to 72 inches, it only goes up to about 60 inches, so if you have tall plants, you’ll want to keep this in mind—or use the hanging feature.
LetPot’s SS Pro seed starter is brand new, but promising. It’s still on pre-order right now, but I’ve been using it for the past few months to grow onions, carrots, and parsnips. The full, 24-watt light (12 x 7 inches) sits atop a plastic ventilated dome, which rests on top of the seed tray. The tray is placed in a shallow container, under which sits a 24 watt heating pad. Fill a container with water, pour whatever medium you’d like into the tray (you’ll need to buy this separately; I used the original expandable soil, $12), and plant your seeds.
The LetPot app’s automatic mode will recommend the temperature range and light duration based on what you’re growing and turn the system on/off accordingly, or you can choose your settings manually. A sensor for temperature and EC (electrical conductivity, which measures dissolved solids—actually, the amount of nutrients in your soil available to plants) goes into the soil, and the digital screen on the front tells you everything you need to know at a glance: the current temperature, the EC level, and how many days it’s been since the seed was planted. The LetPot has a 99 percent germination rate, and while mine wasn’t that high, I noticed that the finished seedlings were noticeably healthier and less leggy than those grown in low light. The power adapter makes a loud noise when the lights come on, the temperature and EC sensors give buggy readings at times, and the auto mode clears whenever it’s disconnected, but if those tiny wires don’t bother you, the SS-Pro is unique in this space and worth a look.
Upgrade with unlimited access to DETAILS. Get high-quality reporting and subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Register Today.
