Click & Grow Indoor Herb Garden Kit with Grow Light | Smart Garden for Home Kitchen Windowsill | Easier Than Hydroponics Growing System | Vegetable Gardening Starter (3 Basil Pods Included), White

Why it's worth it

Click & Grow skips hydroponics. Each pod is a block of nutrient-loaded growing medium that wicks water up from the tank, so there's no pump, no mixing and no algae-covered sponge — just three plants, a light, and a reservoir you fill every couple of weeks.

If a bubbling pump on your counter would bother you, this is the answer. There are no moving parts at all. Water wicks up into the pod, the LED runs on its own timer, and the whole thing is about as wide as a paperback. People keep these in bedrooms, dorms and windowless offices, which isn't something you'd do with a hydroponic unit.

The soil pods are what make it beginner-proof. There's no nutrient solution to measure and no water chemistry to think about, because the fertilizer is already in the medium. Owners who switched over from hydroponic gardens describe it as the cleaner, simpler machine. Published long-term reviews of this pod system found germination around 94% across basil, mint and thyme, well above what unguided seed kits manage.

From our review of 7 smart garden systems for fresh herbs, by Laura Cole, Lifestyle Editor

What we like

• +If a bubbling pump on your counter would bother you, this is the answer
• +The soil pods are what make it beginner-proof
• +Three pods is the honest limit

What to know

• –Three plants won't feed a household that cooks every night, and you'll be buying refills from one company for as long as you own…
• –The light doesn't adjust, so anything past roughly eight inches starts crowding it, and a dud pod turns up here now and then…