InstaFarm’s patented 4-by-4-inch compost trays come pre-filled with about half an inch of soil (“sourced from Amish Country in Pennsylvania,” according to InstaFarm) and organic, non-GMO seeds, along with nutritional information for the last few greens listed above. They come in more than a dozen nine-pack varieties for $23including individual plant varieties, specific smoothie and salad mixes, and even empty trays to grow your own vegetables or garden starts. It is important to note that the trays are easily filled paper designed for one-time use.
In comparison, Vego mini hydroponic planterwhich I used last yearit’s only $60 for two units, when Gardyn is $100. Neither produces the amount of greens anywhere near InstaFarm, but then again, $500 can buy a lot of store-bought microgreens.
InstaFarm has software, but it doesn’t add much to the experience, other than the ability to enable night mode (which then turns off the light for up to 10 hours). Best of all is the button on the top of the unit that comes with a sticker that explains how many clicks are required for whatever function you need.
Every 90 minutes, a metal nose arm comes out and moves around each shelf, feeling each tray and its plant height, humidity and temperature. When the nozzle finishes sensing, it releases a convenient burst of water, like the spray nozzles in the produce section of the grocery store. If you have a cat, they can be very interested the first time they hear the nose moving and moving slowly on the shelf. (The first quick, unexpected medicine was a fun event in my house.) Sometimes, this feeling was more accurate in theory than in practice—for some reason, the sensor repeatedly exceeded the amount of watering for red beet weeks (but only beet weeks), causing the tray to overflow every day.
After a few weeks, I noticed the nozzle making a slight mechanical noise as it completed its cycles, slowly returning to its resting position. It wasn’t loud—it reminded me of the sound a cow wheel makes at the top of a ski lift—but because the InstaFarm was sitting on my dining room table, it was noticeable. And I should also note it was on my dining room table because, despite the website’s claim the unit can fit under most kitchen cabinets, it was a little tall for me. This made it difficult to site, as it takes up about 6 by 18 inches. Given how easy it is to cut vegetables for salads, smoothies and other meals, its natural habitat is probably the kitchen, so you may want to measure more than once to make sure it will fit your space.
Greens Aplenty
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Photo: Kat Merck
Just as the directions said it would, I had small, usable plants for about five days. For my first grow cycle (I’ve now gone through four), I got over excited and put a tray in every slot. Unless you have a large family that eats a small amount of vegetables at every meal, I don’t recommend this. I tried using them all, but after the horror experience of putting a tray’s worth of small radish plants in a (spicy, radishy) strawberry line, I decided to share some of my starter trays with friends.
