The 6 Best Indoor Gardens, According To Our Testing

When you don’t have a backyard or a balcony to grow edible plants like vegetables and herbs, having an indoor garden in your home is a great way to not give up your gardening dream and still reap the benefits of fresh veggies, fruits, and herbs. They are mostly affordable plus offer the advantage of growing produce year-round, even during winter months.

“Indoor gardens, whether they are large house plants or herb/veggie kits, can bring a connection to nature, creating peace and inspiration in your interior spaces,” says Amy Hovis. “Not only does it make cooking more fun (when you are growing your own herbs and have them already in the house ready to use), but it allows individuals to bring nature into their living spaces.”

To find the best indoor gardens, we tested 18 options for up to six months, evaluating them on size, capacity, maintenance, plant type, growing system, and other features.

Amy Hovis is a principal at Eden Garden Design and owner of Barton Springs Nursery in Austin, Texas.
Autumn Hilliard-Knapp is a horticulture specialist at Perfect Plants Nursery in Monticello, Florida.

Amazon inbloom Hydroponics Growing System Starter Kit

Credit: Amazon

What’s Great About It

Self-watering
Perfect for beginners and those with small spaces
Automated LED grow lights
All seeds sprouted, some within a week

The InBloom Smart Garden is our top recommendation because it comes at a great price, and it’s beginner-friendly, so it is easy to use regardless of skill level. We loved that it had a self-watering system with consistent water flow, so we never had issues with molding.

It also comes with LED grow lights that turn on and off by themselves. The lights featured 20% more red light, which causes plants to grow faster and yield more harvests. The kit comes with seven types of seeds: basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, mint, cilantro, and dill.

We found the instructions to be self-explanatory and had no issues setting up the system. All of our seeds sprouted (some as soon as a week after planting) and became healthy plants. Just keep in mind that it takes time because you have to soak the coco coir soil pods for two hours in water before planting the seeds in them.

The kit comes with everything you need, including seeds, grow baskets, plant foods, labels, and humidity domes. It required minimal effort when it came to watering, and we only needed it to refill the tank every few days as the plants grew. After six months, the garden continues to work great for herbs like basil and mint, although cilantro seemed to struggle a bit more than others.

It can hold five pods, which is compact and ideal for those living in apartments or with limited space. (This may not be the best pick if you need to feed a family.) The cherry on top was that the planter was so chic, and we got many compliments from others who glimpsed it sitting on our sink.

Growing System: Hydroponic | Growing Options: Herbs, fruits, flowers, vegetables | Size: 6.3-17.3 inches tall | Capacity: Up to five plants

The InBloom Smart Garden grew basil and mint well, though cilantro struggled a bit.
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Southern Living

spade-to-fork-indoor-herb-garden-starter-kit

Credit: Amazon

What’s Great About It

Comes with certified organic seeds and soil
Grows five different herbs
Includes a growing guide and instructional video
All seeds sprouted in about two weeks

What Could Be Better

Soil-based kit requires daily watering
Peat pots are not very durable
Needs to be placed in a sunny spot for best results

Fancy having a thriving herb garden year-round? The Spade To Fork Culinary Herb Seed Kit makes it possible to grow and harvest herbs for salads, casseroles, and more from your kitchen countertop.

The set features USDA organic seeds, soil discs, plant markers, and five compostable peat pots for planting. You can grow five kinds of herbs: Italian basil, cilantro, parsley, sage, and thyme.

Although you don’t have to have any gardening experience, you do need to carve some time out each day to make sure the plants have enough water and sunlight. To help, it comes with a growing guide and has a video to watch so you know how to take care of them properly.

We recommend they go on a sunny spot in your home, like a windowsill, to get optimal light. Our seeds sprouted in two weeks—roughly the same time. They didn’t grow at the same rate, so we couldn’t harvest them all at once. We noticed that the pots were not all that durable and could break if waterlogged.

Growing System: Soil-based | Growing Options: Herbs | Size: Five 6-inch peat pots | Capacity: Up to five plants

The Spade To Fork Culinary Herb Seed Kit’s seeds sprouted in two weeks but grew unevenly.
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Southern Living

Credit: Amazon

What’s Great About It

Automated watering
16-hour grow light cycle
Easy, hands-off garden for beginners
Ideal for low-light environments
Can grow over 70 types of plants and herbs

The Smart Garden 3 is easy enough for anyone to set up and maintain—even if you’ve never grown a garden, herb, or houseplant in your life. This indoor garden kit is about a foot wide and can fit on any tabletop in your home.

It comes with LED lights that turn on and off in a 16-hour cycle to mimic natural light and a self-watering kit that lets you know when to add more water to the tank. If your kitchen is dark or doesn’t have a window, this kit is ideal for those low-light environments.

It comes with three basil seed pods, but you do have the option to buy more later. You can grow over 70 types of plants and herbs, including strawberries, basil, lavender, thyme, and more. We loved how easy it was to grow herbs: All seeds sprouted within a week, and we had healthy plants in less than a month.

Even though it is not a smart garden kit, it does come with an app. We didn’t find the app to be useful because we still had to adjust settings manually on the planter. Also, it would have been nice if the kit came with a variety of plants, not just basil.

On the upside, the basil that was harvested was absolutely delicious (especially in our lasagna). It was well worth the money, and we would definitely buy this as a gift for family and friends who want a starter garden kit. This kit is available in three colors: white, gray, and beige.

Growing System: Hydroponic | Growing Options: Herbs, flowers, vegetables, fruits | Size: 11.8 x 8-18.5 x 4.7 inches | Capacity: Up to three plants

The Smart Garden 3 was easy to set up and maintain, though we wish it held more than three plants.
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It comes with three basil pods, with the option to buy more later.
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AeroGarden Harvest Elite with Gourmet Herb Seed Pod Kit

Credit: Amazon

What’s Great About It

Offers up to 12 inches of grow height for growing herbs
Water level sensor
Automated grow lights
Can grow six herbs at once
Plants appeared robust and strong

Having fresh herbs on hand elevates your cooking and can save money at the grocery store, both of which are great reasons to consider the AeroGarden Harvest Elite. You’re able to grow up to six different types of herbs without soil and with way less maintenance than growing herbs outdoors.

The kit features Genovese basil, curly parsley, dill, thyme, Thai basil, and mint seed pods, which you can drop directly in the planter to start growing. It also comes with a humidity dome to control temperatures and offer the best conditions for germination.

We found this indoor garden kit easy to maintain thanks to its self-watering system that continuously waters the plants, as well as its automatic grow lamp. You can adjust the grow lamp’s height up to 12 inches to accommodate growing herbs. It comes with a water level sensor, which alerts you when the water tank is low, and a timer that reminds you when to give your plants some food. (A bottle of plant food is included.)

Each herb came with an estimated sprouting time range, which was accurate as we saw that most of them sprouted within the time allocated. The exception to this was parsley, which sprouted a week later.

Overall, we were pleased with how healthy the plants turned out. Besides a few withering leaves, they grew well and looked robust. However, we found the grow lights too bright, and might be hard to find a place for it that won’t be disturbing to others.

Growing System: Hydroponic | Growing Options: Herbs, vegetables | Size: 10.5 x 17.4 x 6.3 inches | Capacity: Up to six plants

With the AeroGarden Harvest Elite, we were able to grow up to six different types of herbs at once.
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The grow lamp’s height adjusts up to 12 inches to accommodate growing herbs.
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Credit: Amazon

What’s Great About It

Seedlings have room to grow up to 2 feet tall
LED light turns on and off at sunrise and sunset
Notifies you when it’s time to water
Can grow up to nine plants at a time

An indoor garden could be a great option for those who want to have fresh vegetables handy for cooking and preparing meals. With the AeroGarden Bounty Basic, you can have a mini vegetable garden in your kitchen without pesky issues like bugs or lack of sunlight to worry about. And since the planter is hydroponic, you don’t have to deal with having dirt on your floor or under your fingernails.

It comes with a 20-watt LED light with a timer that turns it on and off at sunrise and sunset, simulating natural sunlight. The AeroGarden will notify you when it’s time to water and fertilize it, plus it has a vacation mode, which keeps your plant healthy when you’re not home.

You can grow up to nine plants at a time, so you can grow all your salad vegetable faves. But if you prefer more variety, you can buy other herb, veggie, and flower seed kits separately. Seedlings can grow up to 2 feet tall in this planter, which gives you plenty to harvest from.

While it didn’t take us long to set it up, getting the hang of the grow light system was confusing, so we had to spend extra time learning how to set it up. It is also expensive but justifies its cost with its many advanced features.

Growing System: Hydroponic | Growing Options: Herbs, flowers, vegetables | Size: 17.3 x 34 x 11.3 inches | Capacity: Up to nine plants

The Bounty Basic can grow up to nine plants that can reach 2 feet tall for big harvests.
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Credit: Southern Living

Rise Gardens Personal Garden and Starter Kit

Credit: Amazon

What Could Be Better

Not height adjustable
Complex to install

Perfect for those who live in an apartment or have no yard space, the Rise Gardens Personal Garden and Starter Kit is akin to having a salad bar on your countertop. It’s super convenient because you can use your phone for various functions, and it comes with a custom LED panel and a self-watering system for the plants.

It features voice control and notifies you when to fill up its water reservoir. Compared to other garden kits on this list, we found it to be more complex to install. The frame is about 18 inches long and 16 inches high and comes with eight pods, which should be good for anyone who likes cooking with veggies. We also think this is a great pick for family meals.

We saw that the seeds sprouted roughly at the same time, about one to two days after planting. All plants were healthy, and none had brown or withered leaves.

The fact that we could grow plenty of greens without bugs munching on them is a huge plus in our eyes. Just keep in mind that though it’s relatively spacious for an indoor garden, it’s not height-adjustable.

Growing System: Hydroponic | Growing Options: Herbs, vegetables, greens | Size: 18 x 16 x 11 inches | Capacity: Up to eight plants

The plants in the Rise Gardens kit grew in healthy and strong with no brown or withered leaves.
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Southern Living

The Bottom Line

Our top pick is the InBloom Smart Garden because it’s reasonably priced and makes gardening convenient. This kit comes with a water tank, so you don’t have to water it every day. It also has a wide selection of seed pods, domes, and other accessories, so you can get growing ASAP. For an even cheaper option, check out the Spade To Fork Culinary Herb Seed Kit. It’s a soil-based system that includes certified organic seeds and soil at a great price.

Our Testing Process

We tested 18 indoor gardens for up to six months and evaluated each based on setup, ease of use, design, performance, quality, and value. We used seeds provided by the manufacturer, and in cases where it didn’t come with any, we planted basil seeds. We cared for our plants according to manufacturer instructions, making sure they got adequate sunlight and water.

We checked in on the seeds at three weeks and again at six weeks to measure growth. We also checked the various features of each indoor garden, such as grow lights, timers, and apps, to see how easy they were to use and determine how well they worked. Finally, we tasted the herbs we grew to see how well they tasted in the meals we cooked. To test how well each garden held up to long-term use, we continued to use them in our daily routines for up to six months.

More Indoor Gardens To Consider

AeroGarden Sprout: This indoor garden came with everything we needed to harvest a fresh supply of herbs, including seed pods, grow lights, and plant food. Plus, it has its own water tank, so you don’t have to water it yourself. Not only was it easy to maintain, but it also looked sleek on our countertop. Our only gripe was that adjusting the grow light was a little confusing.

Gardyn Home Kit 3.0: Similar to a greenhouse, the Gardyn 3.0 is a hydroponic indoor garden that grows up to 30 plants at the same time. We found it to be very high-quality and also easy to maintain. This indoor garden features AI technology and has cameras on the tubes so you can check on your plants at any time. At $900, it is the most expensive indoor garden on our list, which is no surprise considering its advanced technology and the number of plants you’re able to grow. We also noticed that the plants grew slowly, taking up to six weeks to reach maturity.

The Gardyn 3.0 grows 30 plants with AI tech and cameras, but growth was slow and it costs $999.
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Southern Living

Tips for Choosing the Right Indoor Garden

Type of Growing System

When it comes to indoor gardening kits, there are different types of growing systems available, says Hilliard-Knapp. “The most common and versatile type is container gardens, which involve using pots or containers to grow plants. Container gardens are suitable for a wide range of plants, including herbs, vegetables, and flowering plants,” she says.

There are also hydroponic indoor gardens available that don’t use any soil for the plants. These gardens only use water and typically are self-watering, meaning that you don’t have to water them every day. Instead, it comes with a water tank that has to be refilled periodically.

According to Hilliard-Knapp, hydroponic gardening kits are usually space-efficient and have faster growth and increased yields compared to traditional indoor gardens that use soil.

Plant Type

Don’t think for a moment that you won’t be able to get much out of an indoor garden. This is definitely not the case as you can grow a wide variety of plants, from herbs such as mint and basil to leafy greens like lettuce and kale, as well as microgreens with an indoor garden.

“The variety of plants that can thrive indoors is impressive,” says Hovis. She notes that if you have the right growing conditions, flowers, succulents, and even dwarf fruit trees can also be grown in an indoor garden.

Size and Capacity

Most indoor garden kits can accommodate at least six seed pods and range in size to suit different indoor spaces. However, most indoor garden kits won’t take up more than 3 feet of space and can easily fit on a table or kitchen countertop.

That said, there are also free-standing options like the Spade To Fork Culinary Herb Seed Kit, which features small peat pots that you can set on your window sill. “Compact countertop models are ideal for small apartments, while larger, freestanding systems can cater to more extensive gardening ambitions,” Hovis says.

Maintenance

Indoor gardens are typically low maintenance and come with water tanks and built-in grow lights that turn on and off automatically. These gardens are ideal for busy people who don’t have a lot of time to care for a garden but still want access to fresh greens and produce any time of year. However, they do require some attention and need to have their water tank refilled, be watered daily, and have the right amount of light to grow.

“Taking care of an indoor garden system involves tasks like ensuring proper light exposure, watering plants according to their needs, and providing appropriate nutrients,” Hilliard-Knapp says. “Keeping the growing area clean and pest-free also contributes to a thriving indoor garden.”

Almost all indoor garden kits come with instructions on how to set up and care for the plants, which you should read carefully if you want to have a green and healthy garden inside your home.

Features

If you don’t have a lot of time to tend to a garden, look for features like a water bowl to maintain moisture levels, timers, and grow lights that make growing herbs and greens more convenient. But, if you don’t mind watering plants daily and having sunny spots in your home, you can opt for indoor gardens that don’t have these features. Just be aware that you might have to buy your own soil, too.

Some indoor gardens also come with apps that feature voice control, track how long you’ve been growing the plants, and send you alerts when it’s time to add water to the water tank. “The lighting system is crucial,” Hovis says. “So make sure the system provides sufficient light for plant growth or allows for the addition of supplemental lights if needed.”

Hilliard-Knapp adds: “It’s also essential to choose a system that aligns with your gardening experience and time commitment, with some systems requiring more maintenance and care than others.”

Questions And Answers

Where is the best place for an indoor garden?

Although indoor gardens are typically found in kitchens and living rooms, where you put them is entirely up to your preference and decor style. Wherever you decide to place one, we suggest putting it in a sunny spot like a windowsill or countertop that has adequate light. But if it comes with its lighting system, you have more versatility and can place them in areas that are not near a window or don’t have much natural light.

How much maintenance do indoor gardens require?

Many indoor gardens come with grow lights that automatically turn on and off in a 16-hour cycle, mimicking natural sunlight, plus self-watering systems so you don’t have to do much other than filling in a water tank required every few days.

Some also come with apps that track plant growth and notify you when to refill the water tank and schedule grow light timing. Low-tech and no-tech indoor gardens need daily care, and you may have to buy soil for them as well as make sure they have enough water and sunlight, just like a regular garden.

Are indoor gardens expensive?

Some indoor gardens can be expensive, but that’s not always the case. You can find affordable indoor gardens like the Spade To Fork Culinary Herb Seed Kit that can hold around five plants for as little as $35. As a general rule, the price goes up when it’s packed with more features, such as apps, smart functions, water reservoirs, and LED lights.

Why Trust Southern Living

Nor’Adila Hepburn is a writer based in North Carolina who specializes in writing product reviews. To determine the best indoor gardens, we tested 18 options and evaluated them on setup, ease of use, design, performance, quality, and value. She also spoke to Amy Hovis, principal at Eden Garden Design and owner of Barton Springs Nursery in Austin, Texas, and Autumn Hilliard-Knapp, a horticulture specialist at Perfect Plants Nursery in Monticello, Florida.

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