Click & Grow Smart Garden 9 Review: Truly Hands-Free Growing

If you have ever looked at an indoor garden and thought “I want that, but without any of the work,” the Click & Grow Smart Garden 9 was basically designed for you. It is the most hands-off indoor growing system we have tested, and it is not even close.

But that convenience comes at a real cost — literally. At $249.95, the Smart Garden 9 is three times the price of an AeroGarden Harvest, and the ongoing pod expenses add up fast. So the question is not whether Click & Grow works (it does), but whether the premium experience is worth the premium price.

After months of growing herbs, lettuce, and mini tomatoes in the Smart Garden 9, here is our honest click and grow review — the good, the bad, and who should actually buy this thing.

What’s in the Box

Click & Grow keeps the unboxing experience clean and simple. Inside the box you will find:

• The Smart Garden 9 base unit with integrated water tank
• Adjustable LED light arm with built-in grow lights
• 9 plant pods: 3 basil, 3 green lettuce, 3 mini tomato
• Pod cups and lids for each slot
• Power adapter
• Quick start guide

The included starter pods are a nice mix that lets you experience three different types of growing right away. Basil germinates fast and gives you early wins, the lettuce fills out nicely over a few weeks, and the mini tomatoes are your longer-term project.

Everything you need to start growing is in the box. There are no nutrients to mix, no pH testing kits, no extra supplies required. That is the entire Click & Grow pitch in a nutshell — and to their credit, they deliver on it.

Design and Build Quality

This is where Click & Grow genuinely separates itself from the competition. While most indoor gardens look like they belong in a garage or a dorm room, the Smart Garden 9 looks like it was designed by a Scandinavian furniture company.

The base is a clean, matte-finish planter available in white, beige, and dark grey. The light arm is a simple, adjustable post with a sleek LED bar on top. There are no visible buttons, no LCD screens, no blinking indicator lights demanding your attention. The only interface element is a small float indicator on the side that shows your water level.

Build quality is solid. The base feels substantial without being heavy, and the light arm locks firmly at whatever height you set it. The whole unit measures roughly 24 inches wide by 7 inches deep, so it takes up about the same counter space as a large toaster oven.

If you have been hesitant to put an indoor garden in your kitchen or living room because they look too utilitarian, the Smart Garden 9 might change your mind. It genuinely looks like a piece of home decor, not a science experiment.

Setup Experience

Setup takes about 10 minutes, and that is being generous. Here is the entire process:

1. Place the base where you want it
2. Fill the water tank (1.2L / 40oz capacity)
3. Insert the plant pods into their cups
4. Place the cups into the base
5. Snap on the pod lids
6. Attach the light arm
7. Plug it in

That is it. The lights turn on automatically and begin their 16-hour on, 8-hour off cycle. There is no app to download (unless you buy the PRO version), no WiFi to configure, no timers to set. You plug it in and walk away.

Compare this to setting up most hydroponic systems, where you are measuring nutrients, calibrating pH levels, and priming water pumps. The Click & Grow setup is so simple it almost feels like you are forgetting something. You are not.

Smart Soil vs. Hydroponic: A Different Approach

Here is what makes Click & Grow fundamentally different from systems like AeroGarden: it is not hydroponic. The Smart Garden uses a proprietary technology called Smart Soil, which is a soil-based growing medium with nutrients already embedded in it.

How Smart Soil works: Each pod contains a biodegradable capsule packed with seeds and a precisely engineered soil mixture. The nutrients your plants need for their entire lifecycle are already baked into the soil. Water reaches the roots through a capillary wicking system — the soil draws water up from the tank naturally, the same way a sponge absorbs water from a puddle.

How hydroponic systems work: Plants grow in water with dissolved liquid nutrients. A pump circulates the nutrient solution past the roots. You need to add nutrients on a regular schedule and occasionally check water chemistry.

The practical difference for you as the grower is significant:

• No nutrient management — You never buy, measure, or add liquid nutrients
• No pumps — The capillary wicking system is completely passive (and completely silent)
• No water chemistry — No pH testing, no adjustments
• Simpler root zone — Less risk of root rot compared to sitting in recirculating water

The trade-off is that Smart Soil is a consumable. Once a pod’s nutrients are spent (typically after one full grow cycle), you cannot just replant in the same soil. You need a new pod. This is by design, and it is how Click & Grow keeps their recurring revenue flowing.

Growing Performance

Let us talk about what actually matters: does this thing grow food?

Yes. It grows food well.

Our basil pods germinated within 5-7 days and were ready for first harvest in about three weeks. The lettuce took slightly longer to get going but produced consistently harvestable leaves for over a month. The mini tomatoes were the slow burn — first flowers appeared around week 6, with ripe fruit by week 10.

Growth rates are comparable to what you would get from a decent hydroponic system, though not quite as fast as an AeroGarden in our side-by-side testing. The AeroGarden’s direct nutrient delivery and active water circulation do give plants a slight speed advantage. But the difference is measured in days, not weeks.

Where Smart Soil really shines is consistency. Because the nutrients are pre-measured and the watering is passive, there is very little that can go wrong. You are not going to accidentally overfeed your plants or let the pH drift into a bad range. Every pod gets exactly what it needs, every time.

One issue worth mentioning: we did notice some algae growth on the surface of a few pods after about a month, and a thin film of mold appeared inside the water tank around week five. A quick cleaning resolved it, but it is a recurring maintenance item that Click & Grow does not really advertise. Online forums confirm this is a common experience, not a defect.

What Can You Grow?

Click & Grow offers over 70 pod varieties across several categories:

• Herbs: Basil, thyme, rosemary, cilantro, dill, parsley, mint, sage, and more
• Salad greens: Lettuce, arugula, pak choi, kale, sorrel
• Fruits: Mini tomato, wild strawberry, chili pepper
• Vegetables: Dwarf pea, purple kohlrabi
• Flowers: Lavender, petunia, painted daisy, busy Lizzie
• Experimental pods: Click & Grow occasionally releases limited-edition varieties

The variety is genuinely impressive and continues to expand. Most of the common kitchen herbs are covered, and the salad greens selection is solid.

The big caveat: You cannot use your own seeds. Unlike AeroGarden, which sells “Grow Anything” kits that let you plant whatever seeds you want, Click & Grow is a closed ecosystem. You buy their pods or you do not grow. Period.

This is the single biggest limitation of the system. If you want to grow a specific heirloom tomato variety, a particular pepper cultivar, or anything not in Click & Grow’s catalog, you are out of luck. For gardeners who want flexibility and experimentation, this is a dealbreaker. For people who just want fresh basil without thinking about it, it probably is not.

The Silence Factor

We need to talk about noise, because this is where Click & Grow has a legitimate competitive advantage that no hydroponic system can match.

The Smart Garden 9 operates at 0 dB.

Zero. Decibels.

There is no pump. There is no fan. There is no motor. The capillary wicking system is entirely passive — water moves from the tank to the roots through physics alone. The only electrical component is the LED light bar, and LEDs are silent.

If you have ever lived with an AeroGarden or similar hydroponic system, you know the quiet-but-persistent hum of the water pump. It is not loud, but it is there, especially at night in a quiet kitchen. Over time, some pumps develop a rattle or buzz that ranges from mildly annoying to genuinely disruptive.

The Click & Grow has none of that. You could put it on your nightstand and sleep next to it. This is not a trivial feature for people who live in small apartments, have open-plan living spaces, or are simply sensitive to ambient noise.

If silence is a priority for you, no other indoor garden system comes close.

Running Costs

Let us break down what the Smart Garden 9 actually costs to operate.

Upfront: $249.95 for the unit

Pods: Individual pods range from about $1.85 to $3.32 each depending on the variety. Multi-packs of 9 typically run $9 to $12 per set (roughly $1 to $1.33 per pod). Click & Grow does run sales and offers subscriptions with discounts.

Nutrients: $0. Nutrients are included in the Smart Soil.

Electricity: Minimal. The LED grow lights draw very little power. Expect to add a few dollars per month to your electric bill at most.

Replacement parts: The light arm and base should last years. There is nothing mechanical to wear out.

Running a full cycle (9 pods): Assuming you buy a 9-pack at around $10, each full planting costs roughly $10 plus negligible electricity. If you replant every 2-3 months, you are looking at $40-60 per year in pods alone.

For comparison, an AeroGarden Harvest costs about $80 upfront, and a bottle of liquid nutrients (which lasts months) runs about $8-10. AeroGarden seed pods are similarly priced to Click & Grow pods, but you also have the option of using your own seeds for pennies.

The Click & Grow is unquestionably the more expensive system to buy and operate. Whether the convenience justifies the cost depends entirely on how much you value a truly maintenance-free experience.

Smart Garden 9 vs. Smart Garden 9 PRO

Click & Grow also sells the Smart Garden 9 PRO, which adds Bluetooth connectivity and a companion app. Here is what the PRO version gets you:

• App-controlled light schedule — Adjust the 16/8 cycle if you want
• Growth tracking — Monitor your plants’ progress with reminders
• Light intensity control — Dim or brighten the LEDs
• Water level notifications — Push alerts when the tank is low

Is the PRO worth the upgrade? For most people, probably not. The standard Smart Garden 9 already automates everything that matters. The app is a nice-to-have for tech enthusiasts who want to tweak settings, but the default light cycle works perfectly well for the vast majority of the pod catalog.

If you are the type who wants data and control, the PRO might appeal to you. If you just want to grow basil, save the money and get the standard version.

Who Should Buy the Click & Grow Smart Garden 9

This is a great fit if you:

• Value aesthetics and want an indoor garden that looks like furniture
• Live in a small apartment or open-plan space where pump noise would be noticeable
• Want absolute minimum maintenance — refilling water every 2-3 weeks is your only job
• Are new to indoor growing and want a guaranteed no-fail experience
• Do not care about growing custom seed varieties
• Have the budget for a premium product and premium pods

You should probably look elsewhere if you:

• Want the best value for your money (an AeroGarden Harvest delivers 80% of the experience at a third of the price)
• Want to experiment with your own seeds and varieties
• Are an experienced gardener who enjoys the hands-on process
• Need more than 9 pods of capacity
• Are bothered by proprietary lock-in

For first-time indoor gardeners who just want fresh herbs without a learning curve, the Click & Grow is hard to beat on simplicity. But if you are even slightly budget-conscious or want flexibility, the AeroGarden is the better all-around choice for most people.

Verdict

The Click & Grow Smart Garden 9 is a beautifully designed, genuinely effortless indoor garden that delivers on its core promise: grow fresh food with almost zero effort. The silence is remarkable, the aesthetic is best-in-class, and the Smart Soil system eliminates an entire category of maintenance that hydroponic users deal with.

But it is overpriced for what it is. At $249.95, you are paying a significant premium for convenience and design. The proprietary pod system locks you into Click & Grow’s ecosystem with no option to use your own seeds. And while the pods are reasonably priced individually, they add up over time.

We are giving the Smart Garden 9 a 7 out of 10. It does what it promises extremely well, but the value proposition is hard to justify for most people when more affordable alternatives exist. If noise, aesthetics, and zero maintenance are your top priorities, this is the indoor garden to buy. For everyone else, there are better ways to spend $250.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often do you need to refill the Click & Grow water tank?

The 1.2-liter (40oz) water tank typically lasts 2-3 weeks depending on how many pods are actively growing and how mature the plants are. Younger plants use less water. A small float indicator on the side of the unit shows the current water level, so you never have to guess.

Can you use your own seeds in Click & Grow?

No. Unlike AeroGarden, which offers “Grow Anything” pods, Click & Grow uses a proprietary Smart Soil system that does not support custom seeds. You must purchase pods from Click & Grow’s catalog. This is one of the system’s biggest limitations and a frequent complaint among users who want more variety.

Is Click & Grow really completely silent?

Yes. The Smart Garden 9 has no pumps, fans, or motors. It uses a passive capillary wicking system to deliver water to the roots, which produces zero noise. The only electrical component is the LED light bar, which is completely silent. This is the quietest indoor garden system available.

How does Click & Grow compare to AeroGarden?

The AeroGarden uses true hydroponics with an active water pump and liquid nutrients, while Click & Grow uses passive Smart Soil technology. AeroGarden is significantly cheaper ($80-130 for comparable models), allows custom seeds, and grows plants slightly faster. Click & Grow is quieter, more attractive, and requires less maintenance. Check our full comparison guide for a detailed breakdown.

Does Click & Grow get moldy?

Some users, including us, have experienced algae or mold growth on pod surfaces and inside the water tank over time. This is a common issue with any system that keeps soil consistently moist. Regular cleaning of the tank every few weeks helps prevent buildup. It is manageable but worth knowing about before you buy.

Still deciding which indoor garden is right for you? Check out our complete buying guide for beginners or see how the top systems stack up in our head-to-head comparisons.