Hey everyone, I’d really love your input on something I’ve been working on.
I’m building a fully autonomous hydroponic system that’s meant for people living in apartments or homes with small terraces. The goal is simple, to help people grow their own fresh produce at home, without the daily effort.
Here’s what it does:
• It’s a plug-and-play hydroponic setup, no soil needed • Automatically handles nutrient delivery and watering cycles • Comes with sensors to track light, temperature, humidity, water level, and nutrient levels • You can monitor and control everything through a dashboard on your phone or laptop • The system adjusts itself depending on plant needs • It gives real-time alerts like when water is low or pH needs correction • You can start small and expand later if you want • It’s designed to be simple for beginners but powerful for people who already garden • It looks clean and compact, so it fits into modern balconies without being an eyesore
Pricing of the full flagship system is expected to be somewhere around ₹25,000 to ₹30,000 for a full setup. But there will be smaller variants too, starting from just ₹5000.
I’m building this to help people eat healthier and grow their own food at home without having to worry about the time, mess, or technical knowledge.
If you’ve got a home garden, balcony setup, or are just curious, I’d love your honest thoughts:
1. Would this be something you’d actually use?
2. Does the price sound fair for a fully automated system like this?
3. If you’re not interested, what’s missing or what would stop you from using it?
by Bhooyam_Agritech
15 Comments
these systems are a disaster, no daily hassle? Lol , theres already 8 million of these shit towers on the market and they all suck
I have a Tower garden by Juice plus right now and I really like it for all the benefits that you talk about, it’s entry level and casual. Here are a few of my gripes:
The nutrients are expensive and wasteful and far from organic. I don’t want to buy a tub of chemical from China and turn that into a plant, then eat it.
The lights suck, they are like 200w total and could be easily 600w.
The lights bleed all over the apartment and are super oppressive.
Lowest on my list of complaints is the automation, I use smart plug for the lights and pump and it works fine. PH need adjustment sometimes but you are going to find out that reliable autonomous PH monitoring is a expensive and unreliable, PH strips are reliable and inexpensive. I add weekly nutrients from a measuring cup so that’s not a problem.
🤖🔫
Sure but I’m poor
Any hydrophobic system, you will need to make sure ph and ec are within range with plenty of lights. Other than that some airflow would be beneficial. You can set up your own stuff pretty easily but the nutrients are expensive if you buy liquid ones. See if you can buy powdered and mix. It won’t be organic tho if you are worried about that
Maybe a NFT option after Tower, I have a Rise and I replaced the lights and pump… and I think it’s slightly too deep or even making it Aeroponics would be more sustainable. I am in a lot of the Rise groups and they are very restrictive about getting in and making posts… I suspect because a lot of people just aren’t successful because it’s marketing to people as plug and play but you learn the hard way that the lights aren’t strong enough at 45 W (i think? Is that super low?) and even make that info super hard to even find and then changing the pump and then realizing light leaks aren’t addressed in pods or seems… I don’t buy their pods but most won’t even grow with the lights. They made 200 W version that flares out but my infinity light bars stick to metal top so easy to move for plants on the same level that have different lighting needs and I can adjust the strength so I like that. I tried using Bontabicare because it’s almost organic but something went wrong so now using Masterblend. I don’t want to use their nutes and from social media group engagement being so low and restrictive it leads me to believe a lot of people stop using it or put house plants in it… but I think the stacking method maybe easier then tower just from what I read because it’s not a lot of tubing and easier to clean. Good luck. I also would add a build in Copper Silver automatic Ionization system bc I have researched it and it’s what hospitals use in their hot water tanks and it’s better then bleach. They make them for hot tubs and I have used it for years in my swim spa along with UV-C and ozone (both built in automatic just have to change the bulb) and I hardly have to use ANY bleach. For whatever reason the water doesn’t grab the chlorine until Copper is used up. Copper gets used like Bleach. Newest research says Copper, Silver and Zinc are the best trio. The metals are poured into one block and then electricity ionizes it. A brand that’s low tech is Lifegaurd. Lol take it or leave it.. I am a dork about these things but amazing what those2 or 3 metals do together and plants need these elements and usually don’t any. I keep meaning to make a post. It’s super easy to monitor these levels and it’s a tiny amount only 0.5 ppm Copper. Most tests are junk but finally found one really good one made by a company that makes the ionizers (brand is “Mineral Pool”.
If this turned into a Rat King during a Little-Shop-of-Horrors-type of event would any of the damages be covered under warranty?
The people that spend the money on a system like this are likely not going to keep up with the maintenance and stop using before their first harvest.
Towers are cool, I printed a few of them and ran them for a season, but it is far from efficient or easy to keep up with. Add cleaning and maintaining the correct balances.
For the same money, you can do a 5 level wire rack system with decent lights, soil with auto watering or hydro and all that will far surpass the efficiency and ease of one of these systems, also allowing you to run different nute balances for different crops instead of the same ratios for everything.
I gave it a fair shot, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, etc will all grow in here decent enough, but its just not efficient.
To sum it up, I absolutly disagree with your title. They are not clean (closed loop, root mess, algea in tank that you need to significantly disassemble to clean out), they are more hassle and work than standard methods. Yes, they are autonomous to a point, but the automation is nothing more than timers for pumps and lights which any standard indoor homebuilt or professional kit system will also use. Im not trying to be mean, im just tired of garden gimmicks people think will change the world.
Unless you have an entire facility dedicated to running a large scale version of these for food retail, it is not worth it, and even at that, its not likely worth it.
My first thought is how do you clean it?
Yes
https://preview.redd.it/ofbzcg8mhayf1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3cba7066103353c038772725f3280704fade0203
I have roughly $200-$250 invested in mine. I have 5 towers and supports my family of three, with tons of excess veggies & fruit. I designed my towers.
I would love to have something like this, but every time I looked into hydroponics, they cost hundreds, or thousands, of dollars. More then a poor person can afford.
I could make this system for $150 in and afternoon minus the smartphone piece. I think you’re looking for people who have no idea what they are doing. Those of us with experience tend to build our own systems which are frankly better and more efficient from an energy and nutrient utilization standpoint.
It’s not that I wouldn’t like to do so but you have to realize that half the reason people eat unhealthy is because it’s quick and cheap. You can’t expect people who have the money like this are eating a ton of junk food and fast food enough to make a difference. It’s a great idea but most people who want to can’t afford it and most people who can afford it would rather go to a local farm or restaurant.
Wrong market. Make it out of ceramic and charge more to sell it to people like me that don’t want plastic near their food.