Click and Grow Smart Garden 3 vs 9: What to Consider Besides Capacity
Naila Syifa
Updated November 2024
If you're interested in indoor gardening, the Smart Garden series from Click and Grow is an excellent entry point into hydroponic growing. The Smart Garden 3 has 3 growing pods, while the Smart Garden 9 has space for 9 plants.
But that's not the only difference between these two! What are other considerations when choosing between these indoor garden models?
Key Takeaways
Smart Garden 9 offers more growing capacity, faster plant growth, and less frequent water refills than Smart Garden 3. Smart Garden 9 is best suited for growing multiple plant varieties and regular harvesting needs, while Smart Garden 3 is ideal for beginners, decoration purposes, or occasional cooking needs.
Click & Grow Smart Garden 3
Compact & Simple Indoor Gardening
✓ Grow up to 3 plants at once
✓ Grow your own fresh herbs all year round
✓ Non-GMO, pesticide and herbicide-free
✓ Compact, reliable and energy-efficient
Click & Grow Smart Garden 9
The Perfect Indoor Gardening Solution
✓ Grow up to 9 plants at once
✓ Grow your own fresh herbs all year round
✓ Non-GMO, pesticide and herbicide-free
✓ White & red LED lights
Gardening Purpose
Click & Grow Smart Garden 3
The Smart Garden 3's compact design houses three plant pods, making it ideal for small spaces like kitchen countertops or office desks. It's perfect for growing a few essential herbs or small flowering plants.
The Smart Garden 9, on the other hand, triples your growing capacity with nine pods, allowing you to maintain a more diverse indoor garden. This larger capacity means you can experiment with different plant combinations or grow enough herbs to sustain a family's cooking needs.
Personally, I would use the Smart Garden 3 to grow just one type of herb like basil or mint for regular cooking use. If I want to cultivate more varieties simultaneously, like lettuce, chili pepper, and strawberry, I would opt for the Smart Garden 9.
Click & Grow Smart Garden 9
Smart Garden 9 is also more suitable for bushy, edible greens that would otherwise compete for space in the smaller Smart Garden 3. This includes leafy vegetables like kale, swiss chard, and romaine lettuce.
With nine growing pods that can be planted at different intervals, you won't have to wait too long between harvests, which is important if your purpose of starting an indoor garden is to maintain a steady supply of fresh produce.
Therefore, first consider your purpose and which type of plants you want to grow before making your choice.
- For decoration -> flower plants -> Smart Garden 3
- For occasional cooking -> one type of herbs, greens, or vegetables -> Smart Garden 3
- For regular cooking -> one or multiple types of herbs, greens, vegetables, or fruits -> Smart Garden 9
- For mixed use -> combination of decorative and edible plants -> Smart Garden 9
- For experimental growing -> diverse plant combinations -> Smart Garden 9
Note that both the Smart Garden 3 and Smart Garden 9 equally support the various types of Click and Grow plant pods, from herbs and leafy greens to fruits and flowers. Therefore, you can always grow any plant variety regardless of which model you choose.
The question is more about how many plants you want to grow at once to suit your specific purpose.
Plant Growth Speed
Click & Grow Smart Garden 9
Once plugged into a power source, the lamp panel that houses LED lights on top of the Smart Garden provides automatic 16-hour on and 8-hour off lighting cycles to simulate optimal sunlight conditions. This is what makes indoor growing possible without access to natural light.
The lamp on the Smart Garden 9 boasts two types of bulbs – white and red LEDs – in contrast to the Smart Garden 3 with only white LEDs. Red light is known to be the most effective light spectrum to encourage photosynthesis, promoting better growth and flowering.
This is why some have reported faster growth rates and maturing with the Smart Garden 9 compared to the Smart Garden 3. Therefore, if faster growth is a priority, the Smart Garden 9 might be the better choice.
Maintenance Needs
Click & Grow Smart Garden 3
Filling out the water tank and checking the water level with the floating indicator are the only maintenance tasks you'll need to perform regularly. This is why the water tank capacity becomes a crucial consideration factor. It determines how often you'll need to care for your indoor garden.
Click and Grow Smart Garden 9 naturally has a larger capacity to support its additional pods. Its 4-liter water tank holds enough water to last up to 1 month, which means once-in-a-month maintenance is all you need to keep your plants thriving. This is perfect for busy gardeners or those who travel frequently.
Meanwhile, the Smart Garden 3 has a smaller 1.2 L reservoir, lasting 2-3 weeks depending on the plant type and growing stage. We can also refill the tank sooner before it completely runs out, so I would say weekly maintenance is a good practice.
Though water monitoring mainly determines the maintenance schedule, keep in mind that it is still important to check your plants regularly for signs of growth, health issues, or readiness for harvest.
For example, thinning may be necessary when multiple seedlings emerge from a single pod. You may also need to watch out for pests that could affect your garden's health.
Features
Click & Grow Smart Garden 9
The overall gardening features of the Smart Garden 3 and 9 are similar. Plant pods with smart soil technology automatically regulate water and nutrient delivery to ensure optimal growing conditions, which frees you from the complexities of traditional gardening.
As previously mentioned, the lamp has a built-in timer that automatically cycles between 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness each day, simulating natural daylight patterns for optimal plant growth.
The Click and Grow app is also available for Smart Garden 3 and 9 users, which has features to keep track of days since planting, access plant care tips, and see general information about each specific plant, including expected sprout time, expected harvest time, whether the plant is edible, and the best temperature range for optimal growth.
The more premium Smart Garden 9 PRO model can be connected to the app via Bluetooth, which allows for lighting control and scheduling. Since the Smart Garden 3 and 9 feature no Bluetooth connectivity, their in-app features are fairly limited.
There are no features like harvest notifications, water level alerts, or information on what stage of growth your plants are currently in.
Click & Grow Smart Garden 3 vs 9
Final Thoughts
Click & Grow Smart Garden 3
Click and Grow Smart Garden 3 and 9 have similar overall gardening features, but the Smart Garden 9 offers significant advantages in terms of capacity, growth speed, and maintenance frequency. It is ideal for those who want to grow multiple plant varieties simultaneously or maintain a steady supply of fresh produce for regular cooking needs.
However, if you're just starting out, the Smart Garden 3 is a more manageable and cost-effective option. It provides enough growing space for basic herb cultivation while taking up minimal counter space.
If you like to read more about Indoor Smart Garden, check out our other relevant guides here:
Best Indoor Smart Gardens
Click & Grow Smart Garden 9 vs PRO
AeroGarden vs Click & Grow
Author
Naila Syifa
Content Manager at Synced. She crafts insightful content on the latest trends in technology, consumer electronics, and smart home gadgets.
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