I think before we jump into reviewing the garden Tower project, it is important to first look at the main idea behind the creation of the project. The garden tower project was designed to help solve the following problems: fresh food scarcity or desert, encourage people with small space to garden, promote organic gardening, and to garden in areas with poor soil topography.
Fresh food scarcity or desert: some places in the world do not receive enough rainfall and they also don’t have easy access to water. This hard access to water makes gardening and growing plants much harder. So, the people living in these food desert areas have limited access to fresh foods.
With the garden tower, you can grow different types of fruits and vegetables without much irrigation or watering. What you need is to water the tower once or twice a week. Additionally, the remaining water that is not used by plants or retained by the soil will drain down, and get collected by a gallon drawer.
This water that is collected in the drawer can be recycled to water your plants growing in the tower the next time. This makes a garden tower a great option for people who are living in low rainfall or water-deficient areas.
Small space: another reason that stops many people from growing their own vegetables and fruits is limited space. With the garden tower, this problem is absolutely solved. Because, the garden tower is designed to fit into 4 × 4 square feet of space, which is obtainable space even in the tiniest house.
Interestingly, the garden tower comes with stackable containers or planters, which are arranged vertically. The stackable levels can be extended according to the user’s wish. This arrangement gives an option to grow more vegetables and fruits with limited space.
Promote organic gardening: I believed by now, you have heard enough about the effects of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and GMO seeds. This garden tower project is brought to solve all these problems. With the garden tower, you don’t need to worry about buying and using pesticides or herbicides. Moreover, recently the project is released with a bundle that comes with an heirloom seeds gift certificate. So, this makes gardening organic when using a garden tower.
Poor soil topography: another main problem that stops people from gardening is poor soil topography. Some people have Soil surface that is not good for growing plants, for example, people who are affected by erosion or flooding may not have a sufficient good soil surface to farm. Sometimes it is the soil that is not good for farming.
But, with a garden tower, you can order a custom and fertile soil that supports plants’ growth, then, use the soil in the garden tower to grow your favorite fruits and vegetables.
Waste management: another key and interesting feature that is designed with this garden tower is its ability to recycle your garden and kitchen scraps. The garden tower is designed with a composting core, which is used to compost kitchen scraps using worms. You can also compost even without worms.
With this basic information about the garden tower project in our minds, let us review the product base on our knowledge and research about the product. Before then, let us describe the tower for you so that you will have a real picture of it.
Description of the garden tower
The garden tower has a standard height of 43 inches and a weight of 36 pounds. This weight is without the soil and other additional accessories such as the premium caster wheel kit and extension kit bundles that some bundles do come with.
The garden tower is designed for both indoors and outdoors purposes. It is the planter that allows to grow fruits and vegetables with a limited space in either outdoor or indoor. It only occupies a 4× 4 square feet space. And the tower grows up to 50 different plants.
The plants you can grow include Leafy Green Vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, broccoli, kale, carrots, garlic, onions, among others. However, vining plants do not do well when planted in the tower.
The tower is designed with food-grade USA-made HDPE plastic materials. The plastic is non-toxic, BPA, and PVC-free. The tower comes with a buildt-in composting core in the center. This composting core is designed to help users compost kitchen scraps.
For practical purposes, view the product here or watch the video below.
Garden tower project reviews
Garden tower comes in different generations or bundles. Before, the company only has one version or generation. But now, the company has designed different bundles with advanced modern technology that makes gardening and growing fruits and vegetables much easier even for a new gardener. In this article, I will take time and review each bundle so that you can make the best decision for yourself.
Garden tower 2 review
Garden tower 2 only includes the tower without the bundled package. It makes growing vegetables and fruits vertically so much easier. It is the new version of the garden tower, which comes with 50 compartments for plants.
Generally, garden tower 2 comes with everything that the two-generation tower comes with but without the bundled package.
Pros: unlike the older version of the garden tower, the tower 2 levels or compartments rotate easier.
Cons: the composting core may break when fully loaded with scraps from inside and soil from outside. The garden tower can be too heavy when fully loaded and this makes it difficult for the user to move it from one place to another.
The composting core does not accommodate a large amount of compost at once, so some of your scraps will be left uncomposted or you need to compost them in a different composting bin.
Garden tower starter bundle review
The garden tower starter bundle was mainly designed with beginners in mind. The bundle comes with plant labels. These labels are used to label plants so that you can easily identify them. There is also a 72 seed starting greenhouse, which is included in the package to help users start seeds.
The package also comes with seed starting soil, which allows you to quickly add to your tower to start seeds planting or transplanting. There is also Dr. Earth plant food. This is a nutrient-riched organic fertilizer that helps boost plants growth. Another great addition to the package is the gift card certificate for heirloom seeds. These seeds are enough to help you start growing or using the garden tower right away.
Pros: the bundle included many things that beginner gardeners will require, making it an ideal Option for just starting out. It also comes with discounted price. It comes with a 3-year warranty in case you are not satisfied with the product.
Cons: a large number of scraps from the garden can’t go into the composting core. Sometimes, if you are not strong, moving the tower from one place to another can be a problem. This comes in handy during storms or when you want to move the tower to or away from the sun direction.
Garden tower 2 move and grow bundle review
The move and grow bundle, in addition to the garden tower 2, the bundle comes with a premium caster wheel kit. This caster wheel allows the tower to be moved from one place to another much easier. This makes it possible for the user to move the garden tower from one place to another easier by older people and people who are not strong enough to move the tower without wheels.
The bundle is also designed with lock brakes, which make sure that your garden tower does not over speed when moving on a slope or at an angle. Additionally and interestingly, the move and grow caster wheels also come with a lifetime warranty, which means you can take the wheels for replacement whenever the wheels damage.
Pros: this bundle makes it easy to move the tower from one place to another without much effort. The wheels come with a lifetime warranty. The bundle also has a 3-year warranty. It saves money when you buy the bundle. The bundle also has no shipping cost.
Cons: the presence of wheels make the tower very simple to be moved from one place to another even by a grown-up child, which makes it necessary to lock the brakes.
Garden tower 2 deluxe bundle review
The garden tower deluxe bundle is the all-in-one package that a user wants. With this bundle, you get a seed gift card certificate, heating mat, plant food, premium caster wheel kit, seed starting tray, and seed starting soil. In addition to these features, the bundle also comes with plant marking stakes, and a save-a-drop hose water meter.
The save-a-drop hose water meter is included in order to help a user know how much water the plants are getting. The marking stakes are used to label plants. This is useful if you planted many different types of plants in the same tower. There is also a heating mat, which is useful for speeding up seeds germination and seedlings’ growth.
Pros: it included all that is needed to start a garden without much effort or looking for something such as seeds or seed starting mix. It comes with a 3-year warranty. It comes with a heating mat and watering meter, which are very useful tools for growing a successful garden.
Cons: the bundle is very expensive. Kids can play with the tower if the brakes are not locked. The composting core is still like the older version of garden tower 1, which means fewer scraps are composted at a time.
Garden tower 2 extension kit review
The garden tower 2 extension kit comes in handy when you want to increase the number of levels or compartments of your garden tower. With this extension kit, you can buy 2 or more compartments to add to the main tower so that you can grow more fruits and vegetables.
Pros: the extension kit helps you grow more fruits and vegetables. It also helps you save space.
Cons: additional height can make watering very difficult for inexperienced gardeners. It is also not suitable for keeping on rooftops.
Frequently asked questions
Below are some of the frequently asked questions about the garden tower project:
How to assemble a garden tower 2?
Watch the below video to learn how to assemble a garden tower:
What plants grow well in garden tower?
The garden tower is not suitable for growing vines and trees. Plants that can be grown in the garden towers include carrots, garlic, onions, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, kale, and other leafy green vegetables.
Is garden tower organic?
Yes, it is one of the main reasons that the garden tower was first made. It is designed to promote organic gardening without the need for synthetic herbicides and pesticides.
How do you winterize a garden tower?
If you want to winterize your garden tower, cover the tower with a tarp. This helps prevent your plants from freezing completely during winter and also helps them regrow during the spring.
Can you use a garden inside?
Yes, you can use the garden tower indoor. Place the garden tower in a direction where your plants will receive enough sunlight. Depending on the types of plans you can keep it even in your own sitting room.
How do you maintain a garden tower?
The Garden Tower is very simple to maintain. Because the tower does not require electricity or any external source of energy before it can operate. All you need to do is to add soil and plant your plants. Then, you need to water timely to keep the soil moist. You also need not to place the tower on a slope. Avoid keeping the tower in the place where strong wind use to pass.
Is the garden tower noisy?
Garden tower 2 is not noisy. It is eco-friendly. Because it is not operated under any mechanical force. Even the wheels do not make noise while moving.
Do you only need to water from the top of garden tower?
No, you don’t need to only water from the top of the garden tower. You can also water from the sides of the garden tower. Use a hose mouth to water the side plants so that each plant will get sufficient water.
What materials should binout in a garden tower composting core?
Materials you can put in the composting core of the garden tower include tea bags, coffee grounds, coffee filters, banana peels,, vegetable scraps, and any other compostable kitchen scraps.
Does garden tower smell?
The Garden tower does not smell. This is because you use worms to compost your kitchen scraps (that doesn’t mean you must use worms. You can compost your scraps in the composting core even without However). However, if you add fish, meat, and pet waste, your composting core or twoer may smell. Therefore, add compostable kitchen scraps that do not cause a smell.
Tip: learn more about compostable materials
How many worms do I need for a garden tower?
According to the garden tower project guidelines, they recommend using 250-500 red wigglers worms. Alternatively, you can use 25-50 earthworms. The red wiggler worms go to the compost tube where the earthworms go into the solution column.
How to compost in a garden tower?
Composting in the garden tower is very simple. To compost, just collect your kitchen and some of the garden scraps that are compostable and put them in the composting core. Add worms but this is optional. Adding the worms helps speed up the composting process and also produces a very riched-nutrient organic fertilizer. If you want to learn more about composting, read our step-by-step guide to composting.
Conclusion
I hope that this garden tower project review helps with excellent tips on how to make the best decision when buying your garden tower. I would like to hear from you. Let me know if you have any questions.
