Frequently Asked Questions

How does this system work?

Instructions will come with your GrowKit. All growing occurs via "hydroponics"- the plants will grow roots down into nutrient water- no soil involved. This keeps things clean and tidy, and is great for indoor applications.

How much light does a GrowKit need?

You'll need an area which recieves at least 4hours of sunlight a day- morning light is the best. A sunny spot on the North or East of a room usually works best but you can easily pick the kit up and move it around to experiment.

My seeds aren’t up yet?

If it’s only been a few days- don’t worry yet. Many seeds can take up to 14 days to germinate. However, still check the following:

• Make sure your clay balls appear moist, but that the seeds are well above the water level.
• Ensure your planter isn’t getting too hot, or too cold- room temperature (around 18-20 degrees) is best.
• Ensure the water level in your planter is going to the middle level of the GrowCup (this allows water to wick up into the clay balls).

My seeds germinated, but then wilted.

Usually, this means your water level was too high in relation to the seeds. Try dropping the water level slightly if its above the middle line of the GrowCup, was the clay balls and then trying again. If the water level was OK- try planting the seeds slightly higher in the clay balls (we give extra seeds in case this happens).

 Help! I’ve got bugs!

Wash them off! As simple as this sounds, it works really well for quickly reducing an insect population on your plant. Simply fill a sink or bucket that’s big enough to hold your plant with room-temperature water, take the plant (net cup and all) out of the jar, and wash it under the water- you can use some gently running water to really massage the insects off the underside of the leaves. This also gets off any household dust and the plants seem to love it! 

 My jar is running low on water. What should I do?

Ideally, once your jar runs out of water your plant will be big enough to eat- this is usually the case with most leafy greens and herbs. However- especially if its warm- your plant may have used water faster than it can grow, or you may simply not be quite ready to harvest yet. In this case, once the water level drops to around 1cm from the bottom of the plant, we recommend you tip out the remaining water and refill with 350mL of water and a half cap of PlantFood. If you're out of plant food- water is fine to keep the plant healthy until harvest. Its very important not to go over 350mL of water when refilling- we need the plant to have enough ‘air roots’ still able to breathe above the water surface.

If you are trying to keep a plant growing for an extended period of time (some herbs can live for over a year grown in the right condition!) you can also top up to 350mL at any time- especially if you’re going away for a while. 

My plant is growing tall, rather than bushy.

Chances are, your plant isn’t getting quite enough sunlight- the technical term for this is ‘etiolation’. Basically, your plant is looking for light and thinks by growing up, its going to find some- this is particularly prevalent with herbs. The answer- find a slightly more sunny spot to put your plant in during the day.

Should I use a grow light?

Our plants are all designed to capture natural light, to keep things simple. However, if you don’t have a sunny enough spot within your space, or you’ve simply grown your collection too big and have run out of windowsill- a grow light can certainly help! We recommend setting one up with a timer for a 16 on 8 off cycle to maximize the growth cycle.