InstaFarm Automated Indoor Microgreens Garden Review: Easy to Go Green

InstaFarm’s patentable 4-by-4-inch compostable trays come pre-filled with half an inch of soil (“sourced from Amish Country in Pennsylvania,” according to InstaFarm) and organic, non-GMO seeds, with the final green food information listed above. They come in twelve types of nine packs for $23including individual cultivars, smoothie- and salad mixes, and even ordinary trays to grow your vegetables or garden stems. It is important to note that the trays are easy-to-fill sheets designed for single use.

In comparison, Vego’s hydroponic microgreens planterwho is used last yearit’s only $60 for two units, whereas Gardyn is $100. There’s no producing greens anywhere near InstaFarm, but then again, $500 can buy a lot of store-bought microgreens.

InstaFarm has an app, but it doesn’t add much to the experience, other than the ability to activate night mode (which turns off the light for 10 hours). A big help is the button on the top of the device that comes with a sticker that tells you how many presses are needed for each job you need.

Every 90 minutes, a metal pouring arm comes out and walks over each shelf, identifying each tray and its plant height, humidity, and temperature. When the nozzle is activated, it produces a suitable burst of water, just like the spray heads in the grocery store section. If you have cats, they may be very interested the first time they hear the noise and walk slowly on the shelves. (The first quick, unexpected spray was a fun experience in my house.) Sometimes, this knowledge was more accurate in mind than in practice—for some reason, the sensor always exceeded the amount of watering for red beet leaves (but only beet leaves), causing the tray to overflow every day.

After a few weeks, I noticed the nozzle making a slight noise after it completed a cycle, then slowly retracted as it rested. It wasn’t a sound – it reminded me of the sound of cows at the top of a ski lift – but because the InstaFarm was sitting on my dining room table, it was noticeable. And I should also note that it was on my dining room table because, although the website says that this unit can fit under most kitchen cabinets, it was too tall for me. This made it difficult to locate, as it takes up about a 6-by-18-inch footprint. Since it’s easy to cut the leaves to make salads, smoothies, and other dishes, its natural habitat is probably the kitchen, so you may want to measure it a few times to make sure it fits your space.

Greens Aplenty

Photo: Kat Merck

As they say it will happen, I had green leafy vegetables in five days. On my first big trip (I’ve now gone through four), I was more than happy to put the tray in every position. Unless you have a large family that eats microgreens at every meal, I don’t recommend this. I playfully tried to use them all, but after experiencing the pain of putting trays of radish microgreens in a strawberry smoothie (very spicy, radishy), I decided to share my first trays with some friends.