These Pots Let You Grow an Indoor Mini Garden, Even If You Don’t Have Natural Light

Written by

Mia Nakaji Monnier
Mia Nakaji Monnier
Mia Nakaji Monnier is a freelance writer and former weekend editor at Apartment Therapy. She lives in Los Angeles and spends most of her free time knitting.
published Apr 26, 2020
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A garden of one’s own may feel like a far-off dream to those of us who live in apartments without so much as a small patio. But it is possible to have a mini garden indoors, even if you don’t have great natural light. A Kickstarter project called Pico offers one way to make it happen.

The Pico garden system — made by Altifarm Enverde, which previously funded the Herbstation plant pot on Kickstarter — is made for small spaces with challenging lighting. It’s made up of small, self-watering pods with built-in LED grow lights. The pods can stand on a flat surface like a regular flower pot, or you can mount them to a vertical surface with magnetic, velcro, or nail mounts.

The grow lights are meant to completely replace the need for sunlight, letting you grow plants in any room of your home, all year ‘round. 

Meanwhile, the self-watering system works like this: You pour water into the pod’s reservoir, and then, Pico’s creators explain on Kickstarter, “[l]ike the roots of your plants pulling water through the soil towards them, through capillary action, Pico wicks the water from the reservoir into the soil. As your plants soak up the water, Pico just feeds them more. This ensures that they never dry out or are left to rot in too much water.”

One set includes a pod, a USB charging cable for the lights, a daisy chain cable (which connects up to three pods on the same charger), and all three interchangeable wall mounts. You’ll receive the whole thing with a $32 pledge on Kickstarter (as compared to the planned $45 retail price).

Buy just one pod or up to 15 for a whole mini indoor container garden. They come in three colors: Krispy mint, Tangy orange, and Oh-so-lemon.