Indoor Garden Hydroponics Growing System, DUESI Upgrade 12 Pods Gardening Plant Germination Herb Kit with LED Grow Light, Hydrophonic Planter Grower Harvest Vegetable Lettuce for Hydroponic Gardeners

Love that light panel is easy to move up/down, yet holds position well. Also, like that the pump is held in place at the bottom middle of the water reservoir and that it is very quiet. The unit seems sturdy and holds 4-1/2 liters of water and is easy to refill w/opening on one corner. There are covers that can be put in unused holes to keep water from evaporating. I will be using these as only 5 of the 20 lettuce plants germinated. I kept the clear plastic domes over the plants until they had grown over the top of the pod, but took them off before they reached the dome cover. Have since moved the pods of the growing plants so they are well spaced from one another. Did have two more lettuce plants that germinated, but evidently the seeds fell to the side of the pod and they were growing on the side in the water. When I tried to move the tender plants to the inside of the pod, the roots broke off. Next time I will put the seeds in the pods prior to putting the pods in the unit. Was hard to put those tiny seeds in the pods under the light panel.Someone said to buy more pods before planting to have on hand if plants failed. I did not as wasn't sure I would like hydroponic gardening. But will be putting in an order today. For now will just let these plants mature and enjoy eating the bug/disease free organic lettuce. Have this hydroponic system in a cool, north facing office so the plants seem to be doing well.The light cycle (16 hours on, 8 hours off) seems to work well. The only problem has been when our electricity went off. The unit resets when turned off and then back on. So had the light coming on at night and going off in the daytime until I turned it off and on again.I did buy heirloom, hydroponic seeds and used the fertilizer at half rate initially as suggested by a youtuber. When I change the water, I will up the fertilizer to the recommended rate as the youtuber said to do. The light panel is at the lowest position. Since these are lettuce plants, may not need to raise the panel higher. Also, I followed the suggestion of another youtuber who said to put aluminum foil around the outside of the pod to keep algae from growing.In conclusion, these hydroponic units are nice, but don't expect all seeds to germinate. Have watched many videos and have not seen any where all the pods had healthy plants. Easy to grow plants like tomatoes seem to never fail, but they grow large and shade other plants limiting the smaller plants from doing well. Also, 20 pods means plants are way to close together to grow normally. Since only 5 of my lettuce grew, they should grow to normal size now that they are spaced away from one another. I can see where starting seedlings in this unit would work really well. Also like the idea of growing a few flowers in this unit to add color and make this an attractive display in the house. Think I will buy a package of flower seeds to plant w these lettuce for that purpose. Since the light can be set for veggies or flowers, am thinking maybe I could put it on the vegetable setting one day and flower setting another. Will be a fun experiment. :)

The media could not be loaded. This is my first experience with a kit like this and I love it!Shipping was fast and on time, and it was well packaged. The kit is easy to put together, just make sure to snap the pole down into the slot, it will be very firm and not wobble, then attach the LED light panel.The instruction booklet could be improved by adding a few more instructions in regards to the fertilizer solutions, timing of adding fertilizer, and cleaning, but YouTube videos are available. I read cleaning is done between 3-6 weeks, I am at 4 weeks and everything is still clean and fresh.A pH test showed my water to be very high in alkalinity so I used vinegar to bring it down to 6.5-7 and followed the formula on each of the two fertilizer containers (with the help of a magnifying glass). The Tatsoi and Romain lettuce seeds sprouted in two days! Parsley took a few days longer. My spinach did not sprout but they were old seeds.I especially like that it runs on autopilot as far as the light (16-hour or 22-hour on cycle), and the pump (30 minutes on, 30 minutes off)Today I had a small salad and they tasted so delicious! They did grow faster and tastier than the one I planted outside. I love the idea of grazing on a fresh leaf or two from my kitchen table. It is too small for a family that eats a lot of greens, but it is perfect for a single person or a couple. The only effort involved is keeping the water level up.I highly recommend this kit and now I am looking at building a bigger one! I’m spoiled now!

I was hoping leak-proof meant that there were no drainage holes below the water level in it, and that everything below the water level was one solid piece. Unfortunately, there is a hole with a simple plug that seems like it would too easily succumb to a little piece of detritus getting in it that you don't notice until it is too late. Or a plant root wedging between the plastic and the soft plug. So, I am keeping mine but hot-gluing around the perimeter of the plug. I don't plan to ever remove it anyway. Will that be effective? Time will tell.Suggestion to manufacturer: If drainage while keeping the system upright is a must, I recommend including a simple, flexible siphon tube with your product that can be hung over the edge--for example, through the refill hole--and includes a mini plunger that can be inserted into the tube and pulled out to start the siphoning. Cheap and effective. Then there is truly no fear of leakage! Win-win! :)Update: The manufacturer responded to my review very quickly. While I don't think there is anything they can do to resolve this, I am increasing the stars from 3 to 4 for responsive customer service.Second Update: The 24-hour cycle isn't truly 24 hours. It is like 23 hours and 45 minutes, as other reviewers have mentioned. Each night, the internal timer turns the light on ~10-15 minutes earlier than the night before rather than keeping the same time each day. That means eventually, and not very long, the light comes on at a time which is a nuisance (for me, it started coming on when I was using the living room rather than the ~16 hours I don't). I can't keep this at four stars with a problem like that so I am taking it back down to three stars.Third update: The manufacturer reached out and said they've known about the clock issue and fixed it so it no longer has what they called a 5% error. They are sending me a replacement. So I am bumping them to 5 stars.