I believe that we have two awesome options for choosing the best AeroGarden for growing tomatoes: the AeroGarden Bounty Basic and the AeroGarden Bounty Elite.
Thus, my focus is on the Bounty series because it combines the needed features for growing taller plants and the price for the Bounty Basic is quite good.
I’ll review each shortly to see what are the differences between the Basic and the Elite and which would be best for you.
There’s also another model called AeroGarden Farm 24Plus. I’ll make a short review on it, too, and tell you why I don’t necessarily consider it to be the best AeroGarden for tomatoes.
There’s actually one simple explanation for making that statement: it’s just so expensive that I don’t see many people spending so much money on an indoor hydroponic garden for tomatoes and for growing other plants.
Check out my recommendations for AeroGarden alternatives if you want to discover more indoor hydroponic systems.
Table of Contents
Best AeroGarden for Growing Tomatoes
Let’s review my two recommendations for the best AeroGarden for tomatoes and see what sets them apart.
Before that, I should tell you that if you want a much cheaper model that works for growing tomato plants indoors and much more, I recommend the iDoo 20 Pods Hydroponics Growing System, for which you can adjust the height up to 27 inches.
1. AeroGarden Bounty Basic: Overall the Best AeroGarden for Growing Tomatoes
The Bounty Basic is my first recommendation for the best AeroGarden for growing tomatoes. It’s pretty awesome but also quite expensive.
I like that it includes a high resolution display control pan. There are a few helpful buttons: Quick Plant (guide for a new garden) and Garden Tips (140 tips).
There are also alerts for when the water level is low and for when it’s time to add more nutrient solution.
These 2 reminders about water and nutrient solution levels are what make this system so amazing even for beginners. It’s another important reason for calling this system the best AeroGarden for growing tomatoes.
It also includes a 6-inch tall trellis system, which definitely indicates that it’s geared toward bigger plants, like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. There’s also the option of buying a second trellis.
There’s really nothing basic about the Basic, which makes it my favorite.
9 pods
It has 9 pods, meaning that you can grow 9 plants at the same time. Even so, those 9 plants that you can grow at the same time will be herbs or lettuce varieties or maybe even baby spinach because these are smaller plants.
When it comes to tomato plants, you should only grow about 5 plants at the same time. If you want to be more adventurous, you could try growing 7 tomato plants at the same time and see how that goes.
You’ll absolutely need to put plant spacers in the pods that don’t get a seed pod kit. The spacers are definitely needed because if the pods are left uncovered, light will reach the reservoir, which leads to algae growth.
Or just use empty seed pod kits with no seeds inside. The other option is to put some black tape on top of the empty pods. The whole point is that you need something to block out light from reaching the reservoir.
It comes with 9 seed pod kits: basil (2), Thai basil, curly parsley, Italian parsley, thyme, chives, dill, and mint.
You could try first growing these herbs to see what the deal is with hydroponics and then move on to more demanding plants.
Height
You can grow plants up to 24 inches in height. If your tomato plant ends up growing too high, you can prune it at the top.
Lighting
You’ll get 30 watts full spectrum LEDs. These are powerful and more than enough for all kinds of plants.
As the plants grow, there should be 1-2 inches between the top of the plants and the grow lights.
You’ll have to adjust the lighting yourself.
That can be difficult if you leave the hydroponic system unattended for a few weeks. There is Vacation mode if you go away but it doesn’t adjust the lights automatically.
There’s an automatic timer that enables the lights to go on and off at the same time. Tomatoes need up to 16 hours of light per day. The other 8 hours are spent with lights off.
Nutrient solution
It comes with Miracle-Gro liquid plant food. You just have to follow the instructions about adding it.
For germinating the seeds no nutrient solution is added. The seeds are germinated just in water with the domes on.
Once the seedlings appear through the holes in the seed pod, you can remove the domes.
Each seed pod kit should only have just one plant. Once the seedlings are 1 inch tall, if there are 2 seedlings in the same pod, snip the smallest of the two. Don’t rip it out, just gently cut it.
After that, you can add nutrient solution according to instructions.
Once you run out of the nutrient solution that comes with the system, you can buy more of the same or you can get a general hydroponic nutrient solution.
Pollination
You can do this by hand.
Once the flowers appear, gently shake the plant about 10 times each day or at least every other day.
Hand pollination is essential if you want fruiting to set in. It imitates what the wind does outdoors.
You don’t necessarily have to buy their pollinator. You can just do it by hand.
2. AeroGarden Bounty Elite: More Expensive
Well, both these models are expensive but the Elite is a bit more so. Let’s see if it’s worth it.
AeroGarden Elite also features 9 pods, the same 24 inch height, the same spacious water bowl, the 2 reminders for when it’s time to add more water or more nutrient solution, the same 9 seed pod kits with herbs, and a 6-inch trellis.
It also includes those 9 seed pod kits with the same herbs.
Well, what’s different?
The lights are 50 watts LED full spectrum instead of 30 watts as is the case for the Basic model.
The touch screen panel is also slightly different but they basically cover the same functions.
Thus, the real difference is in the 50 watts LED grow lights.
3. AeroGarden Farm 24Plus
The Farm 24Plus model is about 2 times more expensive than the Bounty Elite.
As the name suggests, this model has 24 pods. Those are a lot of pods so I can understand why this is so expensive.
These 24 seed pod kits include lettuce, tomatoes, and herbs. You can already start your own garden as soon as you set up the system.
It’s also a lot bigger so it won’t go on the countertop as the Bounty models do. The Farm goes on the floor but it looks pretty with its overall black design. It won’t stand out or look weird.
There are 2 separate containers: each contains 12 pods and its own grow lights. Thus, you can grow herbs in one container and tomatoes in the second container. Or whatever plant combinations you want to make.
We might get 24 pods but the height is the same: adjustable lights up to 24 inches in height.
It also includes reminders for water and nutrient solution.
These are 60-watt LED grow lights, which is absolutely great.
The control pan is at the top and it looks awesome, there are no buttons, just a touch screen that controls everything.
In the end, all I can say is that it’s outrageously expensive.
If you were into DIY, with this kind of budget, you could build your own hydroponic system without any problems. You could build a NFT, an ebb and flow or a drip hydroponic system.
Can we grow tomatoes in AeroGarden Harvest series?
The other very popular series from this manufacturer is called Harvest. It’s a lot cheaper than the Bounty series.
So, why don’t I recommend the Harvest series, too?
There’s actually a simple and single reason for this: the lights for AeroGarden Harvest only go as high as 12 inches. Tomatoes are plants that can grow really tall, which is why we need models that allow for more height for the lights to go up.
The Harvest is really good for lettuce, leafy greens and herbs and that’s about it.
The Bounty Basic and Bounty Elite both have lights that go as high as 24 inches. It’s still pretty low for many varieties, which is why I told you that you need to choose your varieties with attention.
If you already own an AeroGarden Harvest and you want to experiment with growing tomatoes, there’s no variety that I can recommend. The height of the lights is just too low.
When you’re interested in a certain tomato variety for growing indoors in hydroponics, always search the height for the plant. That’s how you figure out if it can work in these kinds of indoor hydroponic gardens or not.
Tomato varieties to grow in AeroGarden
You have 2 main options:
- buy the seeds for whatever variety you want to grow together with the AeroGarden Grow Anything Seed Pod Kit, which comes with grow sponges, domes, and nutrient solution
- or buy the AeroGarden Red Heirloom Cherry Tomato Seed Pod Kit – these includes the seeds which are already placed in the sponges, you only have to add them to the system, plus it also comes with domes and nutrient solution
All in all, it’s an awesome indoor hydroponic garden that offers plenty of features for the money. It’s quite impressive and well-thought.
Plus, it’s just the perfect model for beginners who want to grow bigger plants, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers etc.
Additional resources
If you end up buying any Aerogarden model for growing tomatoes, I definitely recommend checking out this AeroGarden guide.
I love that it also includes information on pruning, which is important when you’re growing in a relatively small space. Pruning is crucial for controlling plant height, I definitely recommend their guide for this aspect.
It’s a bit old so, in the introduction, it mentions other models that are no longer available. Other than that, it’s a really good guide that applies to the models that I’ve reviewed here.
Moreover, you’ll find plenty of YouTube videos on growing all sorts of plants in these hydroponic indoor kits.
I definitely recommend checking out some of those videos before or after making your purchase for the best AeroGarden for growing tomatoes, just to see if this hydroponics is the right method for you, if this manufacturer is the one that you want or how you should go about growing hydroponics tomatoes.
Best AeroGarden for Growing Tomatoes FAQs
Let’s answer a few important questions related to our search for the best AeroGarden for growing tomatoes.
1. What are the best AeroGarden tomatoes?
You can buy a tomato kit from AeroGarden that will include the seeds placed in the growing sponges, the domes and the nutrient solution. Or you can buy your own tomato seeds. If you want to buy your own tomato seeds, I recommend the Tiny Tim variety because it’s one of the smallest tomato plants we could grow.
2. Do tomatoes grow well in AeroGarden?
A clear indication that tomatoes can grow well in AeroGarden is the fact that we can buy the AeroGarden Red Heirloom Cherry Tomato Seed Pod Kit or the Mighty Mini Tomato Seed Pod Kit or the Mega Cherry Tomato Seed Pod Kit or the Golden Harvest Cherry Tomato Seed Pod Kit. All these tomato kits come with the seeds which are already placed in the sponges, you only have to add them to the system, domes and nutrient solution. AeroGarden also has a nice guide on how to grow tomatoes hydroponically in their indoor gardens. You just have to look for the best AeroGarden for growing tomatoes and I would also first recommend growing the herb kit that comes with your model to acclimate yourself with this system and then you can grow tomatoes.
