I first encountered LetPot as a brand earlier this year while testing its LPH-SE Senior hydroponic growing system for my guide to the best indoor gardening systems. Positioned as alternatives to the long-beloved OG Aerogarden tabletop hydroponic systems, LetPot’s countertop gardens (which are popular enough to have their own subreddit) allow you to grow any seeds you’d like—no proprietary pods needed—using inexpensive baskets and sponges that are ubiquitous on Amazon and run about 20 cents each. (LetPot’s sets come with enough baskets and sponges to get you started, but no seeds.) I regularly recommend LetPot’s version as the best budget option for anyone looking to get into hydroponic gardening.
Since then, I’ve tried a variety of smart gardening devices from the brand, which has been established in Hong Kong since 2007 but expanded into the US in 2019. If you’re shopping for a plant lover or gardener this holiday season, these are the products I’ve had the best success with in my own home and gardening setups and would buy myself.
The 12-pod LPH-SE Senior, featured in my indoor gardening guide, has been a trusty tabletop companion for several months now, producing organic baby chard that can be clipped every few days for fresh salads. (Food doesn’t get more local than greens grown inches away from your dinner plate!)
The LetPot app is kind of funky, but it’s not needed once you’ve set the timer for the 24-watt LED lamp, which both raises and lowers and flips up for easy harvesting access. A pop-up gauge tells you at a glance what level the water is, the pump runs every 30 minutes on its own, and instructions on when and how to add nutrients are right on the bottle. (Two bottles with dehydrated nutrients are included.)
I’ve also tested a couple of Aerogardens alongside the LetPot, and while the Aerogardens’ app, design, and interfaces are a bit slicker than LetPot’s, the end result is the same. LetPot’s LPH-SE is not only less expensive than the comparable Aerogarden Bounty, it has spaces for three more plants.
LetPot
100-Watt Grow Light
Second on my list of LetPot hits is the brand’s grow light for houseplants. (Though it would also be perfect for seedling trays.) It also works with the LetPot app, but like the LPH-SE, the app’s not totally necessary once you’ve set the timer, and if you don’t want to deal with the app at all, there’s a corded remote that also lets you turn the light on and off and adjust the light intensity.
The powerful 100-watt light can either hang from the ceiling or sit on its telescoping stand, rotating around 360 degrees to shine where you need it. (Keep in mind 100 watts is pretty hot—you won’t want it too close to any leaves.) I appreciate that the light itself is large (2 x 3 feet), so it keeps plants from becoming too leggy. One downside to note: While the description says the stand can extend to 72 inches, it really only goes to about 60 inches, so if you have tall plants, you’ll want to keep this in mind—or use the hanging feature.
LetPot’s SS Pro seed starter is brand-new, but promising. It’s still in preorder right now, but I’ve been using it for the past couple of months to grow onion, carrot, and parsnip starts. A full-coverage, 24-watt light (12 x 7 inches) sits over a plastic vented dome, which rests atop a seed tray. The tray is set into a shallow container, underneath which sits a 24-watt heating pad. Fill the container with water, pour whatever medium you’d like into the tray (you’ll need to purchase this separately; I used expandable seed starting soil, $12), and plant your seeds.
The LetPot app’s auto mode will recommend a temperature range and light duration based on what you’re growing and turn the system on/off accordingly, or you can choose your settings manually. A temperature and EC sensor (electrical conductivity, which measures dissolved solids—essentially, the amount of nutrients in your soil available to the plants) goes in the soil, and a digital screen on the front tells you all you need to know at a glance: current temperature, EC level, and how many days it’s been since the seeds were planted. LetPot boasts a 99 percent germination rate, and while mine wasn’t quite that high, I appreciated that the finished seedlings were noticeably healthier and less leggy than those grown with only a small grow light. The power adapter makes a high-pitched sound when the lights are on, the temperature and EC sensor give some occasionally buggy readings, and auto-mode erases whenever it’s unplugged, but if those minor foibles don’t bother you, the SS-Pro is unique in this space and worth a look.
Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe Today.
