A new gadget from the company Plantaform makes it easier to grow leafy vegetables, herbs, or other edible plants at home. It works almost completely automatically and uses virtually no water thanks to an ingenious NASA invention. You can also place this smart indoor garden in your living room.
At the CES 2025 gadget fair, the new Plantaform system won an innovation award. With this device, anyone can grow lettuce, herbs, leafy vegetables, cherry tomatoes or edible flowers at home, because almost everything happens automatically. You first place ‘Plant Pods’ in the system, which are sold in packs of fifteen. It contains seeds in rock wool, not in regular soil. Then you put some water and a powder with nutrients in the device.
But then the smart part only begins. You scan a QR code on the packaging of the Plant Pods with your phone, so that the app knows which plants you have put in the device. The ideal growing conditions are then transmitted to the device, which ensures that light, air circulation, hydration and temperature are always in order.
Every few weeks you will receive a notification via the app that you need to add some water to the device, but that’s all you need to do.
No soil and water, but fog
To ensure that the nutrients reach the plants, no soil is used. The plants are also not in a layer of water from which they can absorb the nutrients. The Plantaform uses ‘fogponics’ technology, a fog technology developed by NASA that uses 98 percent less water than if you simply grow plants in the soil.
The fogponics technique ensures that a mist is present in the Plantaform at the roots of the plant, containing the nutrients that the plants need. As a result, the plant will absorb the nutrients better and grow faster with a higher yield than when you grow it in a traditional way.
What does that cost?
The Plantaform is for sale for 500 dollars, the equivalent of 485 euros. You will then receive the system, a salad mix package and a jar with nutrients.
If you want to buy new Plant Pods, you can choose from, for example, different types of lettuce, herbs, edible flowers or cherry tomatoes. For 15 Plant Pods you pay approximately 27 euros and for a new supply of nutrients just over 13 euros.
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Source: www.bright.nl
