What are the best kitchen and herb garden planters of 2022? That depends on your kitchen, of course. Kitchen garden planters can run the gamut from windowsill pots to hydroponics. We have rounded up our favorite sustainable ways to keep fresh produce in your kitchen all year long. Here are our top best herb garden and kitchen garden planters of 2022.
Windowsill herb garden
Good Housekeeping tested a bunch of herb gardens for the home chef and recommended the Harvest Elite Herb Garden as their overall favorite. Top features include full-spectrum LED grow lights on top of the planter, and the benefit of fast-growing plants. The Harvest Elite Herb Garden doesn’t use soil, but mixes water and liquid plant food.
Related: An urban vertical planter is an easy and affordable garden
The only cons? Well, it does cost over $200 on Amazon, and there are cheaper options, but you also need to buy the brand’s seed pods or their Grow Anything kit to be able to plant your own seeds or seedlings. Expect to keep paying for plant food if you use this kit, but the Harvest Elite does make your plants grow faster, according to Good Housekeeping. In fact, they grow so fast you need to harvest every few days or the lettuce can burn when it pushes up against the grow lights.
Kitchen gardens for small spaces
Want an attractive herb garden for an ultra small space? The Umbra Triflora costs just $40 and is a full hanging system of three small pots. This is best used as an herb garden, because it’s not big enough for veggies. The hanging planter has varied heights for each planter on the hanging rack, so it’s a cute decorative option for a kitchen window.
If you want something for garden veggies in a small kitchen, try the Smart Garden 9. It’s $160 at Click and Grow, and features two different grow lights for different speed plants. This planter is narrow enough to fit on a good windowsill or countertop, but big enough to fit lettuce and other small vegetables.
Hydroponic kitchen garden
If you want to expand your hydroponic herb garden into a real veggie garden, consider a hydroponics tower. You can place this in your kitchen on the floor or on a warm balcony. For $243, the EXO Garden Hydroponic Grow System Vertical Tower will grow whatever you have the sunlight for. Bonus: this tower comes in sizes for 12 to 24 plants. This system doesn’t use soil, so expect to keep paying for liquid plant food. However, it’s also a fun option for gardening indoors with kids.
Kitchen display gardens
What if you have a little space to display your indoor kitchen garden? The Veg Trug 8 Pocket Herb Garden is a $95 wooden cart with built-in planters for herbs and small plants like lettuce. It features a bottom shelf for storing supplies or other shade-loving houseplants. Or, you could rig this stand with your own grow light under the top tier or on both levels to enjoy faster growing plants.
Grow light kitchen gardens
If you want to grow with potting soil and really get some traction, try the Microgreens Gardening Kit. For $269, you get a seedling tray-sized grow space for wheat grass, bean sprouts or herbs, with grow light included. It’s neat and tidy, and affordable for a grow light system.
Want to level up to grow more plants indoors? Try looking for a full-spectrum dimmable LED grow light used for larger indoor plants. These lights run from $100 to $1,000 apiece.
Pro gardeners tip: this writer purchased one at a marijuana growing store for starting dahlias indoors in the winter. These high-quality lights can handle everything from herbs and lettuce all winter to starting flowers in the spring. This may or may not fit in your kitchen, but if you get hooked on hydroponics or kitchen herb gardens, let’s face it: Eventually your operation is expanding to the porch or basement. We aim to enable, or rather empower, you as best we can.
Images via Amazon
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