Post by outlaw on Jan 24, 2019 15:52:34 GMT -5
Hey folks, thought I would toss in a quick review of Growmanji
Background: I'm a long-time hobbyist who started his own hot sauce label late last year as a side project, and it just continues to expand as people seem to love the products. Up until now, I've grown all the peppers I use in pots and hydro systems, because Alabama winters will wipe out anything in the ground. I own or have used most models of aerogarden, excluding the farm models, a few general hydroponics waterfarms, several aeroponics cloning systems (for strains of peppers I have hybridized that I really like), and a variety of cheap hydroponic systems, both circulating and non-circulating, from the hydrofarm saladbox to 5gal "bubbleboys" you can buy on ebay, all the way to DIY stuff such as the traditional rubbermaid containers and home depot / lowes buckets with netcup-sized holes drilled in the proper places.
Long story short, this aint my first rodeo, but I'm not (quite) a commercial grower.
I got the Growmanji back before the more recent price spike, so it was around $40.
For that, what came in the box was a reservoir (significantly smaller than a 5gal, but sufficient for small-to-mid tomatoes or peppers, which is what i planned to use it for), a pump with connection, a solar panel (It looks cheap and the glue-gun connections are pretty suspect, but it works, and it survived some truly nasty weather outside. I was impressed), air tubing, net-cup lid, ample hydroton, rockwool cubes, several secondary airstones and connections, a variety of nutrients, PH paper, seeds, a "germinating" dish / humidity dome, which was really nothing more than restaurant-grade plastic container and see-through lid, the sort you would put takeout food in, instructions, a metal brace to hold up the solar panel, a hot-orange branded coozie to slip over the reservoir (for branding purposes, I guess?), braces to keep the reservoir expanded, andsome other minor things.
Thoughts:
QUALITY (how well will the product hold up?): C+
The reservoir is cheap plastic, not sure if it leeches anything into the root systems. Either way, it's not for super long-term growing of any specific plant, so that shouldn't matter too much. The solar panel looks like it will break any minute, but they get points for it turning out to be surprisingly durable (it has been through crazy alabama storms and it still works). The germination tray and a lot of the packaging for the extras is cheap as it gets, but they didn't advertise ANY of this stuff in the product description when I purchased it, so as far as I am concerned, it's all just added freebies, and I can't dock points for that.
EFFECTIVENESS (Does it do the job well?): A
If you can get past the quirky looks, it's actually a very well made little kit. The tubing and the power system is designed so that the pump can be powered EITHER by solar panel OR by electric option (included). This is a fabulous little fail-safe for when you want to start something inside, then take it out in the weather once it is established. I found the pump to be simple, but well-made and fairly weather resistant (at least, it survived a ton of rains, and I honestly should have had it under cover). Use the product as instructed, and it will be a great little DWC that you can really be adventurous with, because you won't worry about it breaking and losing a significantly investment.
VALUE: A
I'd probably rate this an A+ if the reservoir were larger (say, 5 gallons). As it stands, it's the single most complete kit I've seen in its price range, though it's unique look may throw some people off, and the cheap appearance of some of its components may not gel well with the rest of your setup.
I've got this model in storage right now, as (though it could be used inside, if you added a grow lamp) I prefer to use it outdoors and there's not much use for hydroponic pepper growing when its below freezing outside, but I'll throw in some picks in an update in a few weeks when it finishes warming up and I can start greening things up again.
Background: I'm a long-time hobbyist who started his own hot sauce label late last year as a side project, and it just continues to expand as people seem to love the products. Up until now, I've grown all the peppers I use in pots and hydro systems, because Alabama winters will wipe out anything in the ground. I own or have used most models of aerogarden, excluding the farm models, a few general hydroponics waterfarms, several aeroponics cloning systems (for strains of peppers I have hybridized that I really like), and a variety of cheap hydroponic systems, both circulating and non-circulating, from the hydrofarm saladbox to 5gal "bubbleboys" you can buy on ebay, all the way to DIY stuff such as the traditional rubbermaid containers and home depot / lowes buckets with netcup-sized holes drilled in the proper places.
Long story short, this aint my first rodeo, but I'm not (quite) a commercial grower.
I got the Growmanji back before the more recent price spike, so it was around $40.
For that, what came in the box was a reservoir (significantly smaller than a 5gal, but sufficient for small-to-mid tomatoes or peppers, which is what i planned to use it for), a pump with connection, a solar panel (It looks cheap and the glue-gun connections are pretty suspect, but it works, and it survived some truly nasty weather outside. I was impressed), air tubing, net-cup lid, ample hydroton, rockwool cubes, several secondary airstones and connections, a variety of nutrients, PH paper, seeds, a "germinating" dish / humidity dome, which was really nothing more than restaurant-grade plastic container and see-through lid, the sort you would put takeout food in, instructions, a metal brace to hold up the solar panel, a hot-orange branded coozie to slip over the reservoir (for branding purposes, I guess?), braces to keep the reservoir expanded, andsome other minor things.
Thoughts:
QUALITY (how well will the product hold up?): C+
The reservoir is cheap plastic, not sure if it leeches anything into the root systems. Either way, it's not for super long-term growing of any specific plant, so that shouldn't matter too much. The solar panel looks like it will break any minute, but they get points for it turning out to be surprisingly durable (it has been through crazy alabama storms and it still works). The germination tray and a lot of the packaging for the extras is cheap as it gets, but they didn't advertise ANY of this stuff in the product description when I purchased it, so as far as I am concerned, it's all just added freebies, and I can't dock points for that.
EFFECTIVENESS (Does it do the job well?): A
If you can get past the quirky looks, it's actually a very well made little kit. The tubing and the power system is designed so that the pump can be powered EITHER by solar panel OR by electric option (included). This is a fabulous little fail-safe for when you want to start something inside, then take it out in the weather once it is established. I found the pump to be simple, but well-made and fairly weather resistant (at least, it survived a ton of rains, and I honestly should have had it under cover). Use the product as instructed, and it will be a great little DWC that you can really be adventurous with, because you won't worry about it breaking and losing a significantly investment.
VALUE: A
I'd probably rate this an A+ if the reservoir were larger (say, 5 gallons). As it stands, it's the single most complete kit I've seen in its price range, though it's unique look may throw some people off, and the cheap appearance of some of its components may not gel well with the rest of your setup.
I've got this model in storage right now, as (though it could be used inside, if you added a grow lamp) I prefer to use it outdoors and there's not much use for hydroponic pepper growing when its below freezing outside, but I'll throw in some picks in an update in a few weeks when it finishes warming up and I can start greening things up again.
