How to Set Up a Tower Garden HOME: Step-by-Step Instructions

What You'll Need to Set Up a Tower Garden HOME

Before you begin assembling your Tower Garden HOME, unpack everything and organize the components so they're easy to identify.

Growing Indoors?

If you're setting up your HOME indoors, you'll also need Tower Garden LED Grow Lights . The HOME light kit includes the light base, four LED lamps and cord conduit.

Step 1: Choose Where to Put Your Tower Garden HOME

Decide where your Tower Garden will live before filling the reservoir. Once it's full of water and plants, moving it becomes much less convenient.

Choose a location that:

• has a flat, level surface
• has access to a power outlet
• is convenient for adding water and harvesting
• has enough room around the tower for plants to grow
• won't be frequently bumped or knocked

Indoor Placement

When growing indoors, plan to use the Tower Garden LED Grow Lights for approximately 14–16 hours per day, followed by complete darkness overnight.

Outdoor Placement

If you're growing outdoors, choose a location with plenty of direct sunlight. Fruiting crops such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers generally need more light than leafy greens and herbs.

Step 2: Assemble the Tower Garden HOME Base

1. Attach the wheels to the bottom of the reservoir using a 13 mm wrench. Be careful not to overtighten them.
2. Place the reservoir where you plan to grow and use a level to make sure the base is even.
3. Place the pump near the edge of the reservoir rather than directly in the center.
4. Connect the blue tubing to the threaded fitting on the underside of the reservoir lid.
5. Tighten the tubing connection finger-tight. It should be snug without being overtightened.
6. Connect the other end of the tubing to the pump.

Step 3: Assemble the Tower Garden HOME

Now you're ready to build the vertical portion of the Tower Garden.

1. Insert the long support rods into the holes marked A on the reservoir lid.
2. Secure each rod with the washer and wingnut.

Stack the Regular Growing Sections

1. Take the next growing section and feed the support rods through the corresponding holes.
2. Gently push down on the center tube so the section seats securely.
3. Continue stacking the remaining regular growing sections, alternating the support rods through the appropriate A and B holes.

Add the Upper Support Rods

1. Remove the wingnuts from the 15-inch support rods.
2. Screw the 15-inch rods onto the support rods already installed in the tower.

Add the Baby Greens Sections

1. Feed the support rods through the holes in the first baby greens growing section.
2. Push down gently on the center tube so the section is seated securely.
3. Repeat with the second baby greens section.
4. Add the shower cap and push down in the center.
5. Secure the top with the wingnuts and install the shower cap lid.

Install the Net Pots

Gently pinch each net pot and insert it into a regular growing port. Make sure it sits securely in the opening.

Do not put net pots in the baby greens ports. Seedlings in rockwool can be placed directly into those smaller ports.

Install the Water Monitor

1. Screw the water-monitor stick into the float.
2. Feed the assembled monitor through the access port and water-monitor opening.
3. You may need to lift the reservoir lid slightly while feeding the float through.

Finally, secure the reservoir lid using the three bolts and wingnuts, then install the access-port lid.

Step 4: Fill the Tower Garden HOME with Water & Nutrients

The Tower Garden HOME reservoir holds approximately 13 gallons when filled to about 3 inches below the lid.

Choose the Right Water

• Do not use softened water. Water softeners typically add salts that aren't suitable for your plants.
• If using municipal water, we recommend filtering it to remove chlorine and chloramine.
• A GrowRite garden hose filter is an easy option for filtering water as you fill the reservoir.
• Reverse-osmosis water can also be used, although it isn't necessary for most growers.

Add Mineral Blend

New seedlings should begin with reduced-strength nutrients. Add 10 ml of Mineral Blend A and 10 ml of Mineral Blend B per gallon of water.

For a full 13-gallon HOME reservoir, that's approximately 130 ml of A and 130 ml of B.

Mix the nutrient solution thoroughly.

Check the pH

After adding nutrients, test the reservoir water. Tower Garden plants generally do best with the pH between 5.5 and 6.5.

If an adjustment is necessary, make small changes with pH+ or pH-, mix the reservoir thoroughly, and then retest before making another adjustment.

Step 5: Set the Tower Garden Pump Timer

The correct pump cycle depends on whether you have the digital or mechanical Tower Garden timer and whether you're growing indoors or outdoors.

HOME Digital Timer

The Tower Garden HOME digital timer comes pre-programmed. Plug the pump into the timer and plug the timer into the electrical outlet.

Use the mode control to select the appropriate indoor or outdoor setting. For an indoor HOME setup, the digital timer runs the pump for 3 minutes ON followed by 45 minutes OFF.

Step 6: Install the Tower Garden HOME Grow Lights

If you're growing your Tower Garden HOME indoors, install the LED grow light kit after assembling the tower.

1. Remove the shower cap lid.
2. Slide the grow-light unit into the shower cap.
3. Position the unit so the cord can run neatly down the back of the tower.
4. Bend the four light arms down toward the growing area.

1. Connect the wire terminals for each lamp.
2. Snap each lamp securely onto its light arm.
3. Repeat until all four lamps are installed.
4. Position the lamps so they're evenly spaced around the tower and facing the plants.

Install the Cord Conduit

1. Separate the two halves of the conduit.
2. Trim the conduit to approximately the height of the four regular growing sections.
3. Attach it to the tower using the supplied Velcro.
4. Feed the cord through the conduit and snap the cover into place.

Step 7: Set the Tower Garden HOME Grow Light Timer

The grow-light timer is a 24-hour mechanical timer with 15-minute intervals.

1. Rotate the dial clockwise until the arrow points to the current time.
2. Set the timer pins for the period you want the lights turned on.
3. Move the switch to the clock/timer position so the programmed schedule operates automatically.

Run the Tower Garden grow lights for approximately 14–16 hours per day. For example, you could set the lights to turn on at 7 a.m. and off at 9 p.m.

Give the plants complete darkness overnight rather than leaving the lights running continuously.

Step 8: Add Seedlings to Your Tower Garden HOME

Once the tower is assembled, filled and running, you're ready to add your seedlings.

1. Insert each seedling, still growing in its rockwool cube, into a net pot in the regular growing sections.
2. Make sure the rockwool cube touches the bottom of the net pot so it can receive the nutrient solution flowing through the tower.
3. For the baby greens ports, place the rockwool cube directly into the port without a net pot.

Plant with Mature Size in Mind

Don't arrange your Tower Garden based only on how small the seedlings look today. Think about how large each plant will become.

Larger crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers and squash are generally better positioned lower on the tower, while smaller crops such as lettuce and many herbs can be planted higher.

Lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, basil and bok choy are all good choices for learning how your Tower Garden works before adding more demanding fruiting crops.