Tower Garden FAQs

Not at all! Tower Garden is very beginner-friendly and you don't need previous gardening or hydroponic experience.

The most important thing is learning a few basics from the beginning: choosing suitable crops, giving them enough light, using the right water, mixing nutrients correctly and keeping an eye on the reservoir.

We've put everything a new grower needs in our Get Started with Tower Garden Guide .

Tower Garden is an aeroponic growing system. Instead of growing in soil, plant roots grow inside the Tower.

A pump sends nutrient-rich water from the reservoir to the top of the Tower. The water then travels down through the root zone, delivering water, minerals and oxygen before returning to the reservoir to be recirculated.

Yes, although what you grow outdoors will change with the seasons. Tower Garden can extend your growing season, but plants are still affected by heat, cold and day length.

Indoors, you can grow throughout the year when you provide suitable temperatures and proper grow lighting.

Yes. Tower Garden FLEX is very popular for outdoor growing but can also be used indoors with appropriate grow lights and enough room.

Tower Garden HOME has a smaller footprint and is particularly convenient for indoor growing.

Wherever you grow, make sure the Tower has enough light, access to electricity, a suitable water source and enough space for mature plants.

Both systems use the same basic aeroponic growing method but differ in size and planting configuration.

• Tower Garden FLEX: 20 regular growing ports and a 20-gallon reservoir.
• Tower Garden HOME: 16 regular growing ports, 16 baby green growing ports and a 13-gallon reservoir.

FLEX is an excellent choice for outdoor growing and larger crops. HOME has a smaller footprint and provides space for both full-size plants and baby greens or herbs.

A standard Tower Garden FLEX has 20 regular growing ports.

Tower Garden HOME has 16 regular growing ports and 16 baby green growing ports, giving you 32 planting locations.

That doesn't mean you have to fill every port. Large plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and melons need considerably more room than lettuce and herbs.

Yes. Tower Garden FLEX can be expanded with several extension options.

• Regular Extension: adds 8 regular growing ports.
• Baby Green Extension: adds 32 baby green growing ports.
• Combo Extension: adds 4 regular growing ports and 16 baby green growing ports.

Tower Garden FLEX has a 20-gallon reservoir approximately 30 inches across and stands about 55 inches tall in its standard configuration.

Tower Garden HOME has a 13-gallon reservoir approximately 24 inches across and stands about 58 inches tall.

Remember to allow more room than the footprint of the reservoir. Mature tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans and other large crops can extend well beyond the Tower itself.

You can grow a huge range of vegetables, herbs, greens, fruiting crops, strawberries and edible flowers.

Popular choices include lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, basil, cilantro, parsley, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, strawberries, squash, melons and many more.

Your best choices depend on your season, available light and how much space each crop will need when mature.

Absolutely, but large plants need much more space than lettuce, herbs and leafy greens.

A common beginner mistake is filling every growing port while the plants are small. Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, melons and peppers can quickly grow into one another and shade neighboring plants.

Give large crops plenty of room and use supports or cages when necessary.

Tower Garden is best suited to plants where the harvest grows above the root zone.

Traditional full-size root crops such as potatoes and large carrots generally aren't the best use of the system because the edible portion needs room to develop around the roots.

Either works. Starting seeds yourself gives you plenty of variety, while ready-to-plant seedlings save you several weeks of germinating and caring for very young plants.

Living Towers seedlings are grown in 1.5-inch rockwool cubes and arrive ready to transplant into your Tower Garden.

Think of planting your Tower like building a pyramid: smallest plants at the top, medium-sized plants through the middle, and the largest plants toward the bottom.

This helps stop large plants from shading smaller crops and gives sprawling and vining plants more room to grow.

Choose a level location with enough light for the plants you're growing, convenient access to water and access to electricity for the pump.

Also allow plenty of room around the Tower for mature plants and easy access to the reservoir.

Leafy greens, lettuce and many herbs should receive at least 5 hours of direct, unobstructed sunlight.

Fruiting plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, melons and peppers generally perform best with 8 hours or more of direct light.

Bright shade is not the same as direct sunlight.

Yes. Household lighting and a bright window generally don't provide enough light intensity for healthy long-term growth.

When growing completely indoors, use appropriate grow lights for around 14–16 hours per day and give the plants complete darkness overnight.

You can, but make sure the plants are receiving enough direct light. Screens, roofs, trees and neighboring buildings can reduce light more than you might expect.

If plants are stretching, growing slowly or failing to flower and fruit, insufficient light is one of the first things to investigate.

Water quality matters because everything your plants need is delivered through the reservoir.

Municipal water should be appropriately filtered when necessary for chlorine or chloramine. Well water can work well depending on its mineral content.

Do not use sodium-softened water. Sodium added by many household water softeners can cause problems for plants.

Because Tower Garden doesn't use soil, plants receive their essential minerals from Tower Garden Mineral Blend Part A and Part B added to the reservoir.

Both parts are required and should always be added separately to the water rather than mixing the concentrated nutrients together first.

For established plants under normal conditions, use 20 mL of Part A and 20 mL of Part B per gallon of water.

Newly planted seedlings should generally start at half strength: 10 mL of Part A and 10 mL of Part B per gallon.

Nutrient strength may need to be reduced further during very hot weather.

Tower Garden generally performs best with reservoir pH between 5.5 and 6.5.

Don't stress over tiny changes. Check the pH regularly and make reasonable adjustments when necessary rather than constantly trying to chase an exact number.

No. Tower Garden uses a timer so the pump cycles on and off.

Recommended timing can vary depending on the Tower model and growing conditions, so follow the appropriate settings for your system and environment.

Tower Garden doesn't require daily hand watering, but it isn't completely hands-off.

Check the reservoir regularly, monitor pH and nutrients, inspect plants for pests and disease, prune when necessary and keep the pump and irrigation components clean.

Mature plants can use a surprising amount of water, particularly during hot weather, so the reservoir may need checking more often as the garden grows.

Yes. You can browse Tower Garden systems, accessories, nutrients and other Tower Garden products through our website.

Products fulfilled by Tower Garden will direct you to the Tower Garden website to complete your purchase.

They are fulfilled separately.

Tower Garden systems and many Tower Garden-branded products are shipped by Tower Garden, while our seedlings, seeds and the growing supplies we stock are shipped from Living Towers in Florida.

Depending on what you're purchasing, you may need to complete two separate orders and they'll arrive in separate shipments.

Shipping on products fulfilled by Tower Garden is calculated by Tower Garden and displayed during checkout.

Products shipped directly by Living Towers follow our own shipping rates and policies.

Use the live chat on our website. Tell us where you plan to grow, what you'd like to grow and anything you're unsure about, and we'll help you decide which Tower Garden and accessories make the most sense.

Start with our Get Started with Tower Garden Guide. It walks you through the important first steps and connects you to our detailed guides for water, nutrients, lighting, seeds, seedlings and ongoing care.