I believe AeroGrow started the business with the 7-pod Classic Aero Garden
and still sells it. It has the ducted grow-surface with water pump that
requires an electrical connection. The seed pods are short because they are
bathed in nutrient-rich water pumped to them by the pump underneath the
grow-panel, so they don't have to be in contact with the water. It also has
two compact fluorescent grow lights, each with 6 bars clustered in a circle.
The electronics that controls the timing of the lamp and water pump is in
the base with programming allowing you to select the lamp timing to match
the needs of the plants.

Then they came out with the 6-pod - - probably they changed the pod number
as a way to tell them apart just by looking. But the 6-pod is quite a bit
different. The grow panel is now just a plate with holes in it - - no pump
and no ducts - - very simple and easy to make - - should be cheaper - -
yeah, right. The seed pods are longer so they can dip into the nutrient-rich
water, and there's an air bubbler in the center that produces some agitation
of the solution in addition to assuring 100% humidity in the air under the
grow surface. But the two grow lights are different and probably are more
efficient at providing light because all 6 tubes of each are flattened out
into a plane array instead of clustered together. The electronics appears to
only control the light, allowing the air pump in the base to run
continuously as long as the unit is plugged in.

So what does all this mean? The older 7-pod design has a few problems with
the pumping of the water to each seed pod. When the seed pods are started,
before any roots reach down to the water, they produce the sound of dripping
water. It can be minimized by keeping the water at the top level, which is
easy when the plants are just starting, but the sound of dripping water
doesn't go away until the roots reach the water - - in a couple weeks or
more. The pump eventually has to contend with root debris in the water, so
there's a filter in front of the water inlet to the pump. As long as the
filter is in place and not clogged, it should be fine. But over the growing
cycle the pump has a lot of work to do, so it can be a weak element in the
design. In addition, the ducts in the grow-panel are almost impossible to
clean, and so might clog or transfer plant problems if water pumped into
them isn't debris free - - a risk if the unit is bought used. Sanitization
with bleach should help with plant disease, but not clogging.

AeroGrow then came out with different products that they felt they could
sell for more money. They were all in the 7-pod family. Some had separate
programming of light and nutrient pumping that was supposed to be optimized
for the various plant families. They improved the light hood with three
plane-array lamps f or greater light output, and offered a longer support
post for growing taller plants. Unfortunately, the 6-pod design did not
support the improvements and so became a dead end so to speak.

For trouble free operation, I tend to prefer the 6-pod - - it is simple and
straightforward. If feel you might later want a fancier and taller plant
growing experience, the 7-pod allows improvements.

Oh yes, there is a 6-pod unit that has the simple grow panel and also the
three plane-array lamps and tall support, called the "Aero Garden Elite 6+",
but the "Deluxe Upgrade" that equips the 7-pod with brighter lamps and
taller support will not fit on an "Elite 6" base. The "Elite 6 plus" is a
totally separate and unique product with no upgrade path from an "Elite6".

Correction - - I just found out the "Deluxe Upgrade Kit" will fit on the
6-pod base - - of course the grow-plate electrical contacts are not used
because they are not needed. However the "Elite 6 +" can be made from an
"Elite 6" in contrast to what I said in the 4th and 6th paragraphs. If I had
known this I would not have had to buy an old 7-pod garden to get the
brighter lights and taller post. It must be a well kept secret at AeroGrow.

"Chuck Olson" wrote in message
...
I believe AeroGrow started the business with the 7-pod Classic Aero Garden
and still sells it. It has the ducted grow-surface with water pump that
requires an electrical connection. The seed pods are short because they are
bathed in nutrient-rich water pumped to them by the pump underneath the
grow-panel, so they don't have to be in contact with the water. It also has
two compact fluorescent grow lights, each with 6 bars clustered in a
circle. The electronics that controls the timing of the lamp and water pump
is in the base with programming allowing you to select the lamp timing to
match the needs of the plants.

Then they came out with the 6-pod - - probably they changed the pod number
as a way to tell them apart just by looking. But the 6-pod is quite a bit
different. The grow panel is now just a plate with holes in it - - no pump
and no ducts - - very simple and easy to make - - should be cheaper - -
yeah, right. The seed pods are longer so they can dip into the
nutrient-rich water, and there's an air bubbler in the center that
produces some agitation of the solution in addition to assuring 100%
humidity in the air under the grow surface. But the two grow lights are
different and probably are more efficient at providing light because all 6
tubes of each are flattened out into a plane array instead of clustered
together. The electronics appears to only control the light, allowing the
air pump in the base to run continuously as long as the unit is plugged
in.

So what does all this mean? The older 7-pod design has a few problems with
the pumping of the water to each seed pod. When the seed pods are started,
before any roots reach down to the water, they produce the sound of
dripping water. It can be minimized by keeping the water at the top level,
which is easy when the plants are just starting, but the sound of dripping
water doesn't go away until the roots reach the water - - in a couple
weeks or more. The pump eventually has to contend with root debris in the
water, so there's a filter in front of the water inlet to the pump. As
long as the filter is in place and not clogged, it should be fine. But
over the growing cycle the pump has a lot of work to do, so it can be a
weak element in the design. In addition, the ducts in the grow-panel are
almost impossible to clean, and so might clog or transfer plant problems
if water pumped into them isn't debris free - - a risk if the unit is
bought used. Sanitization with bleach should help with plant disease, but
not clogging.

AeroGrow then came out with different products that they felt they could
sell for more money. They were all in the 7-pod family. Some had separate
programming of light and nutrient pumping that was supposed to be
optimized for the various plant families. They improved the light hood
with three plane-array lamps f or greater light output, and offered a
longer support post for growing taller plants. Unfortunately, the 6-pod
design did not support the improvements and so became a dead end so to
speak.

For trouble free operation, I tend to prefer the 6-pod - - it is simple
and straightforward. If feel you might later want a fancier and taller
plant growing experience, the 7-pod allows improvements.

Oh yes, there is a 6-pod unit that has the simple grow panel and also the
three plane-array lamps and tall support, called the "Aero Garden Elite
6+", but the "Deluxe Upgrade" that equips the 7-pod with brighter lamps
and taller support will not fit on an "Elite 6" base. The "Elite 6 plus"
is a totally separate and unique product with no upgrade path from an
"Elite6".