I’m now growing vegetables inside my apartment with all of LetPot’s indoor gardens. The latest addition to my hydroponic setup?
The LetPot LPH-SE, or the LetPot Senior.
The company’s innovative approach to affordable indoor gardens has made me a big fan, so I was excited to add their 12 pod garden to my line up!
Here’s what I think of the LetPot Senior, what I’d use it for and how it compares to the company’s other indoor gardens.
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About Letpot
LetPot is a Chinese manufacturer of indoor hydroponic gardens.
While tons of overseas manufacturers have flooded Amazon with cheap indoor gardens that don’t work very well, LetPot is different!
The company is a testament that quality doesn’t always have to cost a fortune.
Their hydroponic systems are affordable and very well made.
I’ve reviewed their LetPot Air and LetPot Max before here and here.
I’m continually impressed by how they manage to incorporate features that typically come with more expensive gardens at an accessible price point.
I’ve also noticed that they’re continually improving and innovating their product line up.
I have their original LetPot Max but after noticing some customer feedback, they’ve made changes and updates to the Max garden (without charging more or calling it a new version).
I’m also a big fan of their EC meter – there’s no other sensor on the market like it.
You can read my review of it here and how I use it to grow finicky plants like strawberries.
LetPot Indoor Gardens
LetPot currently has 3 indoor gardens available:
- LetPot Air: 10 pod garden
- Letpot Senior: 12 pod garden
- LetPot Max: 21 pod garden
The LetPot LPH-SE, or “Senior”, is their mid-sized indoor garden that holds up to 12 plants with a vertical height capacity of up to 2 feet.
I’d call it the Goldilocks size of countertop indoor gardens – good for growing most plants!
LetPot SE Unboxing
everything included with the Letpot LPH-SE
Features
- 12 plant capacity
- 24W LED (14 hours on, 10 hours off)
- 19.5 inch adjustable height
- 5.5 liter water tank
- wifi + phone app
What’s Included:
- baskets
- sponges
- germination domes
- sticker labels
- tags
- A and B powder nutrients
- tweezers
- water indicator
- shade covers
- support rods
Use Your Own Seeds
The LetPot Senior comes with everything you need to start growing indoors except seeds.
You’ll have to purchase those on your own.
I often get asked where I buy my seeds, so I put together my complete list of my favorite seed companies here.
Personally, I prefer to grow heirloom varieties – unique herbs and veggies that I can’t easily buy at the grocery store.
Some of my favorite indoor garden experiments have been
Read more: EVERY Vegetable Experiment I’ve Grown Indoors
some fun heirloom vegetables I’ve grown in my apartment!
If you’re new to hydroponic gardening, I recommend growing herbs or lettuce.
They’re beginner friendly, quick to grow and easy to ‘cut and come again’ – or re-grow after you harvest.
For herbs, I recommend:
- basil – try varieties like Italian cameo, sweet Thai & holy basil
- parsley – try varieties like triple curled or large leaf
- cilantro – try varieties like slow bolt, Vietnamese, Moroccan or Chinese
Herbs are one of the plants that will give you the highest ROI, or bang for your buck, if you’re primarily concerned with maximizing your ‘value’ from an indoor garden.
Read more: Is Indoor Gardening Worth the $?
I’ve always got an herb garden growing! the flavor is so much stronger than store bought
For leafy greens, I recommend:
Lettuce that I buy from the grocery store rots quickly, often has preservatives sprayed on it and can be limp and bland.
When I grow my own lettuce, I know exactly how organic they are!
Did you know USDA organic label certifications still allow for pesticides? They just have to be on an ‘approved‘ list…
Asian greens and lettuce are quick to grow – you’ll have enough for a salad in ~45 days!
As a bonus, I find that I can grow fun lettuce varieties and they taste much better!
Grocery stores typically only offer a couple lettuce varieties – those that are easy to grow and easy to transport.
But there are so many heirloom varieties that taste sweeter! They’re just difficult to transport so you won’t really find them at stores.
For more tips, I have in-depth guides to growing herbs here and growing lettuce here.
The main thing to keep in mind when growing indoors is vegetable height. Stick with small, compact vegetables.
Read more: The Best Compact Cherry Tomato Varieties
Accessories
The LetPot Senior comes with lots of additional accessories!
I love that the brand includes label stickers, tags, and pole supports in addition to the standard grow baskets, sponges and domes.
The growing deck is shaped like a long rectangle.
While this takes up slightly more counter space horizontally, it’s more functional for each plant, by allowing them adequate growing space to spread out.
Each grow port has two additional tiny side holes next to it.
In these spaces, you can add a plant tag or pole support.
This makes the LetPot Senior especially handy for growing vegetables that need a bit of support (like cucumbers, peas, beans).
Setting Up the LetPot Senior
It took me just 10 minutes to set up the LetPot Senior.
Everything comes neatly packaged and is basically already set-up, no building required.
All you have to do is place a grow basket in each hole you want to plant in, add a growing sponge and drop in your seeds.
Then cover each seed pod with a dome cap. If you plan to leave any spaces empty, you can cover the grow hole with a black cover.
Fill the tank with water (up to the ‘fill here’ line) and attach the LED light.
The LetPot Senior syncs via Wifi to the company’s mobile app. On the app, you can set the light on and off time as well as the light duration.
the LetPot SE is the perfect size for 1-2 bean plants, and the trellis supports make it easy for the plants to cling to for support!
Pros
The LetPot Senior is great value for the price.
With 12 grow spaces, you can have a complete herb garden right on your kitchen counter, with your tried-and-true aromatics and still have room to experiment with new herb varieties.
So from a space perspective, I think it’s fantastic.
I also like that the garden has a number of handy features, like an easy on/off light button and further light customization on the mobile app.
I have multiple indoor gardens, so I always like to be able to sync them all to run at the same time. In the LetPot mobile app, you can customize the exact start and stop time, as well as the light duration.
This is helpful when growing different varieties of vegetables.
The garden comes with everything you need and several helpful additional accessories.
Best of all, it’s durable and will last many years.
I’ve used mine for over 2 years now and had no trouble with the lights dimming, flickering or going out. I can’t say the same for other inexpensive indoor gardens.
Cons
My main disappointment with the LetPot Senior stems from its looks, so this is more of a personal opinion.
I like a more muted, minimalist aesthetic so matte-colored, Scandi-style indoor gardens appeal to me more than stainless steel high-tech styles.
But that’s very subjective and more of a personal aesthetic choice.
I do find that the grow bowl and grow deck on the LetPot Senior feel lightweight and slightly flimsy, compared to other indoor gardens.
The grow deck on my LetPot SE wobbles slightly and pops out of the bowl.
But perhaps having a lightweight indoor garden makes it easier to maneuver and lift, especially when the tank is full and plants are large and full grown.
I had to nitpick, I prefer the garden bowl design of the LetPot Air.
It has a more solid feel and a seamless join between the deck and reservoir. I especially like the two grip cutouts at the bottom base of the bowl that make it easy to pick up and move.
My main critique has to do with the LED light.
The light extends ~24 inches above the grow deck.
LetPot cites the light height as 30″ tall, but they measure from the bottom of the garden bowl, which is slightly misleading as the grow bowl isn’t usable vertical height for a plant.
Still, 24″ of vertical height is solid, and good enough for most herbs, but plants love to grow and can easily thrive indoors since you’re providing everything they need.
Having extra height means they can keep growing longer!
Best Things to Grow
The LetPot Senior has 12 growing spaces.
With indoor gardens, it’s crucial to grow small plant varieties and give them enough space (both horizontally and vertically) to grow.
Sometimes, this means leaving spaces empty.
For a small countertop garden, I suggest growing:
I typically always have one garden growing with herbs and another with greens.
They’re staples in my indoor greenhouse and growing them hydroponically is cleaner, faster and easier than growing them outdoors, in my opinion!
Being able to get affordable, long-lasting indoor gardens like LetPot has gone a long way in making this hobby achievable, hands-off and cost effective.
Final Thoughts
The LetPot Senior is a sleek, all-in-one indoor garden that can grow up to 12 plants inside your home, all year round.
It comes with everything you need to get started with growing your own seeds.
I’ve used mine for several years now and it continues to act as a workhorse in my indoor apartment garden.
Best of all, it’s affordably priced with lots of features that other brands would charge more for.
For the capabilities, design and price, you can’t do better!
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