Wireless Robot Lawn Mover: Ecovacs GOAT A3500 Review

In this post, I’m going to spend two weeks with the ECOVACS GOAT A2500. I’ll take you through what it’s like to set up, and how you mark out your lawn if you don’t use boundary wire. I’ll take a look at the different settings and options for this robot lawnmower and show you exactly how it works. I’ll wrap things up with both the pros and the cons and let you know if I think this device might be right for you.

I would like to say thank you to ECOVACS for becoming an ongoing sponsor of the channel this year. While the company is paying for my time, it has not told me what I have to say and what I can’t say, and I got to test the lawnmower out as I wanted to. So you can consider these thoughts on my own.

ECOVACS has truly made a name for itself in the crowded market of robot vacuum mops. I gave the last four ECOVACS products perfect review scores as they have enough quality features and capabilities that outweigh their premium price tags and large base stations. Clearly ECOVACS has the technology and full understanding when it comes to cleaning all kinds of indoor rooms.

But can ECOVACS score some outdoor victories too? Back in September 2023, ECOVACS launched the company’s first fully-automated robot lawn mower strangely called the GOAT. This was a bold move by ECOVACS because the robot lawn mower market is crowded with some other brands you might not be familiar with if you never purchased a lawn mower before. To give some examples, I reviewed the Husqvarna Automower 415X more than a year ago and checked out the RoboUP lawn mower at CES 2024. But this 2025, mainstream brands like Eufy are creeping into the lawn mower market and ECOVACS looks set to expand the GOAT to more countries. I finally had my chance to try the GOAT and put it through its paces.

Watch the FULL Video Review of Ecovacs Goat A2500

Unboxing: Ecovacs GOAT A2500

I received the A2500 model, designed to cut up to 5/8 acre, 27,000 square feet, or 2,500 Square meters. In other words… A really big lawn.
The first piece is out of the box are both menacing and mysterious. A spiky triad, and 2 metal posts.
Next stop is the top piece of the base station. Then it’s time to meet our GOAT… the robot is quite large and you might want a hand to get it out of the box.

Underneath the robot is a box of components, cables and connections which will dig into in a moment. Finally at the very bottom is the base tray for the robot.
With everything laid out here some of the components might look mysterious, but in essence what you have is 3 sets of components: the robot, base station, and the cylinder, poles and spikes make up what’s called an RTK Reference Station.

RTK reference station

I’ll pause here for just a second because these components are still unique and new enough to us average consumers that a crash course will be handy.

RTK stands for Real-Time Kinematic , and an RTK reference station is basically a GPS receiver that transmits real-time data about the location of your robot.

This allows the robot to know precisely where it is so it can cut your lawn in very straight even rows, unlike many other robot lawnmowers which are stuck doing random bumps and loops inside a wired boundary.

Assembly and set up

If you haven’t already done so, download and log into or sign up for the ECOVACS app. The app is going to walk you through the rest of the set up process, and it will help you place your components.

You have two things to take into account when you’re doing your set up: first is the location of the base station, and the second is the position of the RTK station post.

For the RTK station, connect the two poles to the metal stakes. To place it, you need an open area at least 6 feet away from buildings and not under trees or overhangs; it needs a clear view of the sky. But you need to take that location into account when you’re placing the base Station to some extent because they are wired together.

Fortunately the app will test the signal and let you know if it’s clear, or you need to move it. Lastly, connect the cable from the RTK Station to the base.

The two parts of the base station simply click together. It probably goes without saying but you will need to keep the base station within reach of a plug. You’ve got about 10 meters/33 feet of cord here which helps.

With the base station, it also needs to be a clear and accessible area where the robot can come and go. You need approximately 6 1/2 feet on either side and along the back of the base.

I was able to place mine on a sandy area adjacent to the grass, but you could certainly place this somewhere right on your lawn as well.
With both the RTK station and the base in place you can use the included pegs or screws to secure the base plate to the ground.

Mapping

The last step before you can have a freshly trimmed lawn is to map your yard.

There are two ways to go about this and which one you choose will depend on your yard. If you have a fairly flat yard without a lot of obstacles, narrow areas or drop offs, you can use what’s called automatic mapping.

The other option is manual mapping and I chose this option because we do have an area of the lawn that does have about a 3 to 4 inch drop where some edging was removed.

The great thing about manual mapping though is that it’s easy and can be done in a couple of minutes.

What you’ll do is enable the mapping function and the app will give you a joystick. You’ll use the joystick to drive your robot along the edges of the yard, while you follow behind, maintaining a local Bluetooth connection for this task. This is fairly easy to do if a bit unfamiliar. You’ll also tell the app when you are leaving the base station and when you arrive so it always knows how to get your goat home. Because my lawn is largely rectangular this was quite easy to do. This might be a little fiddlier with more organically shaped lawns.

How well does Ecovacs Goat cut grass?

When you’re ready to have your lawn cut, you have a few different options. You can simply tap the app and send the robot out anytime you want. You can also schedule daily or weekly cuttings.

I am a huge fan of having ECOVACS GOAT A2500 cut the lawn overnight, every other day. Because the lawnmower runs completely silently it’s not going to disturb me or any of my neighbors. Take a listen… The goat is actually a ninja. You could take a nap right next to this thing and never hear a peep.

The bot moves pretty quickly as well. Officially, the mowing Speed is 2.3 feet or 0.7 M per second, or 400㎡/h* or 4,300 Square feet per hour. That translates to it being able to cut my entire lawn in about

If I flip the robot over you can see a little better how it works. On this model, two spinning blade arrays with three blades each mulch down the lawn. Which brings me to another great feature of a robot like this, and that’s that you never have to rake up grass clippings. Because the robot is only clipping small amounts from the lawn, these are easily absorbed and composted back into your lawn. So that probably goes without saying that you won’t be able to use it to cut extremely tall grass.

Another really great feature I want to call out here is that it will cut your lawn in perfect rows. Older lawn robots without cameras and recognition technology are forced to simply bump their way around your yard in a random pattern, and only constant outings keep the whole lawn clipped.

But with ECOVACS GOAT A2500, the robot can position itself exactly on the map and cut out perfect rows every time. In fact it will even reverse the row direction every other week to keep from developing ruts

Cutting height & Slope

When it comes to the specifics, the goat can cut grass from 1.2-3.6 inches tall, and it’s adjustable to your preference.
And if you have a hilly lawn, this is the ideal bought for you. With its big chunky back tires with plenty of grip, it can easily manage up to a 50% grade or 27 degree slope.

Edge mowing

The GOAT is also able to get right up to edges. To some extent this will rely on you mapping your lawn carefully at the outset, but it’s also assisted by a 3D camera with AI recognition, that can help it see where it’s going. You can also enable something called cross boundary mowing where the robot will straddle the map boundary to further get the edges of the lawn trim

Obstacle avoidance

The recognition tech also makes it pretty remarkable at avoiding obstacles. The camera can help it spot things like a wayward hose, dog toy, or other obstacle, as you can see in my full video review.

It will also divert if it detects a person or a pet in its path, and while it nudged the end of my shoe, it turned right around and moved away.

No-go zones

I noted earlier I have a small drop off on my lawn. It did trip up the robot a handful of times. I decided to set a no go zone for this edge simply to keep it out of trouble.

To do this you’ll essentially use the joystick and walk the robot over to the area you want to block off. Roll the robot around that area, and then save it. It’s easy, and extremely helpful to keep the GOAT from getting stuck.

Zones

Depending on the complexity of your yard, you can divide your space up into different zones that can be cut at different times.

IPX6 Waterproof

Sadly one of the things most robot lawn mowers can’t identify is dog poop. That means you might occasionally need to hose off your robot. GOAT A2500 is IPX6 waterproof, meaning you can rinse it with water from the hose, but it wouldn’t be recommended to use a high pressure garden nozzle.

Security

There are a couple of features that work together to ensure your mower stays on your property and if it is potentially stolen, that you could find it.

First off, you can set a PIN code to make any changes on the device or to start it from the mower’s keypad.

If someone does lift up the mower to potentially carry it off, the GOAT A2500 is going to sound the alarm… and same thing if the mower is brought outside of your virtual boundary; alarms will go off.

The alarm isn’t overly loud, but it is enough to draw attention and perhaps make a thief think twice. Plus, once it sounds it takes a few minutes to shut it off, a further deterrent.

Finally, location tracking will always show the mower’s current location.

Can GOAT cut multiple unconnected areas?

You might be wondering if goat can cut multiple lawn areas. The answer is it depends on how they are separated. If there is no physical barrier, and something like a pathway connecting those two areas, the mower can map the entire space as one and then you can later divide into what are called zones. Then you can schedule cutting when you want on each of the zones.

If there is no way to get between those areas, so for example if you have a fenced front and backyard and might want to carry GOAT over to the other area, sadly, you can’t, because it does not currently support storing two separate maps.

But I will say… Many of Ecovacs robot vacuums now have the ability to store multiple maps, so perhaps this is a technology that could be added via a firmware update later.

Charging

The great thing about this robot is that it has a strong battery life and takes only about 45 minutes to recharge.
Because it will always return to its base station where it’s going to get a full charge, it should be ready to cut your lawn at a moment’s notice.

Overall Thoughts: ECOVACS GOAT A2500 RTK

Overall, I can’t believe what a huge leap forward ECOVACS GOAT A2500 is for robot lawnmowers. It essentially makes this technology extremely easy to deploy in almost any yard, because it removes one of the biggest barriers, which is the need to dig and bury boundary wire.

That alone is reason enough for me to want this machine, but let’s go over the pros and the cons so you can see if it might work for you.

On the pro side, this robot lawnmower could not be easier to set up and get working in your yard. The super easy walk behind mapping takes just minutes. The robot does an outstanding job at cutting the lawn, for a few reasons.
It’s powerful with very Efficient Mowing that cuts your lawn in neat rows, and it’s spinning dual blade discs underneath do a fast job.
It operates completely silently, meaning you can cut the lawn overnight when it’s not being used. It also has adjustable cutting height, and cuts your lawn in nice tidy rows.

It’s waterproof and washable in case it gets into some dirt. Plus with AI Vision and 3D LIDAR navigation, it can avoid obstacles on its own, cut right up to the edges of your lawn, and it has the ability to cut over 5/8 of an acre, so it can handle even some of the largest lawns. This is a truly remarkable robot lawnmower that is about to make older robot lawnmower technology obsolete.

But what are the potential downsides? I suppose for some people it could be finding a suitable location where the base station can access the lawn, while the RTK station can view the sky for connected GPS navigation.

The other potential downside could be the price, but I will take note the price of this product category has been coming down every year.

Ecovacs GOAT A2500 sells for about $1999 USD and is available from ECOVACS’ website and from Amazon.

In short, I can’t believe what an amazing robot lawnmower this is and it’s been an absolute dream for cutting my lawn. I can definitely recommend it for you.
You can also check out a couple other products I’ve reviewed that make me a huge fan of ECOVACS brand— and why I’m so grateful for them as an ongoing sponsor of my channel. The company makes truly great products that you can check out here on the blog.

The post Wireless Robot Lawn Mover: Ecovacs GOAT A2500 Review appeared first on TechGadgetsCanada.com.

With all of the intense heat many of us now experience during summer, it’s too easy to let the lawn or the plants die off. But for serious gardeners and those who take a lot of pride in their yards, that’s not an option. How can you keep your lawn healthy and green without over-watering or risking a die off while you’re on vacation? The premise of the Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller and Wireless Soil Sensors is that it’s the ultimate modern solution to simplify and optimize your outdoor watering routines. This intelligent watering automation system takes convenience to a whole new level, letting you you to manage everything right from your smartphone.

Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller and Wireless Soil Sensors hands-on review

In this hands-on review I will install the system myself so I’ll talk about what that’s like. I’ll also get things configured with the Moen app and then talk about what the entire water management experiences like using these smart controllers. I’ll wrap things up with the pros and the cons overall and let you know if I think I can recommend this kit for you. A quick note that while Moen provided this sample kit to me at no charge, it did not make any requests about the content of my review so these thoughts are 100% my own.

If you’re looking for  Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller review and Wireless Soil Sensors or wondering is a smart sprinkler controller worth it, let’s get to it.

Who can use Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller?

A very important note before we get too far; the Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller is for built-in or inground sprinkler systems, and is not compatible with any type of set up involving your hose. You should already have an existing sprinkler controller, or your landscaper or contractor will have roughed in the wiring for your system. The Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller is available in eight or 16 zone configurations, which basically means you will have either eight or 16 sets of wires that match up to the number of sprinklers zones across your property. If you are working with any other type of system you’ll likely need a different product.

What is Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller?

Sprinkler Controller with over in place.

There are a variety of different smart watering devices and controllers on the market. You can find ones like the Eve Aqua sprinkler controller I reviewed, that will attach to a simple hose bib and allow you to automate a simple sprinkler or drip hose.

Others, like Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller and smart wireless soil sensor connect to existing built-in or underground sprinkler systems to allow you remote conteol and automated access to your lawn care.

Some older sprinkler control systems such as Rainbird allow you to set simple timers to automate your lawn watering. But they often lack any ability to take care of things remotely, meaning you always need to be standing in your yard to make changes or adjustments.

That’s where the Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller promises to make major improvements, meaning this could be a really great system for those who travel a lot, folks who have a second home, or if you’re keeping an eye on things for a family member.

Installation & Set up

Installing the Moen smart sprinkler controller may seem very intimidating, but you can trust me when I say anyone can do this.

You’ll just want to make sure you’ve killed power to your system before you start fiddling with the wires. The best thing to do is take a photo of your existing sprinkler wiring and how it fits in to your current sprinkler controller. I was using a much older Rainbird system. I just transferered the wires to their new locations inside the Moen smart sprinkler controller. Once the wires have been changed over you can plug the controller in and it will power on automatically. From there head over to the Moen app where you will configure your device.

You’ll need to sign up for or sign into your Moen account and then choose Add Device. The app will walk you through getting connected to your home’s Wi-Fi net work which will allow you remote control for anywhere.

Initially I couldn’t get my device to properly connect and wasn’t quite sure why. It turns out I had the white power wire in the wrong slot. Connecting it correctly fixed the problem and I was able to continue with the configuration process.

Once you’re connected to Wi-Fi you can run what’s called Zone Configuration. The app will essentially check all the connections you’ve made and assign each one to a zone.

As you’re adding zones you can run a test so that you can see which sprinklers will be triggered by each zone, which is particularly helpful for people like me who is original system was not labelled correctly.

The system here is quite old and initially one of my zones was not detected. Moen allows you to add zones manually as well, which I did. But I’m not entirely convinced the missing zone is actually connected to anything.

Scheduling watering with Moen Smart Sprinkler controller

The most convenient feature of this controller is that you can set up automatic watering schedules. You can set them for a specific time of day or do things like run them at dawn or dusk. You can also choose which zones get water during each watering session, and adjust exactly how long each watering session will run for.
I’m happy to say managing the scheduling is extremely easy inside the app and very user-friendly. I had a short twice daily watering schedule enabled in just a couple of minutes.

Moen Smart Soil Sensors

Soil sensor.

The other great addition to this kit is grabbing a few of Moen’s smart wireless soil sensors.

You’ll need to pair these to your smart controller before you install them. The pairing process is simple but a bit quirky; you’ll take one of the sensors out and hold it over the front of the controller near where the magnets are placed that hold the cover on. Those magnets will activate the soil sensor and connect it inside your app.

The first soil sensor I tried to pair was quite finicky and didn’t seem to want to connect by tapping it the way the app instructed. In the end I was able to get it connected by touching the top edge of the soil sensor to the magnets. With another sensor I needed to take the panel off the Controller and get closer to the magnets before it would pair.

These wide arrow-shaped stakes will get sunk into the ground either in your lawn or in a garden or a pot and can detect overall moisture levels in the ground. If you’re putting them in your lawn make sure you sink them flush with the ground so they don’t get nicked by a passing lawnmower.

The soil sensors will measure moisture levels at different depths in your soil from 1 inch to 3 inches and 5 inches. They will also give you the temperature and you can get battery information in them as well. There’s no information about how these are actually powered; but Moen says each one has a six year battery life so you shouldn’t have to replace them very often.

The soil sensors can help automatically figure out whether or not your lawn needs watering. You’ll first need to use the app to tell the sprinkler controller which zone the soil centre is located in. Then, for example, if the soil sensor detects a temperature level that is too cold, the system can skip watering. Similarly if moisture levels are already extremely high, the system can be configured not to run a watering program on that particular zone. All the settings for moisture threshold can be configured to your particular location or soil types.

It’s actually quite a clever system and very user-friendly.

Turn sprinklers off when rain is detected

If you haven’t installed wireless soil sensors you can still get some measure of smarts from the controller by allowing it to use your location. When rain is in the forecast or detected through Moen’s weather stations, the app will simply skip that watering instance.

Moen claims the Smart Sprinkler Controller and smart wireless soil sensor can reduce irrigation water use by up to 30 percent for an average home – that’s could be potentially thousands of litres of water saved annually compared to traditional controllers.

Overall review: Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller and Wireless Soil Sensors

Overall I have to say I’m extremely impressed with this system. It is a massive upgrade over the old sprinkler system here and provides completely remote monitoring and control over the entire system.

The installation was absolutely easy enough for a novice to do, and it took just minutes. While I was initially pretty intimidated about doing it, it turned out flawlessly.

The scheduling feature is really easy, and you can also manually water your lawn or plants at any time also. The addition of the wireless soil sensors is another huge plus since once they are configured with your zones, they can eliminate overwatering all on their own.

The smart weather skipping feature is also handy too. In short I think this system is a must have for anyone who has a sprinkler system installed and it also costs a lot less than I thought it would. The Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller sells for about $178USD /$250CAD while the Soil Sensors sell for about $70 each.

You can pick these up from Moen’s website or Amazon .

**A quick note that while Moen provided this sample to me at no charge, it did not make any requests about the content of my review so these thoughts are 100% my own.

A note about Affiliate Links: TechGadgetsCanada & TechGadgetsInternational is supported by our readers. Occasionally I will include affiliate links in my reviews. I do this partly for convenience of the reader (since I’ll almost always include a link to the company website or similar anyway) in case you want to read more or purchase, but I also may get a small commission from the click, which helps me keep the blog running. If you choose to use this link I thank you greatly for supporting the blog. There’s no obligation or cost to you for using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The post Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller & Wireless Soil Sensors appeared first on TechGadgetsCanada.com.

Farmstand’s $700US hydroponic tower.

Food is expensive, and that’s probably why many of us have been wondering if it’s cheaper to grow our own. While that’s okay in the summer, what about the rest of the year, especially here in Canada? The solution may be to try one of those cool tower gardens you often see online. But while they look cool and automate everything, they’re stupidly expensive.  After watching a number of videos on vertical gardening, I decided it wouldn’t be that hard to build a tower garden of my own. In the end, it wasn’t hard and I was able to find everything I needed  (delivered right to my door!) on Amazon. If you’re wondering how to make a hydroponic tower at home, here’s how I did it, and how you can too.

How to build a DIY tower garden

Planning

The general principle behind hydroponic growing is that instead of having soil to provide the plant with nutrients, you add water-based nutrients and grow in water. This works fine for a horizontal setup, but when we want to grow vertically, we need to get the water to the top of the tower.

That requires a pump as well as some way to disperse the water at the top. the first thing you’ll need to consider is how tall you want your vertical garden to be. you’ll need to ensure whichever pump you buy has enough vertical lift to move the water to the top of that height.  so deciding on the height of your garden is an important first step.

Basil Plants

Next, you’ll have to consider what type of plant you’re planning on growing. This will affect the spacing in the openings that you’ll placing in the tower. Smaller plants like basil will require less spacing, while if you decide to grow lettuce or something with larger leaves, or tomatoes, you’ll need to space them further apart.  if you want to split the difference, you could put the holes closer together and then just close off a few of them  should you decide you need something with larger spacing.

How do you make a Tower Garden? Supplies

You’ll be able to find everything you need for your Tower style Garden on Amazon.  For my garden, I ended up buying a 10-ft section of 4-inch PVC pipe as well as a 10-ft section of 1 3/4 in PVC from my local hardware store and everything else from Amazon. Apart from the PVC, you’ll need a 4-inch end cap,  a 4-inch Y-trap (though this is optional an adapter to screw the 1 3/4 inch PVC to your pump), and some kind of shower head or other device to disperse the water at the top of the 1 3/4 inch PVC (your pump may have something like this included).  Apart from that, you’ll need nutrients, net cups and some kind of growing medium (like Hydroton), and possibly a water timer if you don’t want your pump running all day. You’ll also need a 5-gallon bucket or Rubbermaid bin to use as a water reservoir.

Shopping list at a glance:

• PVC pipe
• Y-trap
• Pump
• Shower head or dispenser
• Hacksaw
• Drill with Hole saw cutter
• Netcups or pool noodle cut into chunks
• Growing medium (Hydroton)
• Timer
• Bucket or tote bin

Building your own garden tower

The first step will be to cut your PVC down to the height required (keep in mind if you’re using the y-trap, that will add a bit of height to it as well.) You’ll need to ensure that your Tower is stable, so if it’s out in the middle of your yard and not up against something, you’ll also want to consider some kind of guide wire or another way to keep it from toppling over in high winds.  I cut my PVC using a small hand-held hacksaw. (There are also PVC knives and PVC saws that you can use.) I used a Y-trap (a piece of 4 inch PVC with an extra opening that allows you to access the pump without taking the whole tower apart) to provide easy access to my pump, you can decide if that’s necessary for your own setup. Fit your Y-trap and your 4-inch PVC together to get an idea of how tall you’ll need to make the interior pipe of 1 ¾ inch PVC.

I found my pump did not fit inside the main tower, so I left enough extra 1 3/4 inch PVC so that the pump could sit below the entire tower. Once you’ve measured out how tall you need for the 1 3/4 inch PVC you can go ahead and cut that. Make sure you leave a bit of headspace at the top of the 1 ¾ inch PVC so that there’s room for the water to flow without hitting the top cap.

Next, get out your favorite hole saw and drill and begin to drill holes in the 4-in PVC. Remember to leave enough spacing for whatever style of plant you want to grow, and if you’re doing more than one row, which you probably are, make sure that you stagger between the rows so that all the plants aren’t growing at exactly the same horizontal level.

Adding the pump

You’ll also want to make sure that the holes are large enough for you to insert a net cup if you’re using those but not so large that the entire net cup goes right inside. Once you’ve cut all the holes, you can clean out the inside of the pipe from the plastic debris, give it a hose down to make sure there’s nothing left inside, and go ahead and start assembling your Tower.  connect the 1 3/4 inch adapter to your pump and your 1 3/4 inch PVC. connect the fountain or shower head disperser at the top of the 1 3/4 PVC, and then add the 4-inch cap to the top.

With your tower now fully assembled, you can start thinking about assembling the tower. Measure a hole in the lid of your 5-gallon bucket or reservoir and cut that out so there’s room for the tower to go through it.

Get growing

Next, place the tower inside your Reservoir and fill it up with water and plug in your pump to give it a quick test. The water will probably start splashing out as there are no plants to stop it from doing so. When you have your net cups prepared, they will keep the water from coming out.  For my tower, I ended up using bits of pool noodle rather than net cups to block the holes.

I used pool noodle as a growing medium.

Once you’re sure everything is how you want it, you can place the entire tower and its final location and add your seedlings or plant cuttings. Depending on how large your plants are, use the proper amount of nutrients, add those to the water, and turn your pump back on. It may take a few days or even a week to start seeing some noticeable growth in the plants, but you can always pull out the net cup or pool noodle piece and look and see how your roots are doing. Again don’t forget to make sure that your Tower is stabilized against high winds; in my case, I placed it against the fence, cut holes in the sides that were still facing out, and used a bit of garden tie to secure it to the fence.

Can I make my own Tower Garden? What I learned

By building the tower this way, my cost was somewhere in the range of 100 to $140, and that gave me a tower that was just over 6 ft. I could have used the remaining PVC to build a smaller 4-ft Tower. Your biggest costs here are going to be the PVC itself and buying the pump. The nutrients can also cost a bit more off the top, but it will take you a long time to go through them. By building the tower yourself, you’ll also be able to troubleshoot and replace a piece if something stops working, rather than having to deal with shipping and returns.

My tower has been up for about 2 and 1/2 months now, and we’re already enjoying some pesto from the basil that I had planted on it, and it’s growing very well. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and will probably look at making a smaller one that I can grow flowers with for next year.

If you have any thoughts or comments, or suggestions post them in the comments since we’d love to hear from you. Good luck with building your own vertical-style garden, and let us know how it goes.

**A note about Affiliate Links: TechGadgetsCanada & TechGadgetsInternational is supported by our readers. Occasionally I will include affiliate links in my reviews. I do this partly for convenience of the reader (since I’ll almost always include a link to the company website or similar anyway) in case you want to read more or purchase, but I also may get a small commission from the click, which helps me keep the blog running. If you choose to use this link I thank you greatly for supporting the blog. There’s no obligation or cost to you for using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The post How to make a cheap tower garden with Amazon items appeared first on TechGadgetsCanada.com.

What you need to grow gigantic hydroponic tomatoes

• Rubbermaid 11-Litre bin
• Grow lights
• Rockwool cubes
• Netcups
• Hydroponic fertilizer
• Bubbler or fountain pump
• Smart Plugs

My winter setup consists of a handful of everyday items, as well as a couple more specialized growing gadgets.

To start hydroponic vegetable garden, I use a large Rubbermaid Roughneck 11 litre/3 gallon bin. That as the base container, paired with an aquarium bubbler, and a set of Barrina Grow Lights. You’ll also want to get some Rockwool grow cubes. Rockwool is a light hydroponic growing substance. It is made from spinning melted, crushed basalt rock into fine fibres which creates a thick mass of fine, intertwined threads. The density of Rockwool means it holds moisture very well, while also allowing airflow, gives the plants something to root in, and it too is available on Amazon or from most garden centres.

You’ll also want to source some netcups. Also called net cups or mesh pots, these are simple webbed or slotted containers with openings of varying sizes along all sides. Netcups allow plants to be secured properly while also making sure nutrients and water flow all the way to the root. Purchase a bubbler or fountain pump to keep the water from becoming stagnant. This also helps introduce oxygen. Hydroton pellets can also be added to the netcups (more below)  to block light from your reservoir to help stop algae from developing.

The other thing you should add to your cart is some liquid hydroponic fertilizer.

Consider also a smart plug, like this one that can be operated on a timer using a smart home system like Google Home or Amazon Alexa.

How to set up a indoor hydroponic garden in a Rubbermaid bin

Stage 1: Create sprouts

• Soak Rockwool cubes
• Plant seeds in Rockwool
• Place Rockwool in netcups
• Place wool/cups into a shallow dish filled with water
• Allow to sprout and roots to develop

First up, soak your Rockwool for 10 minutes or so. Once it absorbs lots of water you can plant your seeds. Plant seeds in the rockwool cubes and then place them in the netcups. Put the netcups in a shallow container or dish with plain water until they begin to grow roots.  Once the roots are longer than the bottom of the netcup, they get transferred to the big container.

Stage 2: Move sprouts to larger bin

My Rubbermaid bin for growing.

• Cut holes in lid of Rubbermaid bin (to size of netcups).
• Fit netcups into holes
• Fill bin with water
• Install bubbler
• Add hydroponic fertilizer

Place lights

Set up smart home timer for lights, bubbler (according to your preferred smart home system).

I cut a number of holes in the lid of the Rubbermaid container, then moved my growing plant babies into the openings in the lid; be careful not to damage the seedlings!

Place the bin where you’ll want it to stay and fill the bin with water. Add the appropriate amount of hydroponic nutrients (follow directions on the container) to the water to give the plants nutrients. Add your bubbler to the water and plug it in. Place the lid on the bin. Set up your lights by clipping them to the container or placing them over top (depending on the lights you bought).

My grow lights are set to turn on and off automatically using a smart plug and my Google Home system, and the bubbler operates on the same cycle.  Your plants should be growing strong in no time. Check every few days to ensure the water level isn’t dropping. You can add more if needed, you don’t need to add more nutrients each time.

Let them grow!

The best vegetables to  grow hydroponically is lettuce, basil, and even bell peppers during the winter. I tried out a San Marzano tomato plant two years back, but it didn’t grow very well. When the summer came around, I decided to bring the bin out to my 6x8ft greenhouse, to add more humidity. On a whim, I left the tomato plant and a couple of jalapeno plants in and exchanged the bubbler for a full-on fountain pump, which would move the water around more.

The Summer of Gigantor

My growing operation begins.

With lots of outdoor tasks and chores getting the garden ready, I kind of forgot about the hydroponic bin. When I took notice of it again, I was shocked at how much the tomato plant had grown. It was crowding out the jalapenos, and also taking over the back of the greenhouse. I staked it, moved some of the runners back out of the way of the fans, and continued to let it do its thing.

A few weeks later, I named the tomato plant ‘Gigantor’. It continued to grow both upward and sideways, eventually reaching both side walls of the greenhouse, and the ceiling too! In hot weather, I was refilling the container practically every day. Gigantor’s roots were huge, and started to fill the entire container.

When the growing season came to an end, I reluctantly cut down Gigantor, and harvested all the tomatoes. There were 141 tomatoes. Some were still green, and they were ripened in a box with a few ripened tomatoes. We ended up making a few containers of tomato basil soup and a really nice pasta sauce with our bounty.

This season, I have a few more plants in the bin, including San Marzanos, and I’m keeping on top of the growth of Gigantor II (grown from the seeds of original Gigantor!), and making sure the plants in the front have enough light, at least for a few more weeks when Gigantor II inevitably takes over.

Your Gigantor Shopping List

Growing Your Own: what to know about growing hydroponic vegetables

Netcups – They come in a variety of sizes, I tend to use 1.5 inch.

Hydroton pellets – Consider using these clay pellets that block light from reaching your water/nutrient mix (which will cause algae growth) and also helps anchor the plant.

Your bin – size it to your space, but make sure there’s room for roots to grow in. Larger plants will need more water and space.

Light – LED grow lights are pretty inexpensive, and having a system that can adjust to the plant size is great for avoiding ‘leggy plants’. If your light is too fat from the plant, it will stretch and grow towards it, making the plant less stable. Put your lights nice and close to the plant, and move them upward as the plant grows. I really liked the Barina Grow lights I found on Amazon.

Water + Air – If your local water isn’t high quality, you can use bottled water. It’s important to leave some air space at the bottom of the netcups, as the plants will grow air roots, which supply oxygen to the plant.

Nutrients – Plants need the three basic nutrients known as ‘NPK’ –  nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Most hydroponic nutrients will contain these, and show you their numbers on the container. Indoor hydroponic vegetable garden need oxygen (again, make sure you’re leaving some airspace at the bottom of your netcups,). Calcium is another big one, and you can usually find that mixed with Magnesium in hydroponic nutrients. I use this one.

The initial investment in growing hydroponic vegetables might seem high, especially if you go with larger or more expensive lights, but in general, the only thing you’ll need to replace is the Rockwool and the nutrients. Netcups are reusable, as-is Hydroton, and your bin is ready for action after an occasional cleaning between grows.

Have you grown hydroponic vegetables? What unique setup do you have, and what were the results? Let us know in the comments.

The post Grow the BIGGEST hydroponic vegetables! Here’s how and EXACTLY what you need appeared first on TechGadgetsCanada.com.