Frequently Asked Questions
General
Technical
Growth
What is GROW?
What is possible in the GROW?
Creating the GROW meant not needing to compromise. With more than 10 cubic feet of growing space, students and professionals alike can grow just about anything with the GROW. Without the limitations of small plants and dwarf varieties, users can grow what they like and watch as plants reach their full potential, enjoying faster time to harvest than conventional gardening and impressive yields thanks to our fully-automated growing environment.
How many plants can I grow at once?
How does GROW work?
How much space do I need?
Where is the best place for GROW?
The GROW includes a 6-foot power cord with a 3-prong plug for a normal 110v outlet. Importantly, the GROW is on caster wheels and fits neatly through a standard 30” doorway. With the GROW chamber’s complete environmental controls, the device can go nearly anywhere in the learning space, lab, or home. The GROW maintains full functionality between 35- and 90-degrees Fahrenheit.
We at GROW recommend easy access to water for bi-weekly water changes. Additional recommendations:
About 1 foot of room to fully open the door and allow the class to engage
Do NOT from place the GROW in poorly ventilated areas or closets
Do NOT cover the top of the GROW
What’s the set-up process like?
GROW offers white-glove delivery service (FedEx Premium Delivery), which covers 90% of the 48 contiguous states. Delivery drivers will place the cabinet where you like, remove all packaging, and wood skid it ships on. The GROW is on casters, allowing easy movement if its job is to travel from class to class (to avoid a mess, be sure to empty a majority of water out of the reservoir before moving).
When a classroom or research professional is ready to begin their growing journey, the touchscreen control panel at the top of the GROW provides a step-by-step tutorial on first setup, with most users reporting that setup takes as little as 10 minutes. The device will instruct users to add water, nutrients, pick a recipe, and begin their growing experience with GROW. From the moment the machine recognizes and starts a recipe, the GROW takes over and manages everything else your plant needs.
We at GROW believe the growing experience should be equal for all classrooms, schools, and professionals which is why we provide a welcome kit that includes everything you need to get started.
How is GROW different from other growing devices?
Does GROW use a lot of energy?
The GROW uses about as much energy as a small window AC unit, drawing a peak of 500w of power, or about 7kWh per day. In most states, that’s only around $1-2 dollars a day to deeply engage students and delve deep into genetic potential of plants. GROW is designed for university-level controls and growth without a significant carbon footprint.
What is GROW’s light output?
GROW offers a powerful 300 true watts of multispectral light. At the top of the chamber, a 250w LED panel containing full-spectrum white, targeted spectrum red, and UV diodes work together to provide a full daylight appearance and output for the plants. However, we at GROW went a step further and bolstered our top-down light with state-of-the-art under canopy light panels for an additional 25w on both the left and right side. These under canopy lights contain a majority visible blue diodes near the surface of the deck intermixed with full spectrum white and near-infrared diodes.
For the professional grower or researcher:
611 umols at the deck (0” from deck)
814 umols at 8.75” (8.75” from grow deck)
1111 umols at 18” (18” from grow deck)
1981 umols at 25” (25” from grow deck)
(Grow deck to top light = 36”)
Is GROW Wi-Fi enabled? Is connection required?
Yes, GROW is Wi-Fi enabled, choosing to connect it entirely up to the individual user. The device is fully functional without a Wi-Fi or internet connection. However, features like our data dashboard, app, and community recipes are unavailable without connecting Wi-Fi and registering an account to the device.
With Wi-Fi connection, the GROW can download user-generated grow recipes, view and share photos from the on-board camera, and receive the latest over-the-air firmware and software updates.
I've never grown hydroponically before. Is it very complicated?
The GROW is not an average hydroponic garden, with a ton of steps and guess work. Instead, we at GROW created system for beginners and experts alike.
Unlike conventional gardening, hydroponically grown leafy-greens, herbs, fruits, and vegetables require no soil and grow in a fraction of the time that it would take outdoors. In conventional gardening, classrooms are limited to soil from a bag or generally need to add costly amendment to their outdoor space for it to properly grow what they need for instruction.
With GROW, growers and curious minds simply need to add water to the reservoir and the nutrients to the cutting-edge autodoser to begin their hydroponic growing journey.
However, we at GROW believe that there is always something new to be learned. So, while it is incredibly simple, we recommend making it complicated!
How do I create a grow recipe?
During setup, users can download an existing recipe – created by a fellow user or expert – via our touchscreen control panel from GROW community discussion board and database.
For advanced classes, professional growers or researchers, the GROW allows users to to create their own recipe with up to 99 unique stages of growth. Users will create a name for their recipe, determine what category of plant it might fall under, and set a quick description. From there users, can set development stage names, the length of time for the stages, the total amount of nutrients in the reservoir, the ratios of the nutrients, pH, number of day light hours, and even the daytime temperature. (Nighttime temperature variation can be manually set in the Advanced Settings menu after the grow cycle has begun.) After setting the recipe, save and start growing!
Do I have to use starter plants?
Can I use different nutrient solutions?
The GROW’s lab-grade sensors are calibrated for the General Hydroponics Flora Series nutrient solutions that come as part of the GROW welcome kit. We STRONGLY RECOMMEND using only these solutions.
Additionally, we do NOT recommend adding any additional solutions to the nutrient reservoir. Professional growers and advanced classes can contact us at GROW for best management practices and recommendations if wanting to try different solutions in the GROW.
How will I know when my plant needs something?
Nearly everything your plant needs is automatically controlled and managed without having to do a thing. However, the GROW’s touchscreen control panel, dashboard, and app provide classes, professional growers, and researchers real-time information about the status of the growing conditions.
When it is time for a stage change, the GROW will prompt users on the touchscreen to advance to the next stage with or without a water change. Water changes are recommended at least every 14 days, although the water change can be treated as a variable of study if interested!
On a day-to-day basis, GROW recommends monitoring the water level and topping off the nutrient reservoir with freshwater at the end of each day for the best classroom experience!