Progress in the Gardyn: A Journey into Smart Gardening
Progress in the Gardyn: A Journey into Smart Gardening
How Managing a Smart Garden Reminds Me of Managing Macs
Managing Apple devices and automation is my day job—configuring fleets of Macs, ensuring security, and streamlining workflows. But when I step away from the screen, my focus shifts to something entirely different: plants.
A few months ago, I stepped into the world of indoor hydroponic gardening and purchased a hydroponic smart garden tower: the Gardyn Home, a larger unit designed for growing 30 plants at a time. Since then, I’ve also added the Gardyn Studio, a smaller tower designed to hold 16 plants at a time. According to Gardyn’s website, the Home should produce 10lbs of produce per month, while the Studio should produce around 5lbs of produce per month. What drew me in was the promise of fresh, organic food, a step toward sustainability, and, frankly, the sheer tech appeal of an AI-assisted gardening system.
I’ve purchased the Home in order to grow food, while the Studio’s primary purpose is to grow fun, beautiful flowering plants for the family to enjoy.
I thought it would be mostly hands-off. It turns out that, much like managing IT infrastructure, running a smart garden requires discipline, a bit of creativity, and a willingness to troubleshoot when things don’t go as expected.
Why I Chose Gardyn
The decision to invest in Gardyn wasn’t just about having a cool gadget in my home, although I sure do like cool gadgets. With a family of five, including three growing kids, fresh produce is a big part of our diet. But with grocery prices constantly shifting, I wanted a reliable way to grow our own food indoors—without the time commitment of a full-scale outdoor garden or greenhouse.
It wasn’t just about cost savings. Another major factor was food safety. In 2024, the United States saw a stark rise in food recalls, particularly for fresh produce, due to contamination concerns. I remember far too often watching the news, or reading on social media that a particular brand or batch of product were voluntarily recalled. The stress of having to check for whether or not I and my family consumed that brand or the particular batch of produce was nerve-wracking when your primary job as a parent is the safety and wellbeing of your children. With so many recalls on leafy greens, herbs, and other fresh foods, it made me think: How often does this happen without us even knowing? That’s when I knew: I needed a way to take control over what my family eats.
Living with Gardyn: A High-Tech, Low-Maintenance Farm?
The initial setup was smooth—plug it in, connect to Wi-Fi, plant the pods, and let Kelby, the AI assistant, handle the rest. Kelby sends reminders when it’s time to add water and nutrients or check on plant health. The built-in cameras and Raspberry Pi-powered system monitor growth, giving the impression that the garden is nearly self-sufficient.
In reality, I quickly learned that having an AI assistant doesn’t mean you can ignore the garden completely. Plants grow at different rates, and Kelby doesn’t account for the mix of mature and immature plants in the system in a way that has been apparent to me. This means that watering schedules aren’t always optimized, and sometimes, I have to manually adjust things to ensure each plant gets what it needs.
Still, even with these quirks, Gardyn has already started proving its worth. I’ve cut down on grocery store trips for salad greens and herbs, and every time I harvest fresh basil for dinner, I feel like a tech-savvy homesteader that I so often see online, and my kids have developed a new appreciation for where their food comes from. In fact, picking a ripe strawberry shortly after it has finished turning red has become a family event. My youngest checks for a ripe strawberry daily, typically after school, hoping one is ready. Then, as typical children, the kids negotiate and debate over whose turn it is for the strawberry of the day. It’s not enough to replace store-bought fruit, but it’s enough to spark their curiosity and appreciation for growing food.
My Thoughts on Kelby AI
One of Gardyn’s selling points is Kelby, an AI-powered assistant designed to take the guesswork out of gardening. While I appreciate the gentle reminders—”Time to add water!” or “Check your plants!”—I can’t help but feel that Kelby is more of a digital sticky note than a true AI-driven system.
One of my biggest frustrations is that Kelby doesn’t recognize when plants are at different stages of maturity. Or if it does, it’s unclear to me as the end-user. If I replace a plant, the system fails to adapt to the new conditions dynamically. Instead, it continues based on my original “SOW Date.” For a tech-forward product, it feels like a missed opportunity.
Kelby feels like a well-meaning intern who remembers to send reminders but doesn’t quite grasp the big picture. It doesn’t seem to recognize when plants are at different stages of maturity—or if it does, it’s like a Mac running an outdated MDM profile, blindly following old instructions instead of adapting to new conditions.
I’ve taken a different approach to avoid paying for multiple Kelby subscriptions across my two Gardyns: manual plant tracking via spreadsheets. Instead of relying on Kelby to tell me what to do on the smaller Gardyn Studio, I log plant growth myself and adjust accordingly, as well as copy any task required of me for the larger Gardyn Home. I do keep a pre-paid Kelby subscription on the larger Gardyn Home system as I paid for it when I purchased the device.
Challenges & What I’d Improve
No system is perfect, and while I haven’t faced any technical failures at this point in my journey, there are a few challenges that I hope future versions of Gardyn will address.
1. Spacing & Overcrowding
As plants mature, the towers become crowded, making it harder to clean and manage. A slightly larger design or better spacing options would make a big difference.
2. More Advanced AI & Sensor Data
If Kelby had better customization options and real-time adjustments, it would feel like an authentic AI-driven experience rather than just a notification tool.
Additionally, having built-in pH and water quality sensors would make plant care even easier. Imagine if the system could detect and adjust for hard water, soft water, or nutrient imbalances automatically. Instead, proper pH is tracked manually.
Despite these quirks, the process of maintaining a smart garden has felt surprisingly familiar—like managing a fleet of Macs, just with fewer software updates and more basil.
Managing a Smart Garden vs. Managing Macs
At first glance, hydroponic gardening and IT management seem worlds apart. But as I’ve spent more time maintaining my Gardyn towers, I’ve realized the similarities are uncanny.
- Daily monitoring and discipline matter. Just like a well-run IT system, a smart garden requires consistent, minor maintenance tasks to keep everything running smoothly.
- Scalability is key. Whether you’re managing 10 Macs or 10,000, best practices stay the same. Likewise, my approach wouldn’t change much if I were managing 10 hydroponic systems.
- Creative problem-solving keeps things fun. Just like I automate workflows in IT, I’ve found ways to streamline my gardening tasks, even getting my kids involved in simple maintenance.
Final Thoughts
Gardyn has been a rewarding addition to our home. It provides fresh food, saves money, and teaches my family the value of growing what we eat. In an era of rising food recalls, having control over my own produce feels more important than ever.
And who knows—maybe one day, Gardyn will roll out the kind of automation and intelligence I expect from my IT systems. If I could push a configuration profile to my Gardyn, I’d automate watering schedules based on plant maturity, set real-time pH monitoring alerts, and maybe even deploy a self-healing script to reset the system or Kelby when things get weird. Sadly, Kelby isn’t quite there yet. Until then, I’ll keep growing, learning, and—just like in IT—finding creative ways to make technology work for me. Who knows? Maybe one day, I’ll find myself managing a full-scale hydroponic homestead—with MDM-style automation for plants. The IT admin in me can’t help but dream.
For now, I will wait and watch as the Gardyn Studio continues working hard to beautify the room with fresh flowers, picked by the wonderful Mrs. Young. Maybe one day, I won’t just be managing plants—I’ll be automating a full-fledged hydroponic homestead, complete with Kelby 2.0 and a Jamf Pro or Kandji-style dashboard for my garden. 
Get Your Own Gardyn System & Save
If you’re interested in starting your own smart garden, you can get $100 off a Gardyn Home or $50 off a Gardyn Studio by using my referral link: Gardyn Referral Link.
Note and Disclaimer: If you use this link, I do receive a referral bonus—but hey, it helps support my journey of tech-enhanced gardening! 😊