REVIEW – One of the hassles of growing plants indoors is dealing with soil. Hydroponics not only removes that hassle but provides many benefits over using soil. The Hey abby Grow Box takes hydroponics to the next level by adding intelligent automation to the growing process. I decided to check out his climate-controlled grow box and see just how automated it was.
The Hey abby Grow Box is an automated climate-controlled grow box featuring hydroponic technology. With abby, you can easily grow a wide variety of plants and vegetables, bringing a garden into any room of the house. Weed Block Fabric
Dimensions: Width: 15.75″ (40cm), Depth: 15.75″ (40cm), Height: 48″ (122.5cm) Grow Height: 31.5″ (80cm) Tank Capacity: 3 gallons (12L) Net Weight: 70lb (32kg) Screen: 2.1″ TFT circle screen Resolution: 480×480 Sensors: Ultrasonic, Temperature, Humidity, Water Temperature, Water Level, 58G Radar Sensor Water Pump: 12VDC, 1.5-2.2LPM Air Prump: 12VDC, 2.3LPM Fan: 2 input, 2 exhaust Connectivity: WiFi 2.4Ghz, Bluetooth 4.2 Power: 110V/220V OS Compatibility: iOS and Android
Upon unboxing the Hey abby Grow Box, the first thing I took note of was its sleek and modern design. The top and bottom portions are wood, which complements the subtle design of the main body of grow box.
The door features a window that integrates a magnetic cover. The smart knob includes a 2.1″ TFT circular screen with a 480×480 resolution and displays real-time data such as temperature and humidity without opening the grow box. Turning the knob unlocks the door.
The inside houses the innovative Deep Water Culture (DWC) technology which maintains healthy water circulation within the grow box. Hey abby has developed this ecosystem to recreate optimal growing conditions. Featuring advanced LED lighting, the grow box simulates sunlight mimicking the natural light conditions essential for cannabis plant growth.
The Hey abby grow box monitors temperature, humidity, and air circulation with its smart sensors to create the perfect environment for your plants. An integrated air filtration system helps maintain a clean and odor-free environment.
For those unfamiliar with hydroponics, it is a method of suspending the plants’ roots in nutrient-rich, oxygenated water instead of soil. This process has many benefits, such as conserving space and water, producing higher yields, requiring less labor, and creating a more controlled environment. Of course, one of the most significant advantages is the lack of need for soil, which has many benefits, including reducing pests.
The Hey abby system continuously monitors the water’s nutrient level and guarantees that plants receive the optimal balance of nutrients, light, and air. It simply creates the perfect ecosystem with an aesthetically pleasing form factor and excellent user experience.
One of the critical parts of a grow system is lighting. The Hey abby grow box features Samsung’s LM301H Full Spectrum Plant Lights and an enhanced 660nm 3535 high-power red LED specifically designed to increase photosynthetic efficiency and maximize growth potential.
The Hey abby grow box is used in conjunction with the smartphone app. Not only does the app guide you through all of the steps for growth, but the hey abby website also has videos and tutorials about how to do all of the things you need to do. For example, here’s one on How to Change Water.
No experience is necessary to get started with abby. I didn’t really have any experience growing cannabis. However, I did know a little about what is required from talking with my son. He’s worked at commercial grow operations and helped me check this out.
Due to the limited time of this review period, I started with a cannabis clone. I’ll be updating the review as the plant comes to maturity. You can start from a seed or clone, although the abby team recommends you start with a clone. A clone will easily shorten the time to harvest by up to a month.
The hydroponic system has easier and faster grow results, and the root system looks fantastic. I enjoyed seeing the root system growing over time, whereas in soil, you only get to see the roots after harvest.
The app prompts you to drain the system weekly, when to add nutrients, when to trim, prune or check the plant growth to see if it’s prepared for the flower cycle. Draining the grow box is easy as the system pumps the water out for you, so it only takes a few minutes. Here’s an example of their helpful article on how to drain the system.
The app has a community section where like-minded growers connect, share, and reward one another. I found this very helpful when I asked how people set up things like extra fans and lights.
The standard rule of thumb is that the light is usually 12 inches above the plant, so an adjustable light would be a great feature to have, but that would make the machine more complicated to engineer.
For growing, a humidifier is something that many people prefer to add more humidity to the unit. Hey abby now has a humidifier and fan accessory, which would be a welcome addition to the unit. The unit also has a USB connector inside to connect things like extra fans and other accessories.
The 1-on1 support via the app was very nice and had a quick response time. I asked several questions and received a reply almost immediately. This is perhaps one of the most useful parts of the whole system, aside from the automated environment.
I had a support question about the water level sensor that did not initially work, but the support personnel had me check a few connections, and it started working.
In the app, there is a community section. I found the comment section challenging to use because auto-correct would mess up your input. Hopefully, Hey abby will fix that in an app update soon.
The Hey abby grow box has two modes, Standard mode and Pro mode. I only had time to test the standard mode, where most things are controlled by the system. The Pro mode gives you more control over the settings, but I’m unsure of exactly what they are because I can’t toggle into that mode yet.
I’ll be updating this article as the plant progresses, so be sure to check back in a few weeks!
Overall, the Hey abby grow box was a pleasure to use. I didn’t worry about the plant because the app would tell me if something was wrong. I think my son kind of got me a little paranoid about plant health in all of the stories about his plants, but I felt very comfortable knowing that the Hey abby grow box was monitoring things. This is an attractive and easy way to grow indoors.
Price: $999 Where to buy: Hey abby Source: The sample of this product was provided by Hey abby.
I would have liked the sides to be transparent to see the plants. Maybe the lighting would be too bright at night?
Any updates. Thinking of getting the 420 edition
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