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A Comprehensive Guide for Schools and Science Clubs
Here are some ideas for teachers and parents on how to choose Click & Grow gardens and plants to get children excited about growing from seed...
Getting started
Click & Grow products are safe to use with children. The plant pods are free from harmful substances (hormones, fungicides, pesticides) and all the seeds are non-GMO.
Introduction
Click & Grow Smart Gardens are easy to use indoor gardens that offer an all in one solution: light, watering and pre-seeded plant pods. They are packed with innovation, joy and discovery and come with simple / straightforward instructions.
- Unpacking and setting up the tabletop gardens takes about 10 minutes.
- Start growing in three simple steps: insert the capsules, add water and plug the garden in.
- Click & Grow gardens work in complete silence so they won’t be adding any noise distractions to the surroundings.
- The gardens can take care of plants without human assistance during weekends and school holidays by providing light and water.
- All Click & Grow gardens have a built-in timer that turns on the light for 16 hours each day. Depending on the environment and the plants’ growth phase, watering is needed after approximately 2-3 weeks.
- For the best experience, follow our plant care recommendations (knowledge base, blog, plant care information under each plant pod), watch YouTube tutorials or ask for help from fellow growers (Facebook community, Gardeners community) or directly from our Support team.
3 easy steps to start growing:
All you need to do is click in the biodegradable plant capsules, fill the water tank and plug in the power cord.
1. Choose a garden
Smart Garden 3
- Grows 3 plants
- Comes with 3 complimentary basil pods
- Compact size: 300 x 210 to 470 x 120 mm
Fits easily into smaller spaces
- Light (only 1.2 kg without water)
- Water tank size: 1.2 liters / 40 oz
- Easy to manoeuvre if needed
- Good for smaller groups or individual use (ie. personal garden for each student)
Smart Garden 9
- Grows 9 plants
- Comes with 3 basil pods, 3 lettuce pods and 3 mini tomato pods
- Measurements: 604 x 396 x 184 mm
- Fits well on a windowsill
- Weighs 2.4 kg without water
- Water tank size: 4 liters / 135 oz
- Has a mixture of red and white LED lights that create a mellow atmosphere
- One garden to maintain, nine plants to grow
Things to remember!
- All our gardens are intended for indoor use and need to be plugged into a power outlet
- The best average temperature in which to grow Click & Grow plants is 18 to 24C (64 to 75F)
- The gardens offer sufficient light for plants to grow successfully, so there is no need for access to natural light
- Gardens need to be watered approximately every 2-3 weeks and cleaned a few times per year (depending on usage, water quality and plant maintenance)
- If there are children with strong allergies in the classroom, avoid growing plants that flower and produce pollen
2. Choose plants
The user-logic of Click & Grow gardens is similar to that of capsule coffee machines, only instead of coffee pods we offer Plant Pods. These are biodegradable plant capsules that include our Smart Soil and seeds. Only the best, professional grade seeds are used in our Plant Pods.
Click & Grow offers a huge range of different plants including herbs, salad greens, vegetables, fruits, and flowers.
- Start by planting something simple and quick if you are growing for the first time
- Plants that germinate and grow fast: starter kit basil
- Try something that tastes great
- Peppermint and lemon balm (for tea or simply chewing)
- Grow something that kids are already familiar with
- Grow something with a good aroma
- Make the classroom smell like summer by growing lavender or sweet alyssum
- Herbs, such as rosemary or thyme are also a great addition for drinking water
- Grow savory snacks
- Continue with something exciting
- Fruits: tomatoes or wild strawberries
- Dwarf basil - cute little bushes
- Grow something unusual and inspiring
- Bring some color to the classroom
- Flowers / decoratives - black pansy, busy lizzie, cornflower, painted nettle
- Edibles - red leaf beet, bloody sorrel, red pak choi
- Experiment with your own seeds
- Experimental pods enable you to use your own seeds - grow something that’s common in your region or try something exotic
3. Place an order
- Place an order directly on our web store or contact our Support team for assistance if you have further questions
- The list of countries where we ship to can be found here
4. Teach and engage
- Start with the basics
- Plant names and classifications
- Learn plant names in your native language or memorize them in Latin
- What are the different ways to categorize plants?
Experiment:
Observe & describe how to differentiate between basil and arugula (ruccola, rocket salad) - appearance (size, color, texture), smell, taste
Try the same experiment with closed eyes and only by smelling the plants (rosemary, Thai basil, sage, thyme)
- Plant parts and their tasks
- Roots, stems, leaves
Experiment:
Show the parts on different plants during their growth phases - Pak choi, chives, mini tomato
- Where is the stem, the fruit and the flower?
- What is a cotyledon?
- Where is the stem of chives?
- Why do the leaves have different shapes, sizes, textures and colors?
- What do plants need for growing?
- Water - what happens if plants don’t get enough water? / what happens if plants are overwatered?
Experiment:
Weigh different gardens in the morning and in the evening.
Needed: 2 gardens, basil seeds, pot marigold seeds
- How much water does a plant consume per day?
- Where does the water go?
- Do all plants have similar water requirements?
- Do plants need more water during the night or day?
- Nutrients - what kind of nutrients do plants need?
- Where do they get these nutrients in nature?
- Where do they get these nutrients in Click & Grow pods?
- Air - why do plants need air? What happens if the air is polluted with smoke or harmful gases?
- Soil
Experiment:
Use sand in one slot, garden soil in another, Click & Grow Smart Soil in the third. Compare germination and growth.
- How much arable land is on planet Earth?
- What do we need to do to keep soil in good health?
- Light - what is photosynthesis? Why do plants need resting time in the darkness? What happens if plants don’t get enough light?
Experiment:
Grow plants in two different gardens. Turn on the light for the first garden, but not for the second one. Use basil, painted nettle and dwarf pea pods.
- Observe: Do all plants have similar light requirements?
- How do plants compensate for low light conditions?
- Temperature - what happens if the temperature is too low or too high? Which plants like to grow in warmer climates / in colder climates?
Experiment:
Insert new plant pods into your garden. Add transparent domes for some of them but leave the others without.
- Is germination faster with or without domes?
- Is the greenhouse effect good or bad for plants? What about for humans? What about for the planet?
Experiment:
Keep one pack of seeds in the freezer for 1 day. Microwave the others for one minute, keep some seeds in direct sunlight. Then, sow them and see which ones will grow.
- Why can seeds survive some conditions but not others?
- Space - space for roots and leaves
- Time - how fast do plants germinate, grow, flower, produce fruits?
- Go scientific
- Biology
- Observe plant cells under a microscope
- Clone plants (basil, painted nettle)
- Measure plants’ water consumption with a potometer
- Chemistry
- Plant fragrance - why do some plants have a strong fragrance and others do not? How is it created?
- Get creative
- Food and cooking
- Use the herbs, salad greens, fruits and flowers you’ve grown in the classroom for cooking and food decoration.
Culinary herbs: thyme, oregano, marjoram, parsley, cilantro, rosemary, basil, sage
Bold flavors: Thai basil, garden cress, arugula
Beautiful colors: cornflower on desserts, red basil, red kale, red pak choi for salads or soups
- Arts and crafts
- Decorate your classroom with art
- Make leaf prints
- Use plants as paint brushes
- Use plants as an inspiration source for paintings
- Make sachets (a small cloth scented bag filled with herbs, potpourri, or aromatic ingredients)
How to make the most of your experience
1. Plant journal
- Keep a plant journal
- Digital or handwritten
- Write down daily or weekly observations on plant growth / progress / changes
- Take photos that you can look back on and compare with new plants
- Make a time lapse
- Photograph a plant over a period of time then play it back in sequence over a shorter period of time. Use one frame every 10 minutes for most plants
2. Make memories / leave a legacy
- Let children pick nicknames for their plants
- Organize a plant growing competition (insert the same type of plant pods at the same time and monitor growth speed)
- Make plant art to decorate your classroom or gifts for special occasions (Mother’s day, Father’s day, etc.)
3. Make your own garden
- Start a DIY project
- Prepare a container for plants to live in
- Choose a light source
- Come up with a watering solution
(How to guide: https://clickandgrow.com/blogs/news/how-to-diy-a-garden-or-farm-that-actually-works)