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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

at-home vertical farming

Meet HECTAR, an Open-Source Project for At-Home Vertical Farming

When it comes to at-home vertical farming, who will be first to grow a watermelon?

That’s a question posed by HECTAR Hydroponics, a project that wants to open-source the at-home vertical farm concept. Rather than mass-producing a whole farm and selling it to consumers, the project’s creators have instead made a manual and documentation available for free download, so that any DIY enthusiast can build their very own HECTAR.

Felix Wieberneit of the Royal College of Art and the Imperial College of London conceptualized HECTAR, which eventually became part of Imperial College’s Venture Catalyst accelerator program, a competition for entrepreneurs sponsored by Huawei. The HECTAR vertical farm is the size of a regular bookshelf and can grow up to 128 plants, according to the project’s website. So far, users have grown kale, spinach, and other leafy greens, as well as green beans.

According to the publication Springwise, HECTAR was partly inspired by what Wieberneit saw as a need for more affordability and versatility with at-home vertical farming: “Wieberneit wants to change the market for hydroponic systems from ‘overpriced smart planters and costly seed subscriptions’, to systems that people design to meet their own needs, which use local materials.” 

Thus far, most large-scale vertical farming companies use either proprietary tech developed in-house or a proprietary mix of off-the-shelf technologies. Information on what works and what doesn’t in terms of the technology is few and far between right now, a situation that also applies to at-home versions of vertical farms.

Hence, Hectar. The plans, released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, include a step-by-step guide, an instructional video, and a list of materials, all of which can be purchased from the average hardware store.

A few questions come to mind when thinking of HECTAR in the larger context of at-home vertical farming. For instance, how much does it cost? Do all the materials listed add up to something cheaper than, say, a complete farm from Rise Gardens ($549+) or Gardyn? ($899 for a starter kit). What will the quality of the produce be like compared to those or even compared to what you could buy at the store? 

Those questions will no doubt be answered in time on the project’s community forum, where growers can share tips and advice as well as any improvements and/or changes made to the design. No one’s reported any watermelons yet, but open-sourcing the vertical farming concept might just be the way to get there.

Rise Gardens Launches a Countertop Version of Its At-Home Smart Growing System

Rise Gardens is best known for its indoor smart farms that are geared towards the average consumer and roughly the size of your average bookshelf. But those living in small spaces may not be able to easily accommodate another piece of furniture, and with that in mind, Rise released a countertop version of its farm this week. According to a LinkedIn post from the company, the device, dubbed The Personal Rise Garden, can grow “8+ plants at any given time” that can be harvested in “as little as 25 days.”

The Personal device is essentially a smaller version of Rise’s flagship product, a multi-shelf smart garden that uses nutrient-enriched water and a “recipe” of LED lighting to hydroponically grow leafy greens and herbs. An accompanying smartphone app does the bulk of the work in terms of calculating the temperature of the garden, determining nutrition and pH levels, and telling the user when it’s time to water the plants. Users can purchase a subscription service that automatically mails growing supplies on a regular basis. They can also use their own plant seeds if they prefer not to be locked into a subscription. 

Speaking to The Spoon earlier this year, Rise Gardens’ Head of Product and Strategy, Diego Blondet, said he believed automated indoor farming would make its way into most kitchen designs in the future. But we’re still years away from having a smart farm built into the cabinetry like a microwave, and in the meantime, many would-be users live in small apartments that can’t accommodate farms the size of furniture.

Hence Rise’s move to release a countertop version of its smart garden. The new device clocks in at 18 x 11 x 16 inches and weights 20 pounds. According to a press release sent to The Spoon, it can grow four large plants (tomatoes, peppers, kale, etc.), eight medium-sized plants (herbs), or 12 small plants (chives, lavender). Cost-wise, the farm will run you $279, which is on par with other countertop growing devices, including those from Aspara ($259) and AVA’s Byte Smart Garden ($349).

Notably, Rise received an investment from the Amazon Alexa Fund last month to “fuel new products, accessories, and further R+D.” At the time of the announcement, Rise CEO and founder Hank Adams hinted at an Alexa integration for his company’s devices, which means voice tech might be coming to smart farms soon, with Rise leading the way. The company also recently expanded distribution to Canada, according to a Rise spokesperson.

Offering a smaller version of its standard product could also connect Rise Gardens to a potentially different audience, which is those who are new to the at-home smart farming concept and may not want to commit $500 or more to learning about it. From the looks of it, the Personal device won’t feed an entire family, but could be sufficient for one- and two-person households. I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve purchased mine.

Amazon’s Alexa Fund Invests in At-Home Vertical Farming Company Rise Gardens

Rise Gardens announced today it has received an investment from the Amazon Alexa Fund that builds upon a $2.6M seed round Rise closed in May. The amount invested by the Amazon Alexa Fund was not disclosed.

According to a press release sent to The Spoon, the deal is both a collaboration and a cash investment that will “fuel new products, accessories and further R+D” for Rise Gardens.

The Chicago-based Rise is best known for its standalone console (roughly the size of a standard bookcase) that contains a hydroponic grow system for consumers at home. The system does most of the hard work—calculating nutrition and pH levels, knowing when and how much to water the plants—for the user, whom it notifies via a corresponding app.

Rise’s system is also modular, so it can be added to or subtracted from over time depending on how many greens your household consumes each week. Users can also grow beets and tomatoes in addition to leafy greens and herbs.

Rise raised $2.6 million in seed funding earlier this year; Amazon’s new investment is an extension of this seed funding, according to today’s press release.

Amazon’s investment in Rise sounds promising, not just for the company but for the entire vertical farming sector. To start, Rise CEO and founder Hank Adams hinted today at Alexa functionality for the Rise system: “Collaborating with the Alexa Fund will better enable us to integrate our smart, connected garden with Alexa, making indoor gardening even easier. We are also excited about the opportunity to work with Amazon to evolve and expand how we reach consumers with our device and consumables business concept,” he said. The details of that Alexa integration are scant as of now, but one imagines being able to ask Alexa about your plant’s pH levels or tell the speaker to adjust the light mixture. On the flip, Rise could notify users via Alexa when it’s time to water the plants.

There’s no question that consumer-grade vertical farms are still a pretty niche product right now, since many of them cost more than the average person can easily afford. (Rise’s single unit console starts at $549.) But the pandemic and accompanying disruptions to the food supply chain have undoubtedly increased folks’ desire to control more of what they eat, which has led to an influx of new devices. From Gardyn’s stylish take on at-home farming to consumer electronics companies like LG building them into the kitchen, vertical farming is definitely making its way into the home. 

Amazon, of course, wants to control your entire home, including your kitchen, so it’s not surprising the Seattle tech giant would partner making at-home vertical farming products. As well, the company has made forays into the gardening space before, like this patent from 2017. Amazon knowing what types of plants you are growing can fuel its selling machine to recommend recipes and other groceries.

Like it or not, Amazon’s moves in food tech tend to influence others, which means the collaborations and products that come out of the Rise partnership will influence the future of at-home vertical farming for everyone.