IKEA launches indoor garden

IKEA is introducing an indoor gardening series that lets you grow your own tasty lettuce and herbs in water. Developed in collaboration with agricultural scientists in Sweden, KRYDDA/VÄXER series includes everything you need to get sprouting and keep your garden growing – even in the winter! How it works? Just keep an eye on the water level.

Hydroponics simply means growing plants in water without soil. With added nutrients and the right light, it allows you to garden in any small space all year round. Most of the vegetables we eat today are grown this way, and now you can do it too.

Ikea introduce a hydroponic indoor gardening kit

It works through two interlinked systems: first seeds are placed in the Växer’s moistened stone wool starter plugs. Once they have sprouted, the plugs are planted into Krydda pots, where they are hugged by water-retaining pumice stones as they mature.

Units can either be placed in a windowsill to take advantage of natural sunlight or affixed to a specialised low-energy LED lamp to enable cultivation anywhere, at any time of year.

The company’s senior product developer Ronnie Runesson was inspired to develop the range while living in China. Having grown up on the rural Swedish island of Öland, he considered how food cultivation could be reintroduced into the lives of city apartment dwellers.

The project saw his team collaborate with agricultural scientists in Sweden to develop a hydroponic system that would work on an extremely small scale, while remaining affordable and easy to use.

“The challenge was to make growing plants in a hydroponic system simple, so that anyone could succeed,” said Helena Karlén, lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “We were also very interested, not only that they grow, but also the taste… they should taste good, very good actually.”

The chosen cultivars include varieties of herbs, lettuce, pak choi and chard, and take about seven weeks to mature.

While similar products already exist, Krydda/Växer’s ease of use and price point – combined with Ikea’s global reach – could mean that small-space, indoor gardening becomes far more widespread.

Ikea introduce a hydroponic indoor gardening kit

 

Comments are closed.