GardenBox is a subscription that sends pre-seeded micro greens kits, growing instructions, and recipes for the greens you receive.
Each shipment contains two gardens with seasonally selected micro greens and herbs that are ready to harvest in about two weeks (or less).
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box:GardenBox
The Cost: $35 per month
The Products: Two 5” x 20” gardens pre-planted with seasonal micro greens or micro herbs. (Note that each garden will yield 3-4 servings.)
Ships to: The continental US.
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Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
My box contained a letter from the GardenBox team. The letter provided recycling instructions for the growing trays, along with a free box offer if you save and return 12 trays. It’s nice to see that GardenBox is so eco friendly!
Each pre-planted tray came with a leaflet that provides information about the plants and growing instructions. This month, I received mustard greens and tatsoi. The mustard greens can be harvested on day 10, and the tatsoi can be harvested on day 8.
The reverse of each leaflet includes a recipe.
I unpacked each growing tray and removed the protective layer of tissue paper.
The micro greens seeds arrive pre-planted in dehydrated soil.
As per the instructions, I watered each tray until the soil was lightly moist at the surface, and I placed them inside on my window ledge (the sunniest place in my house).
Last month, I saw my first sprouts on day 2 and there was a lot of activity in both gardens by day 4.
When I didn’t see any sprouts by day 4, I started to get concerned.
On day 5, I noticed that there was a single sprout in the tatsoi garden! (Which gave me a shimmer of hope!)
Unfortunately, though, nothing else sprouted in either garden.
Now, I’m a novice gardener, but I’m pretty sure I followed GardenBox’s instructions to the T. I certainly didn’t have any problems with last month’s gardens. This month, I watered the gardens with the same frequency (and quantity), and I placed them in the same sunny location. I’ve racked my brain to come up with something I could have done wrong, but I haven’t been able to pinpoint anything.
Is it possible something could have happened to the gardens in transit to affect the seeds? Or could the seeds have been “bad” to begin with? I really don’t know…
I reached out to GardenBox customer support twice in the past week for their advice about my problems with this box, and I have yet to receive a reply. (I’ve reached out to their customer service two or three times prior to this issue, and I always received a reply within 48 hours.)
The Verdict: I had so much fun with last month’s GardenBox, but this month’s experience has been a really big let down. I’m disappointed that my gardens didn’t grow, and I’m frustrated because I don’t know what went wrong. Most upsetting, though, is the lack of communication from GardenBox. It would have been great if they’d reached out with an offer to replace my gardens, but I would have been satisfied even with some general tips and/or feedback about my situation.
Are there any gardeners out there in subscription box land that might have some advice for me? Have you ever received seeds that wouldn’t grow?
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