Hydroponics Sponge Grow Sponges [Pack of 50] – Organic, Sustainable, USA-Made AeroGarden Compatible Refill Sponges – 100% Coco Coir Seed Sponges – Garden Sponges with Seed Divots by Urban Leaf

After ordering the 50 pack replacement sponges (non-Aerogarden brand) only about 45 came. They likely had their weight threshold off in their manufacturing. I let the seller know and they sent another bag STUFFED TO THE BRIM free of charge. Note that these have the hole punched in random places instead of always in the center. I promise your plants don't care as long as they have clear view of the light. At first I used taped on saran wrap to simulate the iron on transfers. I had an X shape cut into them. I eventually realized my seeds don't care if it's open air, so I stopped using saran wrap. Just reused plastic holder + this sponge + sometimes the clear plastic seed cover/cap (read on to see why I recommend skipping the cover/cap). I had mold issues with every seed I planted after the first round of plants established themselves. (I.e. not starting over with every pod - just a few). 0% success rate with each one. I tried leaving the cover cap off the seeds and success went to about 50 success. (Note that when a seed failed due to being covered in mold or fungus, I would remove the dead seed, run water over the sponge while on a plate so that there's a small pool of water, and microwaved the sponge (Only the sponge! No plastic pod.) Until there was a healthy rapid boil and tons of steam. Any algae in it will turn to these bright green clumps. Once it cooled, I ran the sponge under cool water to make sure it was completely cool before putting a new seed in. I brushed the plastic pod with a toothbrush to remove any green algae or fungus spores, sometimes with dish soap, sometimes not. This is what gave me the 50% success rate. If you don't do that and reuse the fungusy sponge you'll likely still have a 0% success rate even with the top off. Replacing the sponge with a new one would also work but why waste them? To get the rate close to 100% success while having other established plants, I waited till the Aerogarden needed more fertilizer and then I cleaned the Aerogarden unit. (This is on an Aerogarden Harvest unit.) To do this, I pulled all the plants out. Any new or young seeds/sprouts were manually removed from the sponge (the others were too established and could not be removed). The removed sponges were microwaved after being put on a plate. Once cooled and had cold water run over them, the seeds/sprouts would be returned to the sponges. The plastic pods that could be separated were all brushed with a toothbrush, with or without dishsoap. The white plastic top that holds the pods was removed from the water basin. Pressing on the tabs on the white top one by one separated the 2 pieces that make it up. This was scrubbed with dish soap and a toothbrush. The water in the basin was dumped and the inside was lightly scrubbed with a soapy sponge. The little sponge in the basin that protects the pump was removed, root bits were extracted and the sponge was cleaned. Because I keep fish tanks, I know that sponge will grow a harmless naturally occurring bacteria and eat some of the ammonia and nitrites from my fertilizer instead of letting my plants consume it. I typically wash this first, squeeze the water out, and let it sit out to dry. The bacteria dies within 5-15min of this and if I cleaned everything thoroughly it would take about 6 weeks to re-establish. Given that I likely don't get every nook and cranny, it probably re-establishes itself faster. Who knows if this is helping my plants much but it gives me warm fuzzies knowing they're getting a tiny bit more amonia and nitrite nutrients. Once all the soap is rinsed off, double check the power cord attached to the removable basin to make sure it's dry. Fill the basin and put everything back together. Put the plants back in, leaving the caps off the seedlings and seeds. Add your fertilizer and you're ready to go. This cleaning process skyrocketed my success rate with the seeds. I like to think it's because I killed the bulk of the spores in the water making it work that much harder to come back. By the time it has a chance to come back, my seedlings are established and seemingly naturally resistant. (I use all organic seeds, so there's no pesticide help.) I highly recommend these sponges. They look wonky but they totally work. (And note that the Aerogarden brand pods might look less wonky but they have the same mold/fungus issues.)

There was a few things that made made me pick these over the competition- price, the amount of sponges for the price and the made in USA materials. I got them right away and had emails from the company throughout the shipping process letting me know they were as excited as me to be getting the product. I’m using the sponges in my Ambiano smart garden and the sponges fit almost perfectly into the basket, I had to fold it a bit. I threw in some dried (read old) coriander seeds and some plant food liquid and wouldn’t you know less than a week later I’m seeing a little green sprouting action. I had no hope for these seeds and I can’t wait to keep using these sponges with newer healthier seeds. Great value and customer service.

I followed the instructions and planted my own spinach seeds in these pods. Four out of the five sprouted just fine. The fifth one had signs of mold and never sprouted. Not sure why one would have this problem when the others in the same AeroGarden did not. But with such a large supply, I simply tossed the moldy one, did a bit of cleaning/wiping down, and tried again with a new pod. We'll see what happens! Happy that I will soon have fresh spinach without having to go out to the store during the Coronavirus lockdown!

These seed starters for the AeroGarden Hydoponic grow plastic holders work far better than the seed started from AeroGarden. They come apart a bit easily, so you have to be gentle with them and may find a damaged one or two per bag. However, to me the function and the excellent functioning of these seed starter pods far outweighs any minor loss in the bag of them from damage in package or done by me by accident. These are the bomb. In fact, I started a grow in my AeroGarden with the AeroGarden pods first, but some did not germinate properly, so I lost all my herbs and most of my highly prized seeds which have been difficult to replace given the time of year. Starting over in August with an herb garden makes procuring seeds difficult, because of the time in the season it is. However, once I got the seeds, the pods (seed starters) in this bag allowed my seeds to germinate quicker and more assuredly. My garden is on and growing because of this product. A definite must buy and use for any AeroGarden Gardener growing with their own seeds. I highly recommend this product to all.

I bought these because I wanted to use my own seeds for planting in my aerogarden. I would be doing a lot of pods so I thought this would be a good deal. I was wrong. I am not real happy with these. For some reason I have a very low success rate with them. After they are in the water for a short period of time they develop mold & slime on them. It isnt due to algae in the water because I also have pods that came from AG company that dont have this problem. I have had to discard the majority of the plants I seeded in this medium due to algae & failure to germinate. The other problem I have had with these is on almost every plant that did root in the aerogarden when I removed it, removed the plastic basket & planted the root mass in dirt the plants have died. I have never had this problem in the past. This medium just isnt up to my standards & I wont be buying any more of these. I guess you get what you pay for. I would not recommend this product to sothers but I would inform them of the issues I have had with it.

I decided to give these pods a try since at the time I purchased them, they were the cheapest. I opened them and examined a few before putting them away. I had them several months before I needed to use them. The GOOD: Most had really nice big holes, making it easy to drop the seeds in. I used a few in the regular AG baskets, the pods fit well and seeds germinated without issue. I cut a couple along the pods' indented lines to accommodate cuttings. I felt the pods were good enough to save for Spring seed-starting. I knew they'd have to be trimmed at the bottom since every pod, even AG, is too tall for the seed-starter grow decks. I save the snipped ends to use as seed covers. THE NOT-SO-GOOD: I wish I had examined the pods more closely because the further down I got, I found numerous broken and crumbled pods. Some were split at the top so small seeds just fell out. I managed to piece some together to hold bigger bean seeds in the seed-starter grow deck. Most seeds germinated in the AG, but some pods just got moldy. Last year, I used AG pods in a second grow deck that I placed in a water basin next to the regular units. I had really good results (even grew 7yr old zinnia seeds!) So I tried the same method with these pods and new seeds. The results were less than satisfactory. I didn't even get 1/2 to germinate. Thankful I just has mostly flowers in there, and not my veggies! Of course I realize that the pods may not be the sole reason the plants didn't grow, but my methods didn't differ and I'd tested the new seeds prior to planting. CONCLUSION: Unless the price dropped to like $5, I don't think I'll buy these again. I'm presently trying another off-brand 100 pack that didn't cost much more than these. Otherwise, I'll just stick with AG pods for more consistant results. Thanks for reading! Please give a *click* to let me know if you found my review helpful🙂

I wanted to chime in about these to hopefully help the folks having algae and mold issues. It seems likely, especially from some of the photos, that this issue happens due to user error. With hydroponics, you can't just take a plastic grow cage, add growing material (like these sponges), plant with the sponges receiving light on top, and go. You have to cover the top of each pod to let in as little light to the tank as possible. If not, you are creating the perfect environment for mold and algae growth, which isn't at all unique to this brand. The Aerogarden brand pods already come with a glued-on cover for each pod, but it's easy to forget that cover isn't optional and if you're DIYing it, you need to add your own covers. So unless you crafted your own covers before reviewing, I wouldn't blame these sponges for the mold or algae. I recommend a little aluminum foil with a small hole for the plant to grow through. Any brand or any growing material in a hydro system that lets too much light in will have this issue. That being said, these are wonderful when used properly. I've grown dozens of amazing plants in them without a single mold or algae problem, some literally reaching the size of a bush in a 6-pod system! Remember not to leave the tops of the sponges exposed to light, and always thoroughly pre-soak them with water, and I bet that will help a lot. Happy growing!

These sponges are a bit bigger and not taped like the Aerogarden sponges, however, they are softer and made out of a more Eco friendly material. I use these to start my outdoor plants inside, and have had zero issues. The best part is they're half the price of the Aerogarden sponges. They do fit in the plastic cages for regular Aerogarden use and are much softer and more pliable than the peat moss ones that Aerogarden uses.