Rise Gardens Helps You Grow the Perfect
Tomato in Your Living Room
By
-
October 31, 2019
Maintaining
a garden in Chicago is difficult. Not only is the region plagued with a short
growing season and unpredictable weather, but figuring out how to provide
fruits and vegetables with the perfect amount of water, sunlight and nutrients
can be confusing.
After
becoming frustrated with growing fruits and veggies outdoors, Hank Adams tried
his hand at building his own in-home hydroponic system, a device that grows
plants in a reservoir of moving water and organic materials.
“It was
a really frustrating experience,” Adams said. “It actually took a fair amount
of research to figure it out. And what I ended up with was a system that really
belonged in my basement.”
The
system was “ugly,” he said. “It was nothing I wanted to show off.”
A Rise Gardens system (Photo via Katherine Davis)
But the
experience led to Adams launching Rise Gardens, a
Chicago startup creating an indoor, IoT-connected hydroponic system that is
attractive enough to put in your living room and simple enough for anyone to
grow a perfect head of lettuce.
Adams
began making prototypes for Rise Gardens in 2017, working out of Chicago
startup incubators 1871 and mHub, and began selling the final product in
August. Adams is a board member of 1871 and also the former CEO of
Sportsvision, a Chicago-based graphics company best known for
inventing the yellow first down marker in football broadcasts.
Rise
Garden systems can be bought online or in the startup’s pop-up shop at 20 W.
Kinzie St., which opened in early October.
The
modular system is made out of hardwood and heavy-gage, powder-coated steel. It
has a built-in water pump, seed sockets and a programmed LED light system that
automatically shifts on and off to give plants the perfect amount of light.
Once
consumers purchase their hydroponic system, they are encouraged to subscribe to
Rise Gardens’ subscription service, which sends them seed pods every month and
gives them access to the company’s mobile app that reminds users when to add
water or nutrients. The startup sells seeds for a range of vegetables and
herbs, including kale, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, basil and rosemary.
“We’ve
made it simple,” Adams said. “If you follow the instructions, it grows really
robustly.”
Adams
said plants grow 20 percent faster in his system than they could in soil or
outdoors, adding that users can expect to grow arugula in 14 days and a head of
lettuce in 25 days.
A Rise Garden system
(Photo via Katherine Davis)
Though
small, counter-top hydroponic systems are common, Adams says Rise Gardens’
large size allows for users to actually grow a significant amount of fresh
food.
Since
launching, Adams said he has sold 70 systems and is now working with retailers to
sell the device in more locations. The system starts at $549 for one level and
goes up to nearly $950 for three.
In his
own Rise Gardens system at home, Adams grows lettuce, carrots, beets, tomatoes,
peppers and strawberries. Often times, he says he uses his produce in homemade
salads, pastas and pizzas.
“It’s
really nutritious and it tastes great,” Adams said. “Compared to a lot stuff
that we’re used to getting in grocery stores, you’re surprised by the taste.”
Hank Adams, founder of Rise Gardens, with his hydropnoic system
(Photo via Rise Gardens)