Growing Tea In An AeroGarden: Is It Possible?

Growing tea in an AeroGarden is possible, but it might not be for everyone. I bought a three-pod AeroGarden for the sole purpose of growing my own tea in it. Unfortunately, they don’t sell pods for a Camelia sinensis bush, but there are pods to grow herbs and flowers for herbal tea.  

So far, I’ve grown chamomile, lavender, mint, and lemon balm in my AeroGarden and made delicious tea. I will admit, if you love tea, there’s  nothing better than steeping it fresh.  

Growing tea in an AeroGarden is quite convenient for anyone in an apartment or with limited sunlight. But, that doesn’t mean that it comes without some downfalls too. So, is growing tea in an AeroGarden right for you? 

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

What Is An AeroGarden

An AeroGarden is essentially an indoor garden. You buy “pods” which are seeds planted in some dirt. You place these pods in water, feed them food, and then you have plants in a few weeks time. It even has an automatic light that goes on and off on its own.  

The AeroGarden is really ideal for anyone that can’t plant outdoors (if you’re in an apartment or just don’t get a lot of sunlight). It’s also perfect for those long winter months (anyone else from Montreal here??). This gives you some greenery inside and access to fresh herbs at your fingertips!

The AeroGarden Vs. Click And Grow?

An AeroGarden and Click and Grow are the same thing, just two different brands. I own an AeroGarden but the Click and Grow is very similar. I think an AeroGarden is more easily accessible in the states and Click and Grow is Canadian.

Even though I’m in Canada though, I chose the AeroGarden because I really wanted to grow chamomile for tea. The Click and Grow doesn’t sell any chamomile seeds (or tea pod kits!).

But, if you’re Canadian, I think Click and Grow is easier to buy pods for (they ship everywhere in Canada). It’s a bit more complicated getting pods to Canada for the AeroGarden (it’s all through Amazon). But I think the AeroGarden is really simple in the States.

Each brands sells different size gardens, a 3, 6, and 9 pod. The size you buy depends on how much you want to grow at the same time. I didn’t know how I would like it, so I started small with a 3 pod AeroGarden.  

Buying An AeroGarden Tea Pods

The AeroGarden ships with three example pods to start. But, I went ahead and bought a 9 pod tea seed kit from Amazon. This came with chamomile, lavender, mint, lemon balm, and lemon mint.*

As Canadians, Amazon will be your best friend for replenishing your AeroGarden pods. The pods can last for up to 2 years if stored properly (in the fridge). So I bought the 9 pod, used three and stored the rest for later!

*They’ve since changed it from when I bought it, now it comes with 3 chamomile, 3 lavender, 3 mint.

Before You Start: Read These AeroGarden Tips

I was under the impression that you could not mess up growing tea in an AeroGarden. It may be a lot more forgiving than planting outside but that doesn’t mean it’s without any hardships. I thought all I had to do was add water and food every two weeks. Boy… was I wrong! 

I’d like to start off by saying that I do not have a green thumb. I swear, I kill every plant that comes into my reach. So, planting in the AeroGarden came with a steep learning curve for me but I also didn’t kill the plants as easily as I could have.  

Still, DO NOT buy an AeroGarden for growing tea if you don’t want to work for it. There are quite a few steps you have to do weekly to keep your plants in good shape that I wasn’t aware of before buying an AeroGarden.

Weekly Pruning

Weekly pruning was mentioned in the instructions but it’s still really stressful once you actually have to do it. Pruning is when you trim the leaves to control their growth. You have to constantly prune the plants for several reasons.  

You want to keep all three (or more) plants around the same height, you don’t want any to become too tall. Second, pruning also forces the plants to grow in a certain direction. So you actually want your plants to grow outward instead of upward. This will get you much fuller looking plants (and more for you to harvest!).  

Pruning is a lot easier for herbal plants than floral plants for harvesting tea. This is just because as soon as you cut the leaves off you can use them, but floral plants you may have to sacrifice some flower buds. Pruning is an ongoing process that you’ll have to maintain throughout the plants.

Bi-Weekly Root Check Ups!

Cleaning out the roots every week or two was the biggest shock when growing tea in an AeroGarden. This wasn’t mentioned in the instruction manual AT ALL!  I only found out I had to clean AND cut the roots a few weeks into growing my first AeroGarden tea pods.

My plants weren’t doing too well, so I asked other AeroGarden owners. As it turns out, cleaning the roots is kind of a necessity for the plants to stay healthy. Cleaning out the roots isn’t quick, it’s not pretty, and definitely not easy. It’s a two person job, I have no idea how you would do this alone (especially if you have a bigger than 3-pod AeroGarden).

To clean the roots of your AeroGarden plants, you have to lift up the top of the AeroGarden to see the roots. As my partner holds it above the sink, I rinse it out and separate the roots of the three different plants. You also may want to trim them if any are too long, but watch out, you don’t want to cut off too much! 

I can’t even say that this process becomes easier the more you do it. As the plants grow, so do the roots so it actually becomes harder and an even bigger hassle. Let’s just say… I hate this step. But, if you don’t clean and trim the roots, they grow out of hand. Your plants will most likely die a lot quicker. You may also end up with one that just takes over the others. So as much as you may hate it, it’s just something you can’t avoid.

Growing Tea In An AeroGarden

As I mentioned, growing tea in an AeroGarden is only possible for herbal and floral teas. That includes chamomile, lavender, mint, and lemon balm. So you can’t grow a Camelia sinensis bush here (psst… don’t know what Camelia sinensis is? Go back to the tea basics).

Essentially, you can’t grow black, green, oolong or any Camelia sinensis tea variant.  You can also grow other herbs and flowers that you may like to use for tea, they sell a grow anything kit if you’re interested. But that will definitely be way more intense!

Guide To Growing Flowers For AeroGarden

Flowers for AeroGarden are definitely more complicated than planting herbs. You sometimes have to sacrifice cutting the flower buds to prune the plant properly for growth. I’d recommend starting with herbs in your AeroGarden before trying any flower plants.

Tips For Growing Chamomile

I planted two chamomile plants right away I was so excited. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out the way I’d hoped, but I did end up with some of the best chamomile I’ve ever had. 

At first, my chamomile plants were growing strong. I saw them within a few days of planting them. But I ran into a few issues down the road. One of the plants grew faster than the other so it cut off some light from the shorter one. So I planted two, but only really ended up with one chamomile plant.  

That one plant grew so tall, it was taller than the AeroGarden light. I even ended up having to tie a rope around it to keep the stems up (I don’t know if that’s what I should have done… I just didn’t want to cut off precious flower buds!).  

Then after a few weeks a powdery mildew starting to develop on the plants and I had to harvest what I could. I ended up with about 1 tablespoon of dried chamomile, I was able to make 4 cups of tea… which isn’t a lot for all the work I ended up putting in.  

This was my first time using an AeroGarden though, so I will have to try growing them again. I would wait to grow chamomile in an AeroGarden for when you’re a bit more comfortable with it.

Growing Lavender In An AeroGarden​

Growing lavender in an AeroGarden was surprisingly much better than growing chamomile. It could have been because this was my second time using an AeroGarden so I knew to trim the roots right away. But, the plant just seemed a lot more contained than the chamomile.

The lavender also bloomed a lot faster and there was a lot more to harvest a lot sooner. The chamomile took a really long time before I could harvest a flower. Out of the entire lavender plant, I got less than one tablespoon of dried lavender.

My lavender plant didn’t grow that tall so that could have been the reason I may not have ended up with as much as I could have. 

P.S. You can use lavender for more than just tea! Dry it out, put it in a pouch, and place it under your pillow for sweet dreams or in your drawers to keep them smelling fresh!

Growing Herbs: Mint & Lemon Balm In An AeroGarden​

Growing mint and lemon balm in an AeroGarden is a no brainer. Both of these are herbs so they’re a lot easier (and quicker) than planting flowers for AeroGarden.

Growing mint and lemon balm is easier because you’re not afraid to prune the plant. In this case, when you prune it, you use it. That means fresh mint tea every night for months! 

When growing mint, watch the roots because it grows like crazy. You don’t want them to take over the other plants.  It’s hard to tell out much I got out of each for tea because when I pruned the plants I used the leaves for tea right away.

I made a lot of delicious fresh tea this way for a few months. I ended up drying and saving for later about 1 tablespoon.

How To Make Tea From Plants?

Now that you have these plants with fresh leaves and flowers, how do you turn that into tea?  You can easily pluck the flowers or leaves and use them right away for tea. For mint and lemon balm, I didn’t need to use a lot of leaves. Because they’re so fresh and fragrant I would use two to four leaves per mug.  

It’s recommended to use about a teaspoon for chamomile and I found that was more than enough! It’s a lot stronger than when it’s dried. Use 2 teaspoons of lavender for tea. I’m not a fan of lavender so I tend to actually use less. 

If you can’t use the fresh leaves or flowers right away, you can also dry them out for later. You can air dry, use the microwave, or oven.

Air drying your tea leaves is the slowest, but easiest process. Place the leaves in a cool dark place until they’re crisp and hard. This can take up to two weeks.  

Your second option is to microwave them, this is my preferred method as it’s quick and painless. I place the flowers or leaves on paper towel and put them in the microwave for 1 minute. After that, I check them and put them back in for 30 second intervals until they’re dry and crispy. 

I’ve also dried out my flowers and leaves in the oven. Turn your oven on to the lowest temperature possible (in my case 200°F). Spread them out in one layer and leave them in the oven for about an hour. You’ll want to check on them regularly to see if they’ve crisped. 

If your tea is stored properly (in an airtight container, cool and dark place) the dried tea can last from 6 months to a year. You’ll also need to get some tea steepers to steep your fresh tea in. If you aren’t used to brewing loose leaf tea, read more about how to switch from tea bags to loose leaf!

So, Is Growing Tea In An AeroGarden Worth It?

Growing tea in an AeroGarden is definitely an adventure. It’s a fun project to grow your own and taste fresh tea. But I won’t hide the fact that it’s also A LOT of work and I didn’t find I ended up with a large harvest. 

I don’t have a green thumb or like gardening, so maybe if you do, you’ll find it easier. But cleaning those roots every two week was unexpected and just not a huge hassle. By the end of the plants life I’m so exhausted from having an AeroGarden that I have to take break before planting new pods. 

You can also tell that an AeroGarden is meant to grow herbs indoors…. not so much flowers. The herbs (like mint and lemon balm) that you can use to make tea are a lot easier and more worth it than the flowers like chamomile and lavender.

You get a lot more usable leaves from the herbs than the floral plants and they’re easier to prune. In general though, the amount of leaves and flowers was definitely less than I was expecting to get.

I mean, from one chamomile plant, I was able to make four cups of tea… that’s NOTHING for everything you have to go through to get those flowers. But, it’s always nice to grow fresh leaves. I mean, I only had four cups of it but it was some of the best cups of chamomile I’ve ever had! So at the end of the day , it’s awesome getting fresh tea when you can and having some greenery and flowers in the house!

What You’ll Need To Grow Tea In An AeroGarden

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Last update on 2024-05-02 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API