Growing delicious veggies, herbs, and flowers indoors at home is now a snap, thanks to New Delhi-based hydroponics system Agro2o® – an automated, intelligent device that uses pre-seeded pods and nutrient solutions. We speak to the founder of this ingenious gadget, Yash Vyas.

Agro2o is an automated hydroponics system that lets you grow up to 12 plants indoors

Imagine being able to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers from the comfort of your apartment, without needing a balcony or sunlight, or the constant watering demands of potted plants! The high-tech Agro2o®, which seamless combines hydroponics (soilless farming) and automation, offers the perfect solution for urban millennials who want to experience the joy of gardening and owning a vegetable patch, with all the tech that they are so used to, and no hassles.

The Agro2o with the special LED grow light

The Agro2o® is an intelligent and advanced indoor hydroponics system, that automates the process of growing fresh herbs, vegetables, medicinal plants, and flowers with the touch of a button. Agro2o®, an agri-tech company founded by Yash Vyas in 2018, aims to create solutions for “Better Living”, where one has access to clean, affordable, and nutritious food grown indoors at home with pre-seeded pods and cartridges with nutrient solutions.

It was a chance discovery by Founder and CEO Yash Vyas while he was in Dubai that led to the creation of the Agro2o® device. “A few years ago when I was living in Dubai, I bought a hydroponics set up for my mother to grow veggies at home, as veggies available in the market are not always the healthiest option,” says Yash Vyas. “When I asked my mother how the vegetables were faring, she said she had already shelved the set-up! The reason: it required lot of effort, and as she is a teacher by profession she didn't have the time for it. I realized if one could automate this growing process anyone could easily grow plants. After two years of heavy research and development now, we are almost ready to launch the product for everyone.” The model currently available is the company’s Renaissance model; however, the New Delhi-based company has plans for other models for urban homes in the near future.

The black Agro2o Renaissance model

Agro2o®’s Renaissance model is a plug-and-play solution that allows anyone to grow fresh herbs, plants, and even flowers inside their homes with very little daily human attention. The microcontroller-based system intelligently judges and provides the right level of light, water, and nutrients required, to create an ideal growing environment for the plant. “When it comes to herbs one can grow basil, thyme, oregano, and rosemary,” says Yash. “As for vegetables one can grow lettuce, spinach, arugula, bell peppers, and chillies. Besides this, you can grow over 50 different ornamental plants, including marigolds and petunias. All you need to do is plug in the pre-seeded pods.”

Once the system is set up, you just need to top up water at regular intervals. The smart garden is enabled with a touch screen and wifi connectivity and sends out alerts to users whenever water is required. The best part? You don't require any prior knowledge about gardening to grow plants indoors through your smart garden.

Agro2o lets you grow vegetables indoors... it's child's play!

Agro2o® believes it addresses four key constraints any urban dweller interested in gardening may have, such as the lack of living space, time, knowledge, and resources. Moreover it requires 90 percent less water to grow plants than with the conventional way of growing. And thanks to its hydroponics technology, the growth rate is 4-5 times faster.

The company says that an important benefit is that plants grown on Agro2o® are more nutritious compared to conventional methods of gardening because the system provides nutrients in precise quantities and for exact durations.

A white Agro2o model

Each Agro2o® Renaissance model can grow 12 plants at once, has an intelligent nutrient dosing system, automated watering, and spectrum-adapted LEDs for growth (there is grow light on top of the product which gives the right set of spectrum to plants to grow). All of this is controlled via one’s smartphone. Once the growth cycle is complete, you just need to replace the old pods with new pre-seeded pods, by purchasing them from Agro2o®.

Agro2o® is a New Delhi based agri-tech company incubated by Electropreneur Park – an initiative of Ministry of Electronics and IT, Government of India. https://www.agro2o.com/