Auk Mini Review: No-hassle herb growing

Introduction

I love cooking and often need fresh herbs, but my attempts at growing my own have never been very good: the ones in the garden tend to die off in winter, while the supermarket pots die after a few days.

The Auk Mini changes that and produces more herbs than I can realistically use, all with very little effort. 

Design and features

• Adjustable height light
• Water fill level indicator
• Variable light modes

The Auk Mini is available in a few different finishes depending on what you like. It’s built by a Scandinavian company, so each model has a simple, straightforward finish that looks good no matter where you place it.

It needs a bit of assembly to get it ready, but the simple quick start guide took me through that: the LED light has to be attached to the two poles, which connect to the base. You get 35cm poles in the box, but you can buy 50cm versions if you need the light higher.

There are then four individual pots, which have to be filled with the provided coconut fibre, before dropping into place on top of the unit.

Then, the water reservoir has to be filled. This takes a massive three litres of water, with a handy indicator on the side showing how much is left (each dot is one litre of water).

To aid growing, nutrients are provided, which should be dispensed in the correct amounts depending on whether you’re growing tomatoes and chilis or, as I was, herbs. The set of nutrients will last at least six months, although how hungry your plants are will make a difference. Replacements cost £24 for a pack.

With the kit, you get two packs of seeds. In my case it was basil and parsley. You can spread the seeds out across the four pots, or save two pots for use with your own seeds and plants.

With water and nutrients added, and seeds planted, the light needs to be lowered on the poles to aid growth.

The light is set to be on for 17.5 hours, and off for 6.5 hours, with a 45-minute dimming off time and 45-minute dim on mode. I could set the time that the light comes on by pressing and holding the light button for five seconds at the time you want it to come on.

For tomatoes and chillis, there’s a softer bloom light, rather than the default white light, which runs for 13.5 hours on and 10.5 hours off.

That’s it, really, aside from refilling water and nutrients, you can leave the Auk Mini to do its thing.

Performance

• Needs little intervention
• Plants grow fast

I wasn’t expecting much, and I’ve not had much luck with herbs grown indoors before, but the Auk Mini was a revolution. After just a couple of days, the basil started to grow, and it took a few days more for the parsley to grow.

After that, I had to slowly move the light up so that it was out of the way of the herbs, and then let them keep growing.

After a few weeks, I had large, healthy basil and parsley plants with no intervention from me. At the point the plants hit 10 to 15cm high, they’re good to harvest. Take no more than one-third of each plant, and then they’ll keep growing.

In fact, I grew more herbs than I could realistically use, even making pasta sauces with the excess basil. That’s not a problem, as I’d rather have too much than too little. 

Compared to the pots that I’ve bought in the supermarket before, the Auk Mini does a much better job.

Should you buy it?

FAQs