New to Gardyn? Then you are in the right place! Learn our 8 tips and tricks to shortcut your way to the most abundant Gardyn possible!

Tip 1: Prune Your Plants!
You need to make sure you keep your plants pruned, aka, taking off any dead or dying leaves. These dead and dying leaves are using up nutrients that could be better used by the rest of the plant. Not to mention, dead leaves and plant debris can attract pests!

Tip 2: Use a Fan
Use a fan to mimic the natural outdoor wind. It stimulates healthy plant growth (significantly!) and helps prevent pests.

Tip 3: Sprout Outside of the Gardyn
Definitely follow Kelby's advice on this! Put your yCubes into a shallow tray or dish with water filled to about 1/4 the height of the cube. (You cannot put them in your Gardyn to sprout once you have added plant food as it inhibits the sprouting of the plants.) I leave ours in the windowsill so they get the heat from the sunlight because warmth also helps them sprout more quickly.

But remember! All plants take different lengths of time to sprout. The lettuces are quick, but the fruiting and flowering plants and herbs take a bit longer. Check your Kelby's plant guide for more information!

Tip 4: Trim The Roots
Another key to healthy plant growth is to keep your roots trimmed. They will start to grow very long and can grow outside of the yCube sleeve. Take the roots that are growing out and tuck them back inside the sleeve. Anything that cannot be tucked back in should be cut. I also recommend cutting off any roots that are starting to rot or mold (turning brown or other colors).

Tip 5: Use Filtered Water
If you do not have access to clean water, you should really invest in a reverse osmosis filter (we have an AquaTru, and we make no money saying that). It removes all sorts of metals and toxins, like lead, from your water. Plants that get fed dirty water will take in toxins, which you will then eat, so keep it clean!

Tip 6: Clean Your Gardyn Regularly
Kelby will remind you to clean your Gardyn's water tank once a month. Do it! When you do, you'll notice some green staining from the plants (which should be ok), but you should scrub out any black or pink mold you find. a 1:10 hydrogen peroxide:water mix works well and is non-toxic!

Tip 7: Adjust your Light Schedule
If you purchased the subscription to Kelby, you can customize your light and water schedules for your plants. We shifted our light schedule so that it is dark 12:00am - 4:00am rather than 8:00pm - 12:00am because the light from the Gardyn is so bright it was making it hard for us to sleep in the other room.

Tip 8: Extra Sunlight & Windows
If you have windows in an area where you can put your Gardyn - do it!! The extra sunlight makes a huge difference in growth. Our plants grow towards the window light, so we know it is working! And comparing our Gardyn's growth to those in the forums, we can see ours is growing much faster.

We hope you enjoyed our 8 tips and tricks! Which one was the most helpful for you? Let us know in the comments below!

Want to buy a Gardyn? Use discount code JANINE100.
(We get a free month of our Kelby subscription if you use our code.)