Sometimes your pods are not getting any water even though you have filled the garden with water according to instructions. The pods remain completely dry and the plants won’t grow, although the float is showing that the garden is full of water. Usually this indicates problems with wicks and these issues are very simple to solve on your own.
What exactly is a wick?
Wick is the absorbent stick that you can find in the tube of your smart garden cups. Their job is to transfer water from the water tank to the plant pod.
There are two common problems with wicks which affect the water transfer to the pods.
Wick is out of place
If the wick is too high it might have trouble getting the water. If it is too low, then it might not reach the soil. Make sure that the wick is in the right position and fits the tube it sits in perfectly. You can see an image of the correct placements for Smart Herb Garden and Smart Garden below:
Wick is clogged up
Sometimes the water is not transmitted even if the wick is in the correct position. This may be due to hard water build-up or root matter growing through the wicks - in this case, you should replace the wicks for new ones. For this you would need to remove the wick from the tube - you can just pop it out with a pencil or another thin object and then insert new ones.
A great guide on that can be found here:
When and how to change the wicks?
New wicks are available on our spare parts page: https://clickandgrow.com/collections/smart-garden-replacement-parts
Plants are root-bound
When your plants are past the end of their natural life-cycle (Lasts up to date has arrived), it may happen that the roots have taken over the soil pod. If you lift up the pod from the cup and you can see that the roots are covering the whole bottom of the soil surface, it is time for new pods.
Float is stuck
This is not to do with the wicks, but may also explain why your plants are not getting any water. Hard water may cause buildup around the float, which may result in the float getting stuck and not indicating the water level correctly. To test, just tap the float lightly and see if it bounces. If it does not, it could be that it is stuck. You should then try with a little more force. Try to remove the float and clean the buildup around it. When clean, the float will indicate the level of water accurately again.