MiracleGro Aerogarden Bounty Elite makes indoor gardening simple

This $249 countertop garden system includes an LED lamp and a self-watering container. 

The onboard control panel walks you through the process of starting your first crop of indoor plants. You select what type of plants you will grow, and the Bounty Elite uses that information to determine how often it should light the garden for optimal growth.

You fill the Bounty Elite container with about one gallon of water. It was easier to fill it with a gooseneck kettle because of the small opening for the water.

After you've filled the container with water, you insert the Aerogarden seed pods into each of the nine slots at the top of the container.

The seed pod's container dirt in which a seed has been placed. 

The top of each pod tells you the type of seed that's inside, how long it will take to sprout and how tall it will grow.

You put little plastic domes over each seed pod to create a greenhouse effect that helps the seeds grow.

Once you have everything planted, the LED lamp will turn itself on and off depending on the settings you selected during the Quick Plant setup.

The control panel shows you how long the lamp has been on. It also tells you when you need to add water to the container or add plant food. You can access these same features on your phone through the Aerogarden app, which connects to the garden system via Wi-Fi.

The Bounty Elite is a decent size, but it can easily fit on a countertop or wide window sill.