Most products exist because someone saw a market opportunity. Aquager exists because someone noticed a problem that was hiding in plain sight — and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
The problem: fresh food at home is harder than it should be. Not growing it in a full garden sense — but simply having access to genuinely fresh herbs, greens, and microgreens on a regular basis, without a garden, without a lot of money, and without a steep learning curve. For most people living in apartments or homes without outdoor space, “growing your own food” still feels like a category that doesn’t include them.
That gap is what Aquager is built to close. This is the story of why we started, what we believe, and what we’re building — told as plainly as we know how.
The Problem We Saw
Go to any grocery store and look at the fresh herb section. The basil is already wilting in its plastic sleeve. The cilantro was cut five to seven days ago and shipped from a farm hundreds of miles away. The microgreens — if they carry them at all — are in a small plastic clamshell that costs $6 and will be slimy within three days.
This is the best option most people have. And it’s not very good.
At the same time, home growing has traditionally been positioned as either a weekend project (raised beds, soil, outdoor space, tools) or an expensive hobby (elaborate hydroponic systems with steep learning curves). The space between “buy mediocre produce at the store” and “become a serious indoor gardener” has always been enormous — and almost nothing has lived in that middle ground.
That’s where Aquager is positioned. Not for serious gardeners. Not for people who already have outdoor space. For people who want fresh food in their kitchen, simply, without a learning curve, starting this week.
Why Microgreens
Of all the crops we could have started with, microgreens made the most sense — and not just for business reasons.
Microgreens are genuinely the most accessible form of home food production available. A single tray costs $2 to $4 in seeds and grow mat. It produces a harvest in 7 to 10 days. It requires no outdoor space, no advanced knowledge, no special equipment beyond a tray and a windowsill. And the nutrition it delivers — documented by USDA-funded research at 4 to 40 times the nutrient density of mature vegetables — is real and meaningful.
There’s also something that happens when someone grows their first tray. They watch seeds germinate. They see something living develop under their care. They harvest it themselves and eat it that day, fresher than anything they’ve ever bought in a store. For a lot of people, it changes how they think about food — not in a dramatic way, but in a quiet, practical way. The distance between them and what they eat gets smaller.
That experience is what we’re trying to create. The product is the tray and the seeds. The thing we’re actually delivering is the connection between a person and something fresh they grew themselves.
What We Believe About Fresh Food
We believe fresh food should be simple enough that anyone can access it — not just people with outdoor space, or people with gardening knowledge, or people with a lot of money to spend on high-end growing systems.
We believe that the act of growing something, even something small, is worth something in itself. Research on horticultural therapy and psychological well-being consistently shows that caring for plants — even briefly, even in a small way — has measurable positive effects on stress, mood, and attention. A 7-day microgreens tray isn’t a garden. But it’s not nothing either.
We believe in making products that don’t require a manual. The Grab & Grow Pre-Seeded Starter Kit is pre-seeded and ready to go — you add water. The Microgreens Starter Kit includes the tray, dome, and grow mat with clear instructions for a first-time grower. Nothing about our products assumes you already know what you’re doing, because most people don’t — and that’s fine.
We believe in being honest about what our products are and aren’t. We don’t claim our microgreens will cure disease. We do cite the peer-reviewed research that shows their nutritional density is exceptional. If you want to read the science, it’s available in our guide: Microgreens Benefits: The 7 Most Nutritious Varieties, Ranked by Science.
And we believe in organic where it matters. Our grow mats use organic coconut coir. No pesticides are needed in a controlled growing environment — because there’s no pest pressure to manage. We explain the full reasoning in our post on whether microgreens are organic and what pesticide-free actually means.
How We Build
We’re a small business, which means every product decision we make is deliberate. We can’t launch 50 SKUs and see what sticks. We have to choose carefully, and we have to stand behind everything we sell.
Our product philosophy has three principles:
Simplicity first. A product that requires a long learning curve will fail most first-time growers. The barrier to starting is already real — it’s the reason most people don’t grow their own food despite wanting to. Every product we build is designed to reduce that barrier as much as possible. The pre-seeded kit exists specifically for people who don’t want to think about seed ratios or soak times. Just add water.
Quality that shows. The coconut coir grow mats we use are organic and consistent. The seeds are sourced for germination rate and flavor, not just price. The growing trays are sized to industry standard so that every guide, every tip, and every photo you find elsewhere applies directly to your setup. We don’t cut corners on the inputs because the output — a tray of fresh food you’re going to eat — matters.
Accessible price points. The microgreens seed packs start at $3.99. The Starter Kit is $24.99. We’ve designed the line so that the first tray costs almost nothing to try, and repeat growing costs a few dollars per harvest. We’re not building a business that’s only accessible to people who can spend a lot. That would undermine the whole point.
Support Small This Holiday Season
Small Business Saturday falls on the last Saturday of November. If you’re thinking about gifts this holiday season — a friend who cooks, a parent who wants a kitchen project, a partner who’s been talking about eating better — Aquager is worth considering.
The Grab & Grow Pre-Seeded Starter Kit is self-contained, visually beautiful, and requires nothing from the recipient except water and a windowsill. It’s the kind of gift that comes with a built-in experience. At $39.99, it competes with the candles and wine bottles that get given and forgotten.
The individual seed packs — $3.99 each — make excellent stocking stuffers for people who already have a tray setup, or for adding variety to someone’s first kit. We have varieties for every palate: mild and sweet (pea shoots, sunflower), bold and peppery (radish, mustard, arugula), nutritionally dense (broccoli, kale), and visually dramatic (amaranth garnet red, purple kohlrabi).
When you buy from Aquager, you’re buying from a small team that designed these products, tests them, packs them, and genuinely cares whether your first tray grows. You’re not buying from a brand that assembled a product catalog to fill a category. We’re in the category because we started there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Aquager based?
Aquager is based in Chicago, Illinois, and has been part of the mHUB innovation community since our early development stage. We design and develop our products in Chicago and ship directly to customers across the US.
Who founded Aquager?
Aquager was founded by Jiri Zeman. You can read more about the founding story and the reasoning behind the brand name in our posts on the Hydroponics blog.
What makes Aquager different from big hydroponic brands?
We’re a small team building products for people who are new to growing, not for experienced gardeners. Our focus is on the lowest possible barrier to a first successful grow — simpler products, lower price points, and content that assumes nothing about prior knowledge.
Can I grow microgreens if I’ve never grown anything before?
Yes — that’s exactly who our products are designed for. The Grab & Grow Pre-Seeded Starter Kit requires no knowledge at all — seeds are pre-embedded, you add water. The full beginner’s guide is here: How to Grow Microgreens at Home: The Complete Beginner’s Guide.
Do you ship nationally?
Yes. We ship to all 50 US states. Seed packs and grow mats ship quickly and safely. Starter kits and the Grab & Grow Kit are packaged to arrive in great condition.
Start Here
If you’ve made it this far, you already know more about us than most people who buy our products. We’re glad you did.
The simplest place to start is a single pack of seeds — $3.99, includes a grow mat, ready to plant. Pick a variety that sounds interesting to you: pea shoots if you want mild and sweet, radish if you want something with bite, broccoli if you’re focused on nutrition. Your first tray will cost you less than a coffee and teach you more about fresh food than a year of buying it at a grocery store.
This holiday season, if you’re looking for gifts that are genuinely useful, genuinely fresh, and come from a small team that cares about the outcome — we’d be honored to be on your list.
Author: Aquager
Published: June 1, 2026
Updated: June 1, 2026
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