Single Large vs Several Small - A hydroponic comparison

 There is a fundamental difference when comparing the two prevalent philosophies of large scale indoor gardens.  The Aerogarden approach is to created a collection of smaller, separate gardens with correspondingly smaller nutrient and water basins.  A larger garden is created by adding and/or stacking additional individual units.  The other approach, used by the Rise Garden, Gardyn, Tower garden and other similar units is to create a single much larger unit, typically on several levels, or in several vertical towers, but all controlled by a single basin of nutrients, and a single processer timer that controls the lights and pump.

• Cost:  In the end, the two approaches may end up costing the same.  A large Rise garden or a tower garden costs about $1000.  If you bundle together two or three Farm Aerogardens you'll reach the same price.  One of the differences is that with the Aerogarden approach, you can slowly build your system over time, and incur the costs as you are able, at your own discretion.  With the single large gardens, even if they have payment options over time, you still have to commit to a very large purchase price all at once.
• Size.  One of the failure points, believe it or not, is the overabundance of produce.  In any indoor garden, as it reaches its peak productivity, it can often produce more vegetables than a family can consume unless they plan their planting very carefully.  When the production of the garden matces the family's needs, gardening is rewarding, but when the gardener gets overwhelmed by more produce than they can use, gardening becomes a chore that leads to neglect.  
• An overgrown garden starts to decay in various ways, including restricting airflow that invites disease and bugs, plants that bolt or go to seed unnoticed, water reservoirs that run dry because they are neglected.  Gardens are unkempt, and not the elegant artwork that they once were.
• A set of smaller gardens allows the gardener to dial in the correct size of planting that will perfectly fit the family's needs without overproducing.  Individual units can be brought online or taken out of service without bringing the whole system down.
  
• Customization.  When you have an indoor garden made of individual machines, it allows you to handle individual batches of crops with precise care.  Individual gardens tend to be treated like individual raised garden beds, dedicated to a particular crop.  Large machines are not so easily divided up into discrete gardening sections and the result tends to be a disorganized hodge-podge of whatever plants strike the gardener's fancy.  This tends away from focused food production and into the novelty plant of the week.
• In one section, you have mature tomato plants that are currently flowering and fruiting.  In another section you have brand new seedlings, in a third section you have newly sown seeds that haven't emerged yet.  How do you balance the nutrients for all three sections within a single reservoir?  With the single large garden, you can't make these kinds of fine tunings; you have to go with one single nutrient solution that circulates throughout the system.  With the Several Small approach, you can customize each growing unit to the plants within it, at the stage of the life cycle that they are at.
• A similar situation is true for the level of the lights.  Typically with a large garden, the lights are at a fixed distance from the plants.  This often results in spindly growth and leggy seedlings, while the mature kale next to them soaks up all the light.  With individual gardens, you can adjust the light height to the specific crop growing in each garden.
• Large gardens typically have a shared nutrient solution, held in a common reservoir.  This leads to other challenges as well.  Because of the large reservoir, it is difficult to change the water.  Actually performing a water change is a major undertaking, with buckets of water being carried back and forth, with the resultant nuisance of spilling.  Because of this, a complete water change is very seldom completed, and instead most people simply fill up the reservoir to replace the water that is lost.
  
• Then, you have the challenge of mixing the nutrients appropriately for such a large volume, with the need to get the concentration exact or risk burning or starving your plants.  This challenge is compounded when you complete a partial water change and the math gets more complex.  Then, because of the large volume of solution and the varied environments of that same water, you must carefully balance the pH to avoid a build up of nutrients.  Any disease or unwanted substance that gets into the water is immediately shared with all the plants in the system.
• With the Several Small approach managing the reservoir and nutrient solution is a much easier affair.  First, a complete water change is as easy as emptying a bowl into the sink.  Because of the small reservoir size, complete water changes are easy, not particularly messy, and can be performed routinely on a monthly basis if necessary.  If something is out of balance with the nutrients or with water quality, you are never more than a quick rinse away from a fresh start with a new solution.  The water size is small, so nutrients are simple to add with a few capfuls.  
• Several small gardens can be easily located in various places in your house.  Large gardens typically have to have a dedicated large area in which they reside.  This is a major footprint in your house and has to be planned as a focal point.  The resulting light can often dominate a space like a kitchen or dining room and can be overbearing in a bedroom.  It should also be relatively near to water to facilitate the large water changes required.  With several small gardens, they can fit on a counter top, at the end of a bookshelf, on a small table that can be placed anywhere.  The lights for individual units, while bright, aren't necessarily more than a table lamp
• Pests.  When a large unit attracted unwanted insects like fungus gnats or aphids, they will immediately spread throughout the garden, since all the plants are in close proximity.  With individual small gardens, the infestation can often be contained to a single garden, which is mobile and can be isolated.  That individual garden can then be treated aggressively without subjecting other crops to the same treatment.