Five buckets, one strong frame.
Five 11-liter Dutch Buckets on a rust-resistant aluminum frame with overhead hooks for heavy climbers. A recirculating reservoir, pump, and drip feed them, with two lid options per bucket.
Tobato Smart · Dutch Bucket Growing Station
Grow what most balconies can't.
The Dutch Bucket method professional growers trust. Guided from seed to harvest.
Reserve Your Tobato
$1,044 $835
Tobato Smart
5 – 20 PlantsA professional growing method for big crops, made simple to run.
Tobato Smart is a five-bucket Dutch Bucket system, the same method commercial growers use for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and other large fruiting crops. A tall aluminum frame with hooks along the top lets you tie and train climbing plants however suits them; a recirculating reservoir feeds the roots. Run it as five large plants, up to twenty smaller ones, or any mix in between.
It assembles in about thirty minutes, one person, with the tools in the box. Week to week the system asks for a few minutes: top up the water, check the nutrient and pH levels. The plants ask for more as they grow, and that is where most people growing fruiting crops get stuck.
Which is the point of Vegardi. It guides you through the parts that trip growers up around month three, when to trellis, when to prune, how to help fruit set, so the hard stage is just the next step. The pump keeps its own schedule, flags you the moment anything goes wrong, and lets you shift the watering cycles as the plants grow. The growing itself stays yours, and the app makes sure you always know the next move.
Food-grade
materials
materials
30-day
returns
returns
2-year
warranty
warranty
Pre-orderShips August 2026
Tobato Smart 5
$1,044 $835
Includes 12 months of Vegardi Premium
Pre-order · Ships August 2026
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You're charged today; ships August 2026. Cancel anytime before it ships.
Dimensions
Assembled: 163.5 cm (H) × 121 cm (W) × 61 cm (D). Floor footprint: 121 × 61 cm, about the size of a small console table. Leave 20 – 30 cm of clearance on each side for airflow and access.
The 40-liter insulated reservoir sits at the base of the frame, beneath the buckets. Shipping weight is 16.85 kg, and it arrives in a single carton.
What's in the box
The aluminum frame with overhead hooks for tying up climbing plants, five 11-liter Dutch Buckets, two interchangeable lids per bucket (one large opening or four small), the 40-liter reservoir, the DC pump and transformer, the full drip circuit, and a float valve for optional auto-refill.
Plus the sprouting kit, the smart plug, four practical booklets, and 12 months of Vegardi Premium. Assembly tools are included. Growing media, seeds, and nutrients are not, so you choose your own.
Basic requirements
A level outdoor spot, patio, rooftop, deck, or yard, with at least three hours of direct sun a day; six or more is better for fruiting crops. A standard power outlet within reach (the pump draws very little).
The smart plug needs Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz) to talk to the app for live, remote control. The pump itself keeps running the schedule you set, even without a connection.
Optional: connect the float valve to a tap and the reservoir tops up on its own. Indoor growing is possible too, with grow lighting strong enough for fruiting plants.
Shipping & returns
First pre-order shipments begin August 2026.
A 30-day return window applies from delivery. Read the shipping & returns policy
Warranty
Every Tobato Smart is covered by a two-year limited warranty.
What you unbox
Everything you need. One box.
Strong starts, before the buckets.
A propagator tray with forty sites, peat plugs, seed markers, and LED grow lights on a timer. Raise healthy seedlings indoors while the season warms up.
12 months Premium.
Crop-specific guidance from seed to harvest, trellising, pollination and pruning included, tuned to your plants, your space, and your season.
The pump, on your phone.
Connects the pump to Vegardi so you can set and adjust watering cycles as plants grow, and get an alert the moment it stops.
Four practical booklets.
Assembly, hydroponic maintenance, an edible-plants encyclopedia, and pest and deficiency management. The references you reach for when a question comes up.
The Dutch Bucket method
A deep bucket for every plant. Fed around the clock.
The roots get room to grow. The feed recirculates around the clock, or on a timer you set. The rest is growing. That part stays yours, and Vegardi guides you on exactly what to do, how, and when.
What the system handles
- deep enough for the roots a big fruiting crop puts down.
- frequent, oxygen-rich, and reused rather than poured away.
- so if the flow ever stops, the app tells you before the plant does.
What you handle
- Top up the water by hand, or let the float valve do it from a tap, and check the nutrient mix and pH are where Vegardi says they should be.
- tie the plant to the frame's hooks the way that crop likes, and give it the sun and air it needs to thrive.
- when to pollinate, when to pick, when to start the next round. Vegardi has your back on each one.
~15 min
a week on the system. The plant asks for more as it grows, and that is the part worth showing up for.
Made for the long season
Built to bear fruit.
01
The frame
Aluminum that takes the weight.
A tall, powder-coated aluminum frame that stands up to a season of heavy, climbing growth. Overhead hooks let you tie and train each plant the way it grows.
02
The buckets
Eleven liters of food-grade root room.
Five deep, food-grade buckets, 11 liters each, with two lids apiece so every bucket grows what you decide. Built to be planted, emptied, and planted again.
03
The reservoir
Forty liters, insulated and foldable.
An insulated 40-liter reservoir holds the feed steady through a hot day and folds flat between seasons. A built-in port takes the float valve for hands-off refills.
04
Crop range
Sized for the big growers.
Deep buckets, a tall frame, and room to climb, made for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and squash, not just greens. The full range, out in the open air.
Set up · Grow · Harvest
From the box to the first tomato.
Step 01
Stand it up
Frame, buckets, and reservoir fit together with the mallet and screwdriver in the box. No drilling, no wall, no second pair of hands. Pick a sunny spot and it's standing.
~30 min
Step 02
Start your seedlings
Sow seeds in the propagator under its grow light, or bring in seedlings you already have. Either way, you begin with strong roots before they reach a bucket.
~10 min to sow
Step 03
Plant and connect
Set each plant in its bucket, one big crop per lid or four smaller ones. Fill the reservoir, plug into the smart plug, and the feed starts flowing. Log the plants in Vegardi and it takes the season from there.
~20 min
Step 04
Train and check in
As the plants climb, tie them to the hooks and give them sun and air. Once a week, top up the water and check the mix. Vegardi tells you what to do, and when.
~15 min / week
Step 05
Pick, and keep picking
When the first tomatoes blush and the cucumbers fill out, pick them at their peak. The plants keep giving for months, and when a crop is spent, you start the next one.
First harvest in 6–12 weeksOne system, many gardens
You decide what it grows.
Each of the five buckets takes one of two lids, so you can set Tobato up for exactly what you're after, then change your mind next season.
1 or 4
plants per bucket
One wide opening (4″) for a single big plant, or four small ones for compact crops. Your call, bucket by bucket.
5–20
plants in all
Five large producers, twenty smaller ones, or any mix across the row. That range is yours to set.
Optional
growing media
Root your plants in clay pebbles, or grow without. Either way works in the same bucket.
Tomatoes this season, strawberries the next. Nothing here is fixed.
From unboxing to growing.
Before you start
What you'll need.
Required
-
Sun or grow lights
3+ hours direct sun outdoors, or grow lighting indoors
-
A power outlet
For the pump, within reach of the reservoir
-
Water to fill it
For the 40-liter reservoir
Optional
-
Wi-Fi + smartphone
For live alerts and remote control
-
A water tap nearby
For hands-off auto-refill
What you can grow
The big ones first. Happy to grow the rest.
From tomatoes and peppers to the greens and herbs you reach for daily. Vegardi walks you through each one, from first seed to first harvest.
Lettuce
~7 weeks
Basil
~7 weeks
Tomato
~11 weeks
Cabbage
~11 weeks
Garden Pea
~9 weeks
Spinach
~6 weeks
Mint
~11 weeks
Cucumber
~9 weeks
Broccoli
~11 weeks
Green Bean
~9 weeks
Arugula
~6 weeks
Parsley
~10 weeks
Strawberry
~17 weeks
Cauliflower
~14 weeks
Chickpea
~13 weeks
Swiss Chard
~9 weeks
Cilantro
~7 weeks
Zucchini
~7 weeks
Brussels Sprouts
~13 weeks
Lentil
~13 weeks
Kale
~7 weeks
Oregano
~13 weeks
Watermelon
~13 weeks
Bell Pepper
~13 weeks
Fava Bean
~11 weeks
Bok Choy
~6 weeks
Thyme
~12 weeks
Cantaloupe
~12 weeks
Eggplant
~11 weeks
Soybean
~11 weeks
Mustard Greens
~8 weeks
Rosemary
~14 weeks
Spaghetti Squash
~13 weeks
Kohlrabi
~8 weeks
Mung Bean
~6 weeks
Mizuna
~6 weeks
Sage
~12 weeks
Butternut Squash
~14 weeks
Chili Pepper
~10 weeks
Black Gram
~10 weeks
Kai Choy
~6 weeks
Chives
~7 weeks
Tomatillo
~13 weeks
Okra
~9 weeks
Lima Bean
~10 weeks
Tatsoi
~6 weeks
Dill
~7 weeks
Bottle Gourd
~11 weeks
Napa Cabbage
~9 weeks
Runner Bean
~11 weeks
Endive
~8 weeks
Lavender
~13 weeks
Chayote
~21 weeks
Red Cabbage
~11 weeks
Yardlong Bean
~10 weeks
Radicchio
~9 weeks
Lemon Balm
~10 weeks
Cucamelon
~9 weeks
Romanesco
~14 weeks
Cowpea
~10 weeks
Watercress
~6 weeks
Lemon Verbena
~13 weeks
Bitter Melon
~10 weeks
Chinese Broccoli
~6 weeks
Pigeon Pea
~14 weeks
Sorrel
~9 weeks
Tarragon
~12 weeks
Pepino Melon
~15 weeks
Lupin
~11 weeks
Komatsuna
~6 weeks
Savory
~10 weeks
Ground Cherry
~10 weeks
Tepary Bean
~7 weeks
Collard Greens
~8 weeks
Fennel (leaf)
~11 weeks
Luffa
~13 weeks
Winged Bean
~10 weeks
Mallow
~9 weeks
Garlic Chives
~11 weeks
Hyacinth Bean
~10 weeks
Purslane
~5 weeks
German Chamomile
~9 weeks
Azuki Bean
~13 weeks
Rabe
~10 weeks
Stevia
~14 weeks
Fenugreek
~6 weeks
Leaf Celery
~10 weeks
Za'atar
~10 weeks
Alfalfa
~9 weeks
Dandelion Greens
~9 weeks
Horse Radish Leaf
~9 weeks
Radish Greens
~5 weeks
Turnip Greens
~6 weeks
Winter Endive
~8 weeks
Honest answers
Questions growers ask first.
Do I need to know hydroponics or the Dutch Bucket method?
No. The method is the system's job. Yours is the growing, and Vegardi gives you the week's tasks for the exact crops you planted. You learn the method by using it, not by studying it first.
What happens when the plants get big and complicated?
That stage, usually around month three, is the real test with fruiting crops, and it's where Vegardi earns its keep. It tells you when to trellis, when to prune, and how to help the flowers set fruit, one step at a time.
You won't be guessing at the hardest part.
How much time does it take each week?
About 15 minutes a week on the system: top up the water and check the nutrient mix and pH. The plants ask for more hands-on time as they grow, training and harvesting, and the app paces that for you.
Does it have to be outdoors? How much sun?
It's built for a sunny outdoor spot, a patio, roof, deck, or yard, with at least three hours of direct sun a day; six or more is better for fruiting crops.
Indoors works too, as long as you add grow lighting strong enough for fruiting plants.
What's not included in the box?
Growing media, seeds, and nutrients are not included, so you can choose your own. Everything else is: the frame, five buckets, reservoir, pump, full drip circuit, float valve, smart plug, sprouting kit, booklets, and 12 months of Vegardi Premium.
What about pests and disease?
Send Vegardi a photo and it identifies the problem, drawing on expertise across 160+ pests, diseases, and deficiencies, then walks you through what to do about it.
How hard is it to put together?
About 30 minutes for one person, using the mallet and screwdriver in the box. No drilling and no wall fixing, just a level spot to stand it on.
Still on the fence? Reserve now, pay nothing until it ships.
Reserve Your TobatoPre-order · Ships August 2026
Your biggest harvest starts now.
$735 $588
Reserve Your TobatoPay nothing until it ships · Cancel anytime
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