FAQ before purchasing Poty

    🌱 About Poty

      📍 Weight, colors and sizes

      Poty weight and dimensions

      The weight of Poty when installed depends on how many and what type of plants are grown. In general consider the following:

      • The weight of Poty installed without substrate and without water is about 5/7 Kg
      • With substrate and water for irrigation is about 20/25 Kg for the S Kit and 40/45 Kg for the L Kit
      • With plants in full bloom and fruits is maximum 60/65 kg

      However, the metal structure at the base of Poty is designed to hold much more than that, so there are no stability problems.

      For very windy areas, we recommend placing a hook on the wall to fix the Poty system even better, so even in case of bad weather there are no issues.

      SIZE

      • Poty S measures 42cm x 42cm x 83cm
      • Poty L measures 42cm x 42cm x 154cm

      Available colors

      Poty is only available in the green and white color combination.

      📍 Components and Starter Kit

      What is included with Poty

      In the Poty box you will find:

      • Growing pots and water container, made from 100% recycled plastic
      • Metal base with wheels to easily change position and exposure to light
      • Water pump and irrigation pipes
      • Access to the digital cultivation App - Hexbee
      • User manual and digital experience account
      • Only for Poty + Starter Kit variant: coconut substrate and organic nutrients

      What is the Starter Kit?

      The Starter Kit includes everything you need for efficient cultivation.

      Here's what's included in the Starter Kit:

      • Mix of organic and sustainable nutrients
      • Coconut fiber substrate to support plant growth

      If you wish, you can combine your Poty with Growing Kits or our Season Plants to ramp up your cultivation!

      The Grow Kits allow you to germinate easily thanks to a mini greenhouse, while Seasonal Plants are ready for transplanting into your Poty.

      How long the Starter Kit lasts

      The Starter Kit is designed to last a complete cultivation cycle, therefore around 2/3 months, depending on the variety of plants and the season.

      You can buy coconut nutrients and substrate refills in the Extra Resources collections page.

      We recommend replacing the coco substrate every 6 months at the latest, before the onset of spring and autumn.

      Upgrade from Poty S kit to Poty L kit

      As easy as it gets!

      Check out our Expansion Kit and upgrade your Poty!

      📍 Hexbee

      What is Hexbee

      Hexbee is your digital growing guide: it will walk you through the use of Poty and explain how to care for your plants.
      Hexbee is a free app, which you can download on your phone and use whenever you want, to learn how to take care of your plants, use Poty or ask for support from customer service.

      It will help you monitor the progress of your plants and take care of them through tips, reminders, images and videos.
      If you want to know more about this nice bee, read: "Discover Hexbee, your digital cultivation guide"

      📍 How Poty works and frequent questions

      How easy is it to assemble?

      Assembling Poty is very simple and fast thanks to the assembly instructions both in the paper manual and on the Hexbee app.
      Inside Hexbee you will also find: how to use Hexbee, the assembly manual, the maintenance manual and the manuals for adding plants to Poty.

      How the irrigation system works

      The irrigation system is very simple, the vase at the base of your Poty serves as a container for water and nutrients. Inside this pot there is an automatic irrigation pump which must be connected to an electrical outlet. The timer of the pump will set the irrigation cycles automatically.

      All Poty pots are then irrigated via a series of tubes, microtubes and drippers, inserted inside the tower of pots.

      You will find all the information on how to assemble Poty, on how to assemble the irrigation system within the Hexbee app.

      Every step is explained with videos and if you need support you can contact us directly from there!

      How long the water last

      Depending on the season, you will have to fill the water container 1-2 times a week.
      We recommend topping up the water every week when you add nutrients, so you don't forget.

      Does Poty attract mosquitoes?

      The water tank can be covered with the Poty Container Cap in order to avoid any issue with insects.

      Some of our users also grow mosquito repellent varieties (for example lemongrass) on the first cultivation module directly above the water tank, to drive away any mosquitoes.

      Maintenance & Cleaning

      We recommend doing a Poty deep clean every 6 months, before the spring and fall growing season.
      You can also clean just a few modules without disassembling your entire Poty, for example when you want to replace the plants being grown in a particular pot.
      Poty is modular, so you simply disassemble Poty down to the module you want to clean, and then reassemble it all.
      Follow the Maintenance Manual instructions within the Hexbee app to find out how to clean your Poty.

      Electricity plug

      The Poty pump must be connected to an electrical outlet, a battery version is not currently available. If by any chance you don't have an outlet nearby, a possible solution is also to connect the pump cable with an extension only when it needs irrigation.

      📦 About Shipment, Payment and Returns

        📍 Shipments

        Shipment time

        We ship to Europe using trusted couriers only, and you will receive a tracking number to check where your Poty is.
        Orders normally have a processing time of around 5 days, but we usually do our best to deliver even earlier. You will receive an email when your order has been shipped.

        To sweeten the wait you will also receive some emails from our team with all the tips for growing with Poty, find out which plants are in season and much more!

        Where do we ship Poty

        We deliver to almost all of the European Union, to check any shipping costs, just proceed with the checkout and enter your address.

        Seasonal plants shipping costs

        In Italy, the shipment of seasonal plants is free over €25 (€25 of plants)
        Under €25 shipping costs €8.

        In the rest of Europe the shipping rate is always €15.

        Extra Resources shipping costs

        Shipping of agronomic resources is always free in Italy!
        For the rest of Europe, check the shipping costs by adding the product to your cart, starting the checkout and entering your address. This way you will receive an accurate and up-to-date fare.

        📍 Payments and Returns

        Payment methods accepted

        We accept major credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay and Apple Pay.
        To pay in installments you can use PayPal's "Pay in 3 installments" function.
        It is not possible to pay by cash or on delivery.

        Invoice

        If you would like an invoice, tick the invoice box during checkout.

        Returns

        You have 14 days to return. Warranty lasts 2 years.
        We replace or repair faulty components on arrival - if you run into any problems or need support, please contact our Support Team for assistance.

        🪴 About Plants and Cultivation

          📍 Plants and cultivation

          Grow indoors with Poty

          Growing with Poty inside your home or any other indoor space is possible, but you need to make sure it is placed in a room with plenty of natural light, around 6-8 hours a day, otherwise most edible plants will not grow efficiently.

          Sun exposure

          Sun exposure is not such a critical variable with Poty, you can grow on your balcony, terrace, or even inside the house, wherever sun shines: what's important is for your plants to get at least 6 hours of light (even indirect) per day for optimal growth.
          Remember that having direct light does not necessarily mean having the rays directly on the plants.
          Check the light requirement on each plant's sheet to transplant them in in the correct level of your Poty.

          It may interest you:
          Our article How to place plants on Poty
          Our video on Where to place seedlings in your Poty.

          Growing in Autumn and Winter

          Our team of agronomists is committed to offering varieties that are able to adapt well to the different climates and seasons of our users. Therefore, even for the autumn/winter season it is possible to cultivate a selection of already sprouted seeds and seedlings suitable for colder temperatures.

          Making a winter garden is simple and requires less attention. It is undoubtedly the best time to start gaining experience with varieties that require even less effort than spring or summer varieties.

          You can take a look at our winter Growing Kits and our catalog Seasonal Plants to start growing now. Once spring will come your garden will be full of vegetables to be harvested and ready for new cultivations, and you will have already become familiar with Poty and the irrigation system.

          Read also the article in the dedicated blog: Tips for the winter vegetable garden, even in the city to find out more.

          How to position plants in your Poty

          With Poty you can grow almost anything, you'll just have to pay attention to the level and in which direction you're going to place your seedlings inside the growing modules.

          You will have to place the varieties that grow very high in the lower modules of your Poty.

          Salads are to be placed in the middle where the direct sun does not shine, and the others can be placed based on the spaces you have left.

          You will find all this info explained in detail in Hexbee, the digital cultivation guide for Poty, where you will learn every trick based on the varieties you want to grow.

          Every time you add a plant to Hexbee you will be able to read the recommended position and exposure.

          Here all the Seasonal Plants for transplanting available this season.

          Here one of our blog articles explaining How to place plants on Poty.

          Growing large veggies on Poty

          With Poty you can also grow larger vegetables, yes!
          The pots are about 30 cm deep anyway, so they are certainly not as optimized as in soil cultivation. For a hobbyist consumption, however, we guarantee you'll have satisfying harvests.

          It is sufficient to plant these veggies in the lowest level of Poty, so that as they grow they will have more space.

          You can also decide to support these veggies' growth with stakes, to push them grow vertically.
          Remember to be consistent with watering and adding nutrients to the water for a successfull harvest!

          Growing with seeds not purchased via Hexagro

          With Poty you can order both Seasons Plants and Growing Kits on our website.

          We do not currently sell single seeds but you can certainly use those available on the market, however for those we cannot guarantee the "success" of germination nor detailed cultivation guides on Hexbee.

          If this is your first time growing, our advice is to order the already germinated plants ready for transplanting, they are germinated in the nursery and avoid the most delicate part of cultivation, i.e. germination. It's nothing impossible of course, but usually our Urban Farmers opt to start with seedlings so they gain experience and become familiar with Poty, then slowly as they get carried away they continue with the our Growing Kits to germinate on their own.

          How to buy the right number of Season Plants

          Poty S contains from 16 to 20 plants, and Poty L from 36 to 40.

          When you buy ready-to-transplant seedlings on our site, you can find the package size of each plant on its page.

          To calculate how many plants to buy to fill your Poty (fully, or only partially), you can refer to the description of each plant, where it is specified if they are trays (of 4, 6 or 9 seedlings each, therefore each cube worth one poty slot) or pots (1 pot = 1 slot).

          You can visit the plant catalog for inspiration and find your favorite varieties!

          Using soil for growing with Poty

          It is NOT possible to use soil on Poty, due to the fact that it can easily clog the irrigation system and block the pump.

          We use organic and recycled coconut substrate to avoid this drawback and because it is a much more sustainable choice than regular potting soil.

          We wrote an article on the benefits of coconut fiber if you want to learn more: Why choose coconut fiber as a substrate?

          🥥 About Extra Resources and Member Exclusive items

            📍 Member's exclusive

            What it means Member's Exclusive

            Registering in the Member's Exclusive area gives you the opportunity to purchase exclusive plants, substrate and nutrient refills and Growing Kits.
            Becoming a member is free, but only those who have purchased Poty can register as a member.

            If you have already purchased Poty, once you register on the Hexbee app you will automatically receive the email to access the Member's Exclusive area on our website.

            📍 Coconut substrate

            What is Coconut Substrate

            To support the growth of the plants inside Poty we have chosen the coconut fiber substrate.

            The coconut substrate is a recycled product deriving from the mesocarp of the nut of the plant itself, in other words a by-product of the coconut industry.

            It is a very sustainable organic product and at the same time practical to use.

            It's not dirty or leaves stains, it arrives at home in comfortable compact 650g blocks which, once hydrated inside the pot, become a very friable cultivation base.

            We chose coconut substrate because it's perfect for vertical irrigation systems and doesn't clog the pump, it has excellent draining and anti-mould properties too.

            If you want to know more, read the blog article on the benefits of coconut fiber: Why choose coconut fiber as a substrate?

            How to expand Coconut Substrate

            The substrate must be hydrated before assembling Poty, in order to be able to add it as you assemble the pots.

            It's very easy and all you need is a container and some water! You will find all the steps in the paper manual and in the Hexbee app.

            If this is the first time you hear about coconut substrate, you can read this dedicated article Why choose coconut fiber as a substrate.

            Transplanting plants grown in soil into your Poty

            Plants grown in soil can be transplanted on Poty but it is important to clean the roots as best as possible, as too much standard soil then risks blocking the irrigation system. Please be mindful that our Hexbee digital guide primarily supports the guide for seedlings we have in our online catalog.

            If you want tips on how to transplant seedlings you can also read our blog article on 4 things to consider for transplanting.

            Coconut substrate smell

            If your substrate smells weird or unpleasant, keep in mind that you are growing with completely organic, natural and sustainable materials, so it can happen, but nothing is lost!

            There can be several reasons why your substrate has an unusual smell:

            1. Moulds, fungi or bugs: if they are present please check on Hexbee now how you can fight them, and don't hesitate to get in touch with our support!
            2. Poor air flow: is your Poty located in an area with adequate air circulation? Plants need flowing air to breath!
            3. Excessive heat
            4. Excess of nutrients

              For the last two cases, the advice is to empty the water container, rinse it and fill it again. To do this with when your Poty is assembled, you can simply remove one of the two plastic stoppers in the center of the base pot, so the water can flow out.
              Then rinse the vase with a little running water to remove all nutrient residues, reposition the stoppers and fill the vase again.

            📍 Growing Kits

            What are the Growing Kits

            Growing Kits are small kits for germinating from seeds and are designed to be used together with your Poty.

            Each Kit contains a mini greenhouse, three bags of seeds, coconut substrate and instructions for using them.
            The varieties of seeds included change according to the Kit you choose: at this link you can find our complete catalog of Growing Kits

            How to use the Growing Kits

            The complete instructions for using the Growing Kits are contained within the package in which you received the Kit or within the Hexbee app, so we advise you to consult them to find out in detail how to use them!

            In simple steps: you will need to expand the substrate, place it in the propagator and add the seeds. Once the propagator is covered you will need to wait and keep an eye on the substrate until your plants germinate and are ready to transplant.

            📍 Nutrients

            What are the Nutrients for

            For Poty we use a mix of organic nutrients specifically designed to support plant growth in coconut substrate.
            Since coir is an inert material, meaning it doesn't contain nutrients or other substances for your plants, you need to add them to the water, so that they are distributed during irrigation.
            Nutrients are the "food" for your plants, they are needed to grow healthy, strong, and nutritious.

            How much Nutrients to add

            Nutrients are essential for the growth of your plants, so remember to always add them! They should be added at the time of the hydration of the coconut substrate, and then every week of cultivation. You will simply have to measure them with a measuring cup and then pour into the container of water at the base of Poty.

            You will find all the information on how many and which nutrients to add each week in Hexbee, the digital cultivation guide for Poty.