Hydroponics Sponge Grow Sponges [Pack of 50] – Organic, Sustainable, USA-Made AeroGarden Compatible Refill Sponges – 100% Coco Coir Seed Sponges – Garden Sponges with Seed Divots by Urban Leaf

After ordering the 50 pack replacement sponges (non-Aerogarden brand) only about 45 came. They likely had their weight threshold off in their manufacturing. I let the seller know and they sent another bag STUFFED TO THE BRIM free of charge.Note that these have the hole punched in random places instead of always in the center. I promise your plants don't care as long as they have clear view of the light.At first I used taped on saran wrap to simulate the iron on transfers. I had an X shape cut into them. I eventually realized my seeds don't care if it's open air, so I stopped using saran wrap. Just reused plastic holder + this sponge + sometimes the clear plastic seed cover/cap (read on to see why I recommend skipping the cover/cap).I had mold issues with every seed I planted after the first round of plants established themselves. (I.e. not starting over with every pod - just a few). 0% success rate with each one. I tried leaving the cover cap off the seeds and success went to about 50 success. (Note that when a seed failed due to being covered in mold or fungus, I would remove the dead seed, run water over the sponge while on a plate so that there's a small pool of water, and microwaved the sponge (Only the sponge! No plastic pod.) Until there was a healthy rapid boil and tons of steam. Any algae in it will turn to these bright green clumps. Once it cooled, I ran the sponge under cool water to make sure it was completely cool before putting a new seed in. I brushed the plastic pod with a toothbrush to remove any green algae or fungus spores, sometimes with dish soap, sometimes not. This is what gave me the 50% success rate. If you don't do that and reuse the fungusy sponge you'll likely still have a 0% success rate even with the top off. Replacing the sponge with a new one would also work but why waste them?To get the rate close to 100% success while having other established plants, I waited till the Aerogarden needed more fertilizer and then I cleaned the Aerogarden unit. (This is on an Aerogarden Harvest unit.) To do this, I pulled all the plants out. Any new or young seeds/sprouts were manually removed from the sponge (the others were too established and could not be removed). The removed sponges were microwaved after being put on a plate. Once cooled and had cold water run over them, the seeds/sprouts would be returned to the sponges. The plastic pods that could be separated were all brushed with a toothbrush, with or without dishsoap. The white plastic top that holds the pods was removed from the water basin. Pressing on the tabs on the white top one by one separated the 2 pieces that make it up. This was scrubbed with dish soap and a toothbrush. The water in the basin was dumped and the inside was lightly scrubbed with a soapy sponge. The little sponge in the basin that protects the pump was removed, root bits were extracted and the sponge was cleaned.Because I keep fish tanks, I know that sponge will grow a harmless naturally occurring bacteria and eat some of the ammonia and nitrites from my fertilizer instead of letting my plants consume it. I typically wash this first, squeeze the water out, and let it sit out to dry. The bacteria dies within 5-15min of this and if I cleaned everything thoroughly it would take about 6 weeks to re-establish. Given that I likely don't get every nook and cranny, it probably re-establishes itself faster. Who knows if this is helping my plants much but it gives me warm fuzzies knowing they're getting a tiny bit more amonia and nitrite nutrients.Once all the soap is rinsed off, double check the power cord attached to the removable basin to make sure it's dry. Fill the basin and put everything back together. Put the plants back in, leaving the caps off the seedlings and seeds. Add your fertilizer and you're ready to go. This cleaning process skyrocketed my success rate with the seeds. I like to think it's because I killed the bulk of the spores in the water making it work that much harder to come back. By the time it has a chance to come back, my seedlings are established and seemingly naturally resistant. (I use all organic seeds, so there's no pesticide help.)I highly recommend these sponges. They look wonky but they totally work. (And note that the Aerogarden brand pods might look less wonky but they have the same mold/fungus issues.)

I wanted to chime in about these to hopefully help the folks having algae and mold issues. It seems likely, especially from some of the photos, that this issue happens due to user error.With hydroponics, you can't just take a plastic grow cage, add growing material (like these sponges), plant with the sponges receiving light on top, and go. You have to cover the top of each pod to let in as little light to the tank as possible. If not, you are creating the perfect environment for mold and algae growth, which isn't at all unique to this brand.The Aerogarden brand pods already come with a glued-on cover for each pod, but it's easy to forget that cover isn't optional and if you're DIYing it, you need to add your own covers. So unless you crafted your own covers before reviewing, I wouldn't blame these sponges for the mold or algae. I recommend a little aluminum foil with a small hole for the plant to grow through.Any brand or any growing material in a hydro system that lets too much light in will have this issue. That being said, these are wonderful when used properly. I've grown dozens of amazing plants in them without a single mold or algae problem, some literally reaching the size of a bush in a 6-pod system!Remember not to leave the tops of the sponges exposed to light, and always thoroughly pre-soak them with water, and I bet that will help a lot. Happy growing!

I have purchased other brands of these “sponge” pods, this brand was a bit more narrow., short and less solid but my seeds did germinate just fine even if the sprout navigated off to the side- ( no big deal just tore my paper back) . price was good- overall quality somewhat lacking

Like several other reviews, mine were mildewy smelling upon arrival. They grew mold on them even after I soaked them in hydrogen peroxide first and started them in an aerogarden that I cleaned with bleach and then ran thru the dishwasher's "sanitize" cycle. Some of the seeds I started with the plugs germinated and grew OK, some just stunted out. some did not germinate and both the seeds and plug became moldy in the matter of a couple of weeks.I grow super hot peppers, which can take up to 28 days to germinate, as well as expensive/rare seeds where losing even one is a major loss. Upon doing some research I believe coco is fundamentally flawed for my needs. Peat moss is naturally antimicrobial and low in pH, two things that help seeds germinate and prevent bad mold formation. Another alternative, rockwool, should also resist mold better than coco.I believe that even if the plugs didn't come inoculated with mold, they probably would have developed mold in time due to the nature of coco. I would love a sustainable alternative but I'm going to stick with peat for now and maybe find a charity that restores peat bogs I can donate some bucks to.

These seed starters for the AeroGarden Hydoponic grow plastic holders work far better than the seed started from AeroGarden. They come apart a bit easily, so you have to be gentle with them and may find a damaged one or two per bag. However, to me the function and the excellent functioning of these seed starter pods far outweighs any minor loss in the bag of them from damage in package or done by me by accident. These are the bomb. In fact, I started a grow in my AeroGarden with the AeroGarden pods first, but some did not germinate properly, so I lost all my herbs and most of my highly prized seeds which have been difficult to replace given the time of year. Starting over in August with an herb garden makes procuring seeds difficult, because of the time in the season it is. However, once I got the seeds, the pods (seed starters) in this bag allowed my seeds to germinate quicker and more assuredly. My garden is on and growing because of this product. A definite must buy and use for any AeroGarden Gardener growing with their own seeds. I highly recommend this product to all.

using these without issue in my AeroGarden Harvest. bought these 3rd party sponges and 3rd party baskets on amazon and just using regular big box store seeds i've had lying around.Interesting thing is how quickly everything has germinated. Tomato's and basil (far front left) are about 6 days old in these pics and the thyme is only two days old (middle two) and have already germinated. very happy with this. and fyi - these sponges release nicely from the baskets when transferring to soil so no need to cut the basket. just be sure to have an eye on the size of the roots and transplant accordingly.Anyhoo, the large tomato plant is about 12 months old (indeterminate) and the soil is pretty much depleted so i started another run (babies) shown in tent. these new tomato's (aero) will be given away to neighbors with similar set ups.all in all, the sponge are not exactly perfectly formed to fit the baskets but work fine. definitely recommend.

Nothing to dislike do exactly as described

Amazon has now asked about a bazillion times about my purchase of dirt. It's dirt. Okay, it's actually a type of sponge but I don't care. They (mostly) fit inside my Aerogarden and they (generally) stay together and don't fall apart and let me (usually) plant seeds into the center and then: water + light + time + seeds = plants and herbs. They are cheaper than the ones I can get directly from Aerograden, do the same thing and 80-95% show up in one piece depending on how rough the delivery guy handles them. Or as an old farmer who lived by my house when I was growing up used to say: "buy dirt because they stopped making it." He's dead now. And likely dirt. Enjoy!

I think that Urban Leaf has addressed a lot of the previous reviewers concerns very well. It has a QR code on the front that addresses fungus that may be present. The bag was in excellent shape. The pods are not crumbled. They appear small but expand with water. I'm glad I took a chance on these because I figured it was a gamble.

Tried growing in Aero Garden multiple times, kept growing mold and nothing grew, DO NOT RECOMMEND