Florida Woman Grows

Let’s face it: many of us have put off gardening because of its mountain of challenges (I know I have). It seems like there’s no end to the things you’ll need to consider to do it right: from the right sun and soil conditions to the perfect moisture management system to the prospect of all that getting up and down in garden beds. But you don’t have to let that hold you back.

Vertical garden systems makes easy work of many of these challenges for both beginners and experienced gardeners, and I want to share real results and reviews from two of the best out there. I’ve learned what features shine (and others not so much) and want to look out for in each planter.

And a South Florida gardener, I’ve put these two vertical planters through some of the harshest environmental tests out there. So, if I can garden easily with them, you definitely can, too! Let’s dive in to compare the Garden Tower 2.

Why go with a vertical garden system?

Let me first just say that vertical growing might change the whole way you see gardening (and you may never go back to the traditional raised beds or rows).

Why vertcial garden? It’s much more than space savings. These growers promise so many benefits, and in my experience, they really do deliver. 

From making the most of a tight patio space to getting some much-needed back relief, these planters can make gardening more accessible, fun, and produce abundance with ease. Plus, most of these systems demand very minimal maintenance after they’re set up.

Who does this work for? Beginner gardeners or those more experienced have plenty of reasons to like them. Whether you need to work in a more compact area, want to get into gardening quickly and easily without committing to building raised beds in a fixed area, or you live in an area with regular weather challenges and need the mobility that verticals provide (ahem, that goes Florida), many different gardeners will benefit from these systems.

How do you choose a vertical garden planter? Below, take a look at some of the top criteria you’ll want to think about before you buy. 

Buying considerations when choosing your vertical garden 

• Space Efficiency – How much growing area can the planter provide in a small footprint? 
• Ease of Setup – Can the job be done with one or two people?
• Ease of Use – How simple is the system to set up, plant, and maintain? Home gardeners want systems that are user-friendly.
• Soil Capacity – How much soil volume can the system accommodate? More soil allows for deeper root growth and bigger plants.
• Watering & Irrigation – Does the system efficiently distribute and retain water? Does it have built-in irrigation features?
• Nutrient Retention – Is nutrient retention part of the design?
• Mobility – Can the system be easily moved, rotated, or adjusted as needed? Versatility is valuable.
• Durability – Is the system well-constructed to withstand weather, pests, and daily use over multiple growing seasons?
• Customization – Can the planter be set up based on your personal gardening needs? Can you purchase accessories?
• Plant Variety – Can the system support a large range of vegetables, herbs, flowers, and more?
• Aesthetics – Does the design look work for your needs?
• Cost – What is the upfront and ongoing cost of the system compared to its features and benefits?
• Long-Term Maintenance – What kind of maintenance is needed and how frequently? Does the system make it easy?

Garden Tower 2 Versus GreenStalk: At-a-Glance Comparison Chart

Now, I’ll be honest: I absolutely love both of these tower gardens. (You’ll see it’s a very close race in the below chart’s ratings.) But they both have their own stand-out features, quirks, and less-than ideal details.

Here’s a quick chart to compare how the GreenStalk and the Garden Tower stack up. Read on below for more in-depth comments describing these ratings. (5 is Amazing, 1 is Absolutely Not Amazing.) 

Quick Take: Should You Buy a GreenStalk or Garden Tower 2?

There’s a lot to consider about the advantages of both systems. But here’s my quick takeaway.

The Garden Tower 2 from the Garden Tower Project is perfect for everyone from beginner gardeners to more intermediate or advanced growers looking to learn more about vermicomposting. For those who value the simplest approach to high-quality growing, plant health, and built-in soil building that lets you forget about turning the compost pile, the Garden Tower 2 is definitely worth the investment.

The GreenStalk Vertical Planter is ideal for anyone else who wants to easily start gardening with either limited space, limited time, or a more limited budget.

Ultimately, both systems are perfect for:

• First-time gardners
• Gardening for elders 
• Gardening with children
• Patios or those living in apartments
• Educational or sensory gardens
• People with accessibility needs
• Gardeners in all growing regions (including the hottest zones of the U.S.)

Check out this quick video below to cut to the chase and see the Garden Tower 2 and GreenStalk in action.

Full Review of the GreenStalk and Garden Tower 2: Key Features Compared

Let’s dive deeper into these system’s key features outlined in the chart above. 

Space efficiency 

GreenStalk (4)  |  Garden Tower 2 (5)

Vertical systems that maximize the usable space are generally ideal — but if space savings isn’t your primary goal, skip this one!

Best choice: The Garden Tower 2 wins narrowly. With space for more than 50 plants in 4 square feet (plus space to pack in even more on the highest exposed tier), your garden can be highly abundant in a tiny place. 

The Garden Tower 2 also makes maximum use of the central column area with its built-in vermicomposting (worm-based) system. This is a perforated tubing that processes kitchen scraps through worm power in a continuous, highly-efficient composting process. In the GreenStalk, the central column is somewhat underutilized, where only roots can travel into the unavailable soil area. 

But the GreenStalk also packs it in a compact area. The 5 Tier Original Planter comes with five levels of 10-inch deep soil tiers and a total of 30 relatively spacious pockets for planting.  

Ease of Setup

GreenStalk (4)  |  Garden Tower 2 (5)

These growers make gardening incredibly simple, but one thing you won’t be able to avoid is just a bit of setup.

Best choice: Again, the Garden Tower 2 has a slim edge from my experience, as this can easily be a one-person job. That’s because it’s made of lightweight (but durable) interconnected rings that lock in place to form a hollow core. If you’re using the included vermicomposting system (more on this below), these will stack inside the middle colum, and the pieces are a similarly lightweight, easy-to-connect design. Once the outer and inner rings are stacked, which takes a matter of minutes, you can just pour your soil into the open soil column (alternating adding soil with water to moisten).

The GreenStalk is by no means fussy to install, but the design makes for a bit more physical challenge. Each individual planting tier will need to be filled to the top with soil and moistened. Since each tier holds between 7-8 gallons of wet soil, it can be just a bit tricky to lift and fit every one into position on the planter. Depending on your comfort level, you may want a buddy for the process. 

Ease of Use

GreenStalk (5)  |  Garden Tower 2 (4)

Ease of gardening is what vertical growers are all about, so this should definitely be part of the package of what you’re buying.

Best choice: There are a few reasons why the GreenStalk has even more ease built in. While both planters are simple to work with, the GreenStalk makes a host of garden chores a breeze, from watering to planting to regular maintenance. 

One of the biggest reasons is the larger gardening pockets that allow you to get your whole hand into the planters, making transplanting and re-planting a breeze. Its waterng system (descrbied more below) allows for some of the simplest watering possible to ensure all your plants get water delivered to their roots perfectly. 

Soil Capacity

GreenStalk (5)  |  Garden Tower 2 (5)

Some vertical gardens are hydroponics systems, but for this review, we’re looking at two of the best soil-based planters. 

Best choice: It’s a tie! Both the GreenStalk and the Garden Tower 2 provide the same soil-to-plant ratio at 6 plants per cubic foot of soil. 

As mentioned, the Garden Tower 2 gives you 50 plant pockets (plus more space on the open top) with about 8 cubic feet of soil, which means you can fit about 6 plants per cubic foot. And since the GreenStalk fits about 1 cubic feet of soil in each 6-pocket tier, you’ll have the same impressive capacity: 6 per cubic foot. 

Watering & Irrigation

GreenStalk (5)  |  Garden Tower 2 (4)

Watering is one of the undeniable (and sometimes time-consuming) needs any gardener will need to think about. But with their compact design, many quality vertical planters like these make this a simple choice.

Best choice: Here’s where the GreenStalk’s design really shines. The system features an integrated water distribution system — a large holding tank at the top can fit up to ( ) gallons of water and carries water evenly throughout each level by small holes in the base of each tier.

But wait! It gets better. GreenStalk designed an automatic watering kit with tubing, attachment kits, and a hose hookup (Rain Bird or similar sold separately). At just $40, you can affordably and easily install irrigation to set it and forget it. While you can find irrigation for the Garden Tower 2 via third party products, they require installation at initial planter set up, making this a less-than-ideal solution. (Stay tuned for a future article on how to use the GreenStalk watering system for the Garden Tower 2).

Nutrient Retention

GreenStalk (4)  |  Garden Tower 2 (5)

As with any garden, managing nutrients and building soil health is key for thriving plants. If you’re new to gardening, you’ll quickly notice what a crucial difference this makes in your yield. 

Best choice: The biggest distinction of the Garden Tower 2 is that it will naturally build your soil quality over time with the power of vermicomposting. The ingenious part is that worms can do a whole lot with very little, which makes this a perfect composting solution for a vertical planter. Just drop a handful of kitchen scraps in the central column’s tube from time to time (along with a handful of cardboard, packing paper, straw, or other browns), and you’ll keep the worms busy making compost and enriching worm castings in your soil. 

I add a handful of frozen kitchen scraps every few weeks along with basic bedding and worm food, and that’s it.

There is setup involved, but it’s no more than a 15-20 minute process — and it will quickly pay off over time. While you’ll need to continually add amendments and fertilizers (hopefully organic!) to your GreenStalk, you can pretty much let the Garden Tower 2 handle this chore for you.

Mobility

Greenstalk (5)  |  Garden Tower 2 (5)

Here’s one of the best parts of having a vertical system: you can put it on wheels to catch the best sun!

Best choice: Both the GreenStalk and Garden Tower 2 offer mobility features, both as separate accessory purchases. 

The GreenStalk gives two choices (a basic and upgraded spinner) of robust plastic wheel bases, and the Garden Tower 2 offers a premium caster wheel kit with a heavyweight steel frame. Mobility is such a game-changer for your garden. As seasons, light patterns, and weather brings change, you can easily move your plants wherever they will thrive. 

Durability

Greenstalk (5)  |  Garden Tower 2 (5)

Because the best vertical garden towers are a bit of an investment, you’ll want to be sure that they’ll last. 

Best choice: Here again, both the Garden Tower 2 and GreenStalk should deliver. 

The Garden Tower 2’s injection-molded frame is made of food-grade HDPE plastic and promises to be 100% UV stable. 

And made with strong food-grade, UV-resistant, BPA, BPS & PVC-free plastic, the GreenStalk is also a high quality, long lasting choice. Though I’ve only had mine for four months, it shows no signs of wear, and I know that gardeners have had these planters for many years.

Both products come with a five-year warranty. 

Customization

GreenStalk (5)  |  Garden Tower 2 (4)

Gardening is even more fun when you can have it your way!

Best choice: I’ve had a lot of fun designing my GreenStalk to fit my needs, and it’s the clear winner in this category. 

Greenstalk does a great job of designing accessories and offering system modifications that will fit a many plant requirements. Choose from a 5 Tier Original, 7 Tier Leaf Planter, or the 6 Tier Inventor’s Bundle. The original planter comes with 10” deep pockets for plants with deeper roots, like your producing veggies; the leaf planter comes with 7” pockets for leafy greens and herbs with shallower roots. You can add plant supports, automatic watering, and other customizations to fit your style. 

Unfortunately, the Garden Tower 2 comes with fewer options, although the company offers plenty of great gardening equipment to purchase everything you’ll need from seed starting to planting.

Plant Variety

GreenStalk (5)  |  Garden Tower 2 (5)

Surprisingly, these vertical planters can accommodate a huge variety of plant types. Experiment, try things out, and see what works for you and your growing region.

Best choice: It’s a tie. You can grow almost anything in either the GreenStalk or the Garden Tower 2, as long as you plan for spacing and shade/sun requirements for other neighboring plants. 

I’ve grown everything from okra (which can get to 6-10 feet tall in traditional garden rows) to bush beans to sprawling Everglades tomatoes in these planters, and both handle the height and volume well. (Both planters have made is so easy to grow many veggie types, which can be a challenge with South Florida sun.) You may notice smaller maximum heights for these taller plant varieties, since these planters essentially work as container systems that will naturally limit maximum growth. 

One tip is to plant smaller, shade tolerant plants next to larger, bushier plants that take up more space. For squashes, cucumbers, and trailing vines, try the bottom tier levels — and accept that you may limit your planter’s mobility for the season.

Aesthetics

GreenStalk (5)  |  Garden Tower 2 (5)

Some just want any old place to grow plants. Others will appreciate just how much garden curb appeal you’ll get from these tidy and pretty growers.

Best choice: You can’t go wrong here. From the Garden Tower 2’s beautiful terra cotta color option to the GreenStalk’s new basket weave textured finish, these planters are lookers. 

Plus, they both do a great job of keeping your plants clean, including leafy greens. Your vertically-grown plants don’t tend to get a strong splash effect from hard rains and other weather impacts. And there’s nothing like clipping dirt-free lettuce that just needs the lightest rinse before it hits your plate.

Cost

GreenStalk (5)  |  Garden Tower 2 (3)

Here’s the bad news: vertical gardens do come with a startup cost. But it’s investment in long-term gardening ease and joy. 

Best choice: The GreenStalk offers the most accessible pricetag. At $149 for the 5 Tier Original, you can’t go wrong. And with the cost of wood, building your own DIY raised bed — especially if you’re planning on raising it higher for accessibility — can easily cost at least $50 – $100. In my opinion, this price is very fair. 

The Garden Tower 2 is priced at $379, which can be a bit of a reach. But that being said, it’s important to consider that this product is an all-in-one garden and composting system combo. With the cost of composting tumblers easily reaching between $70 – $100, that’s not a bad value at all — especially once you see what the vermicomposting can do for your soil and plant yields. 

The company also does a great job of offering discounts and giveaways. I bought my own Garden Tower 2 with a $100 off giveaway gift. 

Long-Term Maintenance

GreenStalk (3)  |  Garden Tower 2 (5)

As easy as these growers are to use, they do require occasional troubleshooting and support over time.

Best choice: If you want a garden system that is almost going to take care of itself throughout the growing cycle, go with the Garden Tower 2. The best feature here is the ease of building your soil health over time. Because worms are in there moving freely through all parts of the tower, they’re doing the hardest work for you. 

Plus, if you can find a way to set up irrigation — either from drip tubes or a low-volume sprinkler in the top tier — you can just about walk away and let it do its work. But ideally, you’ll want to check the bottom drawer collecting compost tea (nutrient rich water) and pour that back into the tower daily. And if you’re using  vermicomposting, you’ll want to come by and add your handful of scraps and browns every 3-4 weeks, depending on what you have available.

With the GreenStalk, the biggest challenge is troubleshooting and seasonal maintenance chores, which require full system disassembly. Sometimes, the water disbursement system will clog (the tiny holes can get soil stuck inside), and you’ll need to take down all tiers and clean out the watering discs inside. This disassembly process is generally a good idea for soil maintenance to evenly adding nutrient amendments. 

Accessibility

GreenStalk (5)  |  Garden Tower 2 (5)

Vertical planters are ideal for gardening accessibility. They’re raised up off the ground and make the task of planting, harvesting much more back-friendly, child-friendly, and wheelchair accessible. 

Best choice: Both systems make excellent choices. The Garden Tower 2 is a tidy 43” tall, or just over 3.5 feet. That’s an ideal height for gardeners of all ages and abilities, whether you plan on gardening while seated or standing.

And while a 7 Tier GreenStalk Leaf will reach 56”, with its stackable tiers, you can place it in any configuration you like to raise or lower maximum height. For example, turn it into two stacks of 4 tiers on their own mobile bases.

I wish we’d had these when I was working as a community garden organizer at the Centers for Independent Living! I can’t get over how enjoyable it is to just walk right up to my plants and check in on them at eye level — with no back-breaking struggle.

GreenStalk versus Garden Tower 2: Get started to find out!

I can go on and on about two of the best vertical garden systems around. But the only way to know which system is right for you is to dive in and give it a try. 

Research paralysis is real. I spent lots of time investigating how the GreenStalk compared to the Garden Tower 2. But I now realize that two is better than one! With both systems in my backyard, I’ve been delighted to experiment and continually discover each system’s unique planting benefits. 

Whether you’re a beginner or a more advanced gardener, you’ll likely find that they’re a great way to make any yard space quickly grow lush with fresh greens and veggies. Let’s get started on your vertical gardening journey!