Hunting for the best Modern Sprout products means sorting through a catalog that ranges from hydroponic grow kits to window bird feeders to hand-stitched holiday stockings. The brand's stated mission — indoor gardening products for easy growing, so you can enjoy herbs, flowers and plants with hydroponic kits, grow lights and accessories — holds the whole range together, but some items earn a spot on your windowsill more convincingly than others.
We picked through every product line and pulled out the ones we would actually recommend, with the honest reasoning for each. Here are the standouts, from the obvious hero product to a consumable most shoppers overlook.
Best overall: Tiny Terracotta Grow Kits
If you buy one thing from Modern Sprout, make it a Tiny Terracotta Grow Kit. The brand reimagined these playful planters with an enhanced immersion hydroponic system, meaning water and nutrients are delivered right to the roots. That single design decision removes the classic beginner failure mode — inconsistent watering — from the equation.
The flower lineup covers crowd-pleasers like daisy, lavender, poppy, sunflower and zinnia, so there is a kit to match nearly any windowsill personality. They are small, they are charming, and unlike most impulse decor, they do something: they grow.
- Why it wins: hydroponic delivery to the roots makes success the default, not the exception.
- Best for: beginners, desks, gifts, and anyone who has killed a basil pot before.
Best for pet owners: Pet Tiny Terracotta Grow Kits
The pet version of the kit deserves its own entry. It grows a homegrown, all-natural snack — catnip or wheatgrass — that supports your pet's health and wellbeing, and the planter features a water-tight glazed interior for the inevitable moment a cat treats it as a toy.
As the brand puts it, this is a great gift for the furry friend on your list — and it is a far more interesting present for a pet household than another squeaky toy.
Most underrated: Dissolving Plant Food Sheets
The sleeper hit of the catalog. Modern Sprout pioneered plant nutrition delivered on seaweed: a concentrated formula that is pre-dosed, odorless, and completely mess-free. Seaweed helps regulate nutrient uptake, which makes the formula gentle enough for every watering yet powerful enough to fuel strong roots and vibrant new growth.
It is also simple, clean and 100% zero waste, and made in the USA. If you already own houseplants and buy nothing else from this list, these sheets are the cheapest way to feel the brand's design thinking. Healthy plants, the company argues, don't require a green thumb — just the right ritual. The sheets are that ritual in its most compact form.
Best non-plant pick: Birds on the Block Window Birdfeeder
Birds are having a moment, and Modern Sprout's acrylic window feeders are the most design-forward way to join in. Each one brings iconic architecture to a bird-friendly scale — A-frame, cottage and mid-century modern styles — and suctions right onto any window for a front-row seat to nature.
Pair it with the wild bird seed the store carries from Flawn Seed Kits — the Songbird Symphony blend is 50% black oil sunflower, 25% coarse sunflower chips, 12.5% safflower and 12.5% hulled peanuts, with no wheat or filler grains, and attracts buntings, cardinals, chickadees, finches, grosbeaks, jays, nuthatches, titmice and woodpeckers. One note: the seed ships separately from the partner brand and is not included in shipping promotions.
Best for gardeners: Shears & Pruners Accessory Sets
For the person who already owns good shears, Modern Sprout sells the maintenance kit that keeps them good: a cotton canvas holster, dual-grit diamond sharpening plates, and a plant-based oil and cloth kit. It is everything you need to keep shears and pruners sharp and in shape for years to come.
This is the least glamorous pick on the list and possibly the most appreciated by an actual gardener. It also slots neatly into a housewarming basket — see our best gifts for new homeowners roundup for what to pair it with.
Best gift set: Plant Parent Essentials with Rosy Soil
The Plant Parent Essentials Gift Box is the ultimate starter set for thriving, happy houseplants. It pairs several of Modern Sprout's plant care tools with Rosy Soil's bestselling Houseplant Mix, a living soil powered by biochar. The pitch is that it helps anyone be their best plant parent, whether they are nurturing their very first pothos or tending a full-on indoor jungle — and the mix of tools plus genuinely good soil backs that up.
For kids, swap in the Winter Wonderland Microgreens Kit instead: a fool-proof kit that grows nutrient-dense microgreens in 7 to 10 days, complete with harvesting instructions and a recipe, pitched as a STEM activity to get kids interested in gardening and eating their vegetables. If you are curious how microgreens differ from sprouts before you commit, our explainer on sprouts vs microgreens covers it.
How to choose your first Modern Sprout buy
- Total beginner: a flower Tiny Terracotta kit — the hydroponic system does the hard part.
- Already own plants: Dissolving Plant Food Sheets, then the shears accessory set.
- Pet household: the Pet kit with catnip or wheatgrass.
- Not a plant person at all: the window birdfeeder — nature at home, zero watering.
- Buying a gift: Plant Parent Essentials for adults, the microgreens kit for kids.
Every pick above shares the same design logic: lower the effort until the ritual sticks. Browse the full range at Modern Sprout and start with whichever product matches the person you are shopping for — including yourself.