The AeroGarden Sprout released in 2020 must have water in the bowl (or reservoir) to work. If the Sprout is plugged in and the pump is running without water in the water bowl, it may make a strange noise as the pump is cycling air instead of water. Make sure the water bowl is full of water, and let the pump run for a little while.

The new Sprout has a Low Water Shut Off safety feature that will prevent the lights and pump from working if it thinks the bowl is empty. The pump will stop working and the LED light will turn OFF if the bowl runs out of water. This will alert you that the Sprout needs water. Turning off the lights also will slow the plants' water intake for a short period of time, so plants can survive for a little while without water. But you will want to fill that bowl as soon as you can. After you refill the bowl, the LED light panel will turn back ON and continue its Light Cycle and the pump will resume running.

There's water in my Sprout bowl, but the pump is still not running

Sometimes the pump does not come back on even when there is water in the bowl. The pump will keep looking for water every 16 seconds or so.  You can hear and feel when this is happening.  If it finds water, it restarts (and saves all settings).  If it does not find water, it stays off and tests again for water in another 16 seconds.

In rare cases, we need to manually "restart" the pump. Here are two methods we've found to work well to restart the pump manually:

• Fill the water bowl and make sure the pump is plugged into the back of the Sprout. Verify the Sprout is plugged in. Carefully lift the front of the water bowl and tilt slightly to move the water a bit and change the water pressure around the pump. Replace the water bowl in its position and wait a moment or two. The pump will start running and the lights will turn on a moment or two after the pump starts running. Press and hold the Light button for 10 seconds to reset the light timer.

• Fill the water bowl and make sure the pump is plugged into the back of the Sprout. Verify the Sprout is plugged in. Remove the grey tray deck that sits on the top of the water bowl. Carefully remove the mushroom-shaped spout on the top of the pump. Press the pump down and jiggle the pump slightly. The pump will start running and the lights will turn on a moment or two after the pump starts running. Press and hold the Light button for 10 seconds to reset the light timer.