A while back, I posted about the Aerogarden that my daughter gave me. Then, I found one of the smallest ones, the Aerogarden Sprout, on sale on Amazon and ordered one of those, and started the little herb garden that came along with it. Then I ordered a seed starter top that sprouts up to 15 plants at once; but is designed for you to transplant them as they get larger. The regular Aerogarden is made to completely garden indoors if you want, and the top with the lights can be raised as the plants get taller and taller. Now, I have some tomatoes and some sweet red peppers planted in the seed sprouter, and put the herbs in the regular Aerogarden to grow a bit more before I transplant them into regular containers, or plant them outside. I also have one of those regular starter trays that hold the little peat-moss disks and I started some of the greens that can be put outside right away in those. I have spinach and chard in there, and also some morning glories that I can set out once the weather warms up a bit more. We are supposed to be in the 70's all next week; so I am hoping to get in more time working outside in the garden and yard before we get into the hot summer days. Here is the Aerogarden Sprout with its starter trays and little dome lid.
I already have little seed sprouts coming up, both in the Aerogarden and in the little pellet disks as well. I can tell the beets with their little red stems. The weather is so nice here right now, in the low 70's through tomorrow, and then rain and T-storms come in on Friday. I have been setting the little tomato plants out in the sunshine every day, and tonight is only supposed to get down to 60, so I am going to leave them overnight, and then bring them back in when the storms come later this week. Hopefully, it won't be much longer and they can be planted outside and left here for the summer.
I hope we don't get another frost. Our cucumbers were getting so big and the forecast is for lows no lower than 50 so I planted 4 cucumbers in the garden. Cabbage and such can take a frost but not cukes. I'm not taking chances with hot weather plants yet, though the peppers I put in pots are doing great in the greenhouse.
All spring long, I have been utilizing both Aerogardens for sarting plants in, and then transplanting them outside as they got large enough to move into either the ground or a container. Now that summer is almost here, I decided to start some lettuce in the Bounty Aerogarden, which is the large one that has nine spaces for plants in it, and they have been growing for about three weeks now, and are getting large enough that we can start using them for salads and sandwiches. The information said that we should be able to harvest lettuce for the next 5-6 months, so we will have greens all summer, even if it gets too hot for them to grow outside. I would like to add one more aerogarden if I find them on a really good sale, and then we can grow fresh greens all winter long in the house.
I put some cabbage seeds in the aerogarden Friday and most of them had sprouted yesterday morning. I hope to make some kraut again this year.
We would never have got one if we had to pay for it. My wife got one through her garden club to test. We didn't really like if much for growing things and it sat in the box for years. When Yvonne started posing about starting seeds I decided to give it a try. It is great for starting seeds.
I have always heard of an Aerogarden but I didn't know anything about them. I always have problems starting things from seeds, so I would probably like this. It is just one of the things that you can get the vegetable growth you need with the minimum of effort. I will probably end up planting some leaf lettuce. It is a good little Fall crop.
I have seeds planted in both Aerogarden, and some are sprouted in the smaller (3-pod) Aerogarden. I have the sprouter kit for that one and it holds about 12 starts to replant, and otherwise it just holds 3 plants if you leve them in there to grow. The large Aerogarden is the 9-pod one, and that is the size of one that Robin grew all of her tomatoes in last year. They were enormous ! ! I have red cherry peppers planted in mine, and will move them outside once they are up and growing good, and then I can start something else in there. I ordered an herb kit from Amazon that has basil, oregano, and several other herbs in it. Once I start those, I will probably just let them grow in the Aerogarden, and then just snip off herbs as I want to use them, and that will keep the plants from getting too large in the Aerogarden. I still have two of those seed starters that work with the little flat pellets, and I had enough pellets to start one of those, so it has more peppers, some beefsteak and cherry tomatoes, and some squash planted in there. I set it outside where it gets morning sunshine, and the lid should keep the birds and squirrels out until everything gets sprouted. Robin brought me several kinds of passionflower seeds back from Costa Rica, and I have started one packet of those in small containers inside also. The vines should be beautiful if they will grow here, and if they do, then I will take some over for Robin to have at her house on the fence in her back yard.
I have to go into seclusion from May through September, because I have a condition called sun poisoning. My greatest challenge during these five months, is finding enough things to occupy my time. I studied Horticulture four almost four year back in the 80's, and part of that was about Hydroponics. But, back then it wasn't economically or technically feasible for the average household. So I was surprised they had come up with the small aerogardens like @Yvonne Smith showed us. Then I went on a search for one that was a bit larger, but I could find only small aerogardens online, and I was about to give up. As it turned out one of my doctors put an aerogarden in his waiting room. I knew that was the one for me. My doctor sells them along with a line of heath supplies. So I bought one from him, and he will be coming to my home to help me set it up. I admit I was surprised that my doctor sold aerogardens, and I about fell over when he said that he always help buyer's get everything set up. Turns out he is big into gardening, but he doesn't have the time to garden outside the old way. It should be here by next week, and hopefully it will be set up by the end of that week. Here's a couple of pictures of the setup. The lady isn't me of course.
Wow, @Ina I. Wonder , that is a HUGE indoor hydroponics set up ! ! That looks like it will keep you busy growing lettuce greens year around. How often do you have to do root maintainence to keep the roots from clogging up the pump with a system this large ? Robin grew tomatoes in one of her Aerogardens last year, which is a lot smaller than what you are buying, and when we removed all of the vines last fall, there were huge masses of roots inside that we had to clean out. I mostly use mine for starting plants and then transplant them outside where we do not have to be concerned about root impaction of the impeller; but on the ones that I do keep inside , I pull them out and trim back the roots fairly often. What all are you going to grow in your big hydroponic garden, Ina ? Are you going to keep it indoors or transplant things outside once they are growing good ? I just started one of the seed kits with the Italian herb garden, and I will probably keep that one growing inside and just trim the herbs as needed and keep the roots pruned back so they don't clog up the impeller.
I'll try to remember to take pictures while we assemble the whole system. The cool thing is I can add heigth to it if I want to at a later date. I'm hoping to be able to provide salad greens, cherry tomatoes, and some salad herbs for Bobert and me. It's been more than thirty years since I studied hydroponics. The system the college had covered a whole wall two stories tall, and about 40' wide. So I'm really excited that they now have such small ones. My doctor told me he had been trying to get a group of people interested so that he would have others to share his gardening interests with.
Well my doctor really did come over to my house, and he spent 2&1/2 hours assembling my new hydroponic garden tower. He explained how the system works, and just how much nutrients to use. It turns out the water from my water well is at the correct ph levels, so at this point I don't have to adjust that. It will let me start off with 20 plants, and I plan to start off with salad herbs and lettuces. It is set up so the water circulates ever 15 minutes, and the lighting system automatically turn on at 7am and they shut off at 7pm. So Im looking forward to studying the new system, and enjoying some salads that I don't have to worry about get sick from. Here are a couple of pictures of the garden tower being set up by my doctor in my kitchen, and the finished product.