57 Days In Fun But More Complicated Than I Expected

[joes]

I am 57 days into my first aerogarden (Bounty Elite with herbs), and 40 days into my second (Farm with lettuce, bok choi and tomatoes).

I am enjoying the experience but thought I would share a few things that I did not expect.

1) TEST YOUR PH.  I had plants that were unhealthy. My dill, mint, and curly parsley were slow growing (but I actually didn't realize how stunted they were). I was getting brown tips on the dill and some yellowing on all the plants (but it would get worse and then better, then worse inexplicably). It was a challenge to figure out what it could be. Was it bad water? Was it too much of the nutrients? Not enough? Insects? Fungus? I am using reverse osmosis water. I did see some insects. But it turns out my water is a little bit too acidic. I bought a PH test kit and PH up and down. Getting the PH between 5.5 and 6.5 has made a huge difference. The slow growers almost instantly started growing much faster. And all the plants turned nicely green.

2) DAMN BUGS. I did not expect to have bugs since it is inside and there is no dirt, but I have had gnats and some larger brown bugs in the basil. I used a natural peppermint soap spray, which seems to have killed them. I found a couple tiny green grasshopper-like bugs on the bok choy. I pulled the lettuce and bok choy out of the garden and washed them upside down in the sink under running water and did not see any more of those bugs, but we will see if the really are gone. By the way, the lettuce and bok choy actually seemed to like being washed. It seems like they had a nice growth spurt afterward.

3) BITTER HERBS AND LETTUCE. My basil and lettuce has been unexpectedly and disappointingly bitter. I have come to the conclusion that the Aerogarden nutrients are bitter. For over a week now, my bok choy and lettuce have been growing in only water, they seem to be growing fine and they taste much better. I think I will have to start some sort of schedule for periodic feeding, flushing, and water only and harvesting.

I am still a beginner with a lot of lessons to learn.  If you have advice from me, please share.

[ERR0R1755]

Hello fellow RO water user!

I've never needed to adjust the PH of my RO water, but one thing I learned the hard way - if you want to grow something aside from herbs/greens, you'll want a cal-mag supplement to replace the minerals normally found in water. I recommend General Hydroponics CALiMAGic - I picked up a bottle of it, and you only need 1ml per gallon of water, so it seems like it will last me 5-10 years.

[Sher]

Welcome, joes!

It's a constant learning experience. I was shocked to discover my beautiful tomatoes were so bland as to be inedible.

A little research showed me my ppm for producing tomato plants was way too low. I was still feeding them at the starting level for fear of over fertilizing them.  I learned that once they put on the first cluster, you increase the nutes, then again at the second, third and fourth clusters. They stay the same after that.

So I'm hoping the next tomatoes I pick are bursting with flavor. I will learn as I go what works best for me.

Diatomaceous earth (safe and even edible) dusted on the leaves kills crawling insects.

Lettuce and basil need very few nutes. Giving them more than they need can make them bitter.

[joes]

Thanks ERR0R1755. Not sure if it was you that posted about CaliMagic before. But I already bought some and the bottle just arrived.

I am not sure I will need it for my herbs and lettuce, they are looking darn good right now. The lettuce is growing fast in plain water! Do you think the CaliMagic has any impact on taste?

My tomatoes are just starting to bud now. I recall reading tomatoes really like the CaliMagic (perhaps your post?).

[joes]

Thanks sher01.

Uhg, I am hoping for some tasty tomatoes. How much are you increasing?

[Sher]

Joe's, here's a great reference chart.  Just remember to start plants out with very diluted nutes.

Aerogarden's recommendations are a decent guideline except I think they are a bit high for lettuce and basil.

And if you increase the tomatoes' nutes too soon, you will end up with fried plants. 

That said, here's the chart. Proceed with caution!

Link

[joes]

Thanks!  I will put that to good use!

[ERR0R1755]

Jul 4, 2020 18:14:27 GMT -5 joes said:

I am not sure I will need it for my herbs and lettuce, they are looking darn good right now. The lettuce is growing fast in plain water! Do you think the CaliMagic has any impact on taste?

I haven't gotten around to trying it for herbs or lettuce yet, but I've grown a lot of lettuce with the AG nutrients. I've found that (at least for me) the lettuce is bitter if I eat it right off the plant, but "flushing" it with plain water or even just giving it a good rinse in a bowl of cold water, and then leaving it in the fridge for about a hour, fixes that issue.

One other thing to note - lettuce gets bitter if it is stressed (due to nutrients, temperature, old age, etc) and starts to bolt. You'll be able to tell because the plant produces a white, sticky and bitter liquid when you break off a leaf. It also will shoot up a thick stem, oftentimes with flowers at the top, from the center of the lettuce plant.
(in other words, if you see the beginning of flowers in the middle of your lettuce, harvest the entire plant immediately and hope that it's still good)

[Shawn]

joes , these are my observations and what I have learned.  What works for one person may not work for everyone because we all have different water.  Meaning all cities or municipalities may add different things to their water.  So have RO, some use bottles.  There are so many variables that if you find something that works for you it may not work for others.

I used t check my pH all the time and drove myself nuts.  However after a while I learned to let that go.  I just use the AG nutes and have never checked since.  Checking pH can make you go bonkers especially if you have a variety of things in the garden that take different levels.  

Bugs.  Needless to say this is summertime, we keep the windows open, come in and outside more often and may even have plants that have dirt inside the home.  All these are recipes for having bugs in the AG's.  I have been AG'ing for several years now and thankfully the only bugs I do have are gnats and that is because of the open windows in the Spring.  I put out my gnat juice and I am good to go.

Bitter herbs and lettuce.  NEVER harvest herbs or lettuce the day of, or after (maybe even two days) harvesting.  The uptake of nutrients can and usually will make these bitter tasting.  Also, keep the water cooler.  Feel the water, if it is too warm or hot add ice cubes.  The cooler the water the fresher and longer the herbs will last and wont go to see.  Lastly, I myself have found that you do not need the required amount of nutes for lettuce and most herbs.  I do not think I have ever used more then 5ml in my lettuce and 6 in my herbs (Bounty and Harvest) and I have pretty good harvests with them.

Calcium supplements, I use Mr. Mooch and only on my peppers.  I do have some other stuff for greens but never had success in finding the right amount so stopped.

[joes]

Thanks Shawn. I am definitely cutting back on the nutrients for herbs and the lettuce. I think my water may be more acidic than yours because for me it seem to make a huge difference. Everything is growing much faster and has better color since I started. I think my method is fairly quick and easy too. I found I don't have to worry about maintaining or cleaning and drying my PH meter between tests. I just dip and shake. It seem to match the test drops even with my lackadaisical method. If it is low I add a few drops of PH up and don't bother to check it again after. Pretty easy. I have been doing it daily but I could probably do it less often. And this is all still new and fun for me anyway.

[Shawn]

Oh yes.  It is fun

[joes]

I am confused by this chart....

Chart

For tomatoes it says PPM 1400-3500. My RO water has 7 PMM, add the Aerogarden nutrients in accordance with the instructions and a wee bit of CALMAG and it is still less than 300 PPM. How could I ever get up to 1400? 

I am very confused.

[Sher]

I think the span is due to the size and type of tomato. You would not give a micro dwarf tomato the same amount of nutrients as a huge plant pumping out scores of tomatoes.

Also, in my very limited experience those levels are NOT for immature tomato plants. I killed two tomato plants with 12 ml of AG nutrients at their 3rd (6 week) feeding.

I read somewhere to stick to seedling strength nutrients until the first cluster of fruit appears. 

Then increase your nutrients a bit. Increase again at the second, third and fourth clusters. Then remain at that level.

Some people apparently have excellent results sticking to, or slightly tweaking, the recommended AG schedule. Very rarely have I heard anyone else complain of tasteless tomatoes.

WARNING:  You WILL kill a lot of plants when you start experimenting with ppm and EC. 

Not out of rudeness, but out of my own ignorance, I am going to back out of this discussion.

[ERR0R1755]

Jul 6, 2020 14:56:19 GMT -5 joes said:

For tomatoes it says PPM 1400-3500. My RO water has 7 PMM, add the Aerogarden nutrients in accordance with the instructions and a wee bit of CALMAG and it is still less than 300 PPM. How could I ever get up to 1400?

Jul 6, 2020 15:59:21 GMT -5 Sher said:

WARNING:  You WILL kill a lot of plants when you start experimenting with ppm and EC. 

All of those PPM values are the ideal range for a vigorous plant. The official AG schedule can be too high for things like lettuce, or too low for things like tomatoes, but regardless of what you grow it's always better to start out weak and move up to the full PPM later.
I normally don't hit that target range until I have several sets of leaves or a very sturdy plant, but it's hard to judge. It's always better to be on the lower side and watch for signs of nutrient deficiencies instead of overfeeding.

[joes]

My tomatoes are already flowering. I think they look very healthy (though shorter than I expected). I want tomatoes that taste good. I will proceed with caution and someday advise my results.

[Sher]

Jul 7, 2020 10:20:03 GMT -5 joes said:

My tomatoes are already flowering. They look very healthy, but I want tomatoes that taste good. I will proceed with caution and someday advise my results.

Joe's, be sure to use a low nitrogen bloom fertilizer when you start upping the nutrients. I am using Dyna Grow Bloom. It is a perfect blend of low nitrogen, high phosphorus.

[joes]

I forgot to mention a couple more lessons I have learned in my short time growing with Aerogardens.

Don't touch your little chives, I did and a few came right up out of the pod. I suspect if I hadn't touched them I would have more chives now. I also wish I hadn't cut my chives so much. I enjoyed eating them but I look at my garden like in a bonsai tree sort of way, and I wish my chives were bigger.

On the Bounty Elite, be careful when raising the light. I was lifting by the light itself and it came off, slipped out of my hands and squashed my plants. They recovered, but I did lose a few branches and it took more than a week to get back looking good.

I did not initially cut down to one of each type of plant. At day 62, I still have more than one plant growing in each pod except for Thai Basil. I have removed whole plants over time, especially the basil, some of which I put in water and they grew new roots, and have gone outside. I think I have had a lot more herbs to eat by letting them grow and removing them only when they are almost entirely in the shade of a bigger plant and not going to thrive. 

[joes]

Jul 7, 2020 10:39:10 GMT -5 Sher said:

Thanks, I will look for that.

[hakaku]

I've been fortunate enough to not have to deal with any bugs, but I can completely relate on the pH issues. Some plants can tolerate pH swings a little better than others (e.g. Basil will simply slow down all growth), but many others definitely do not tolerate it very well (e.g. peppers, eggplants and many leafy greens will show discolored leaves pretty quickly). And sometimes the pH can drop by a lot overnight (e.g. 6.0 > 4.0), which is annoying -- I've had this issue especially with eggplants.

As for the PPM, I do monitor it maybe once a week for fruiting plants like tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, especially since I use a different set of nutrients (not AG nutes). Always make sure to look up the recommended strength based on the product you're using; the recommended dose usually also changes once the plant is about to start fruiting. Personally though, I keep the PPM lower than the recommended strength you'll find online (e.g. I'll keep it around 800-1200 for tomatoes), because I've found that any higher tends to cause leaf burn. So you'll have to experiment to see what works. For leafy greens and herbs, I'll only check the PPM once in a while because they don't need as much (just be careful with kale though).

Also be careful with cal-mag supplements (like CaliMagic), they can actually cause issues such as leaf burn or other problems due to nutrient lockout. Always add and mix it in water first before adding any other nutrient (never add it last). Start with a very tiny amount at first to test.

[joes]

Thanks Hakaku. Sounds like I shouldn't make any big or fast changes.