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Post by thegrindre on Jul 11, 2020 9:28:56 GMT -5
NOTE: Don't eat you harvests right after you add nutes. It makes your fruit taste bad and bitter. Wait a day or two before harvesting anything after adding nutes.  |
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Shawn
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Post by Shawn on Jul 11, 2020 9:30:12 GMT -5
NOTE: Don't eat you harvests right after you add nutes. It makes your fruit taste bad and bitter. Wait a day or two before harvesting anything after adding nutes.  Yes, I have posted about this numerous times. Your plants will uptake the nutes so always harvest right before or two days after adding nutes. |
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joes
AGA Sprout
New but already addicted!
Posts: 118
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Post by joes on Aug 10, 2020 19:29:52 GMT -5
Day 97....  Everything seems healthy except the dill, but even that seems OK. The basil was almost hitting the lights earlier today and I cut it back quite a bit.
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Sher
AGA Farmer
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Post by Sher on Aug 10, 2020 19:41:50 GMT -5
joes, it looks like success to me! Congratulations!
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Shawn
Administrator
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Post by Shawn on Aug 11, 2020 6:45:12 GMT -5
Your garden is doing so well. Congrats~!
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joes
AGA Sprout
New but already addicted!
Posts: 118
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Post by joes on Aug 11, 2020 21:46:20 GMT -5
Thanks. I am pleased. Clearly the Aerogarden folks have made it easy. And I have learned a few things here on this forum.
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Shawn
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Post by Shawn on Aug 12, 2020 5:24:22 GMT -5
Thanks. I am pleased. Clearly the Aerogarden folks have made it easy. And I have learned a few things here on this forum. I am happy to hear we are helpful! Looking forward to seeing more of what you are growing. |
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joes
AGA Sprout
New but already addicted!
Posts: 118
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Post by joes on Sept 22, 2020 15:58:22 GMT -5
Day 140 on my herb garden. I have had my first accidental AG casualty. My Thyme is dead. The apparent cause is root rot, but why that happened, I do not know.
My Thyme has been replaced by Vietnamese Coriander – Rau Răm. Grown from what she bought to eat at an Asian market. Awful stuff but my wife is Vietnamese and loves it. It does look nice. www.sunset.com/food-wine/5-delicious-vietnamese-herbs-to-grow-and-eatMy mint actually seems to be just getting started. It has had unusually small leaves and is just now looking more typical. Chives are doing well. My dill is borderline as it has been all along. My water is just too acidic for dill and I don't check it often enough. I correct it. The dill gets health then it gets sickly again, I check the pH and fix it again. And repeat.
Italian and curly parsley are doing OK. They were really great until my wife harvested the heck out of them.
The Thai and Italian basil have both grown up to the lights many times and I have to cut them back constantly. The Thai basil has tried to flower many times and only cutting it back quite a bit has kept it from happening. I suspect my basil is getting older and may not last forever. Anyone know the lifespan of basil?
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Shawn
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Post by Shawn on Sept 23, 2020 6:51:31 GMT -5
140 day is pretty good. Many people keep then going and going for long periods of time which is wonderful. I myself grow for a few months then I start fresh. Maybe it is me getting bored or just wanting new.
Regardless, as long as you keep the water changes and the plants look and taste good I say keep them going. Once they start to get bitter or thin out is when I end and start a new one.
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joes
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Post by joes on Sept 23, 2020 15:48:08 GMT -5
I am going to keep it going as long as I can, but maybe change things out now and then. I am trying to grow some cilantro to replace the dill. So far two seeds out of two dozen have germinated. I hope they survive. I have basil from cuttings to replace any that die. I am not sure if cutting plants are equal to new plants grown from seeds.
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joes
AGA Sprout
New but already addicted!
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Post by joes on Oct 29, 2020 19:40:26 GMT -5
How long can an herb garden grow.... 177 days in with the 9 pod herb garden in the AG Bounty Elite. (This was my first AG and my first grow. I now have six. Am I an addict?  )
The thyme and dill are long dead. The dill never did well (I figured out that it does not like acidic water). The Thyme thrived but for some reason the roots started to rot and it died. My wife didn't use them for cooking so no big loss.
I replaced the dill with Vietnamese Coriander – Rau Răm. It is doing well.
I had tried to replace the thyme with cilantro, but all the cilantro I have tried to grow has died. I just ordered AG cilantro pods, hopefully they work better than seeds or cuttings. The cuttings grew roots but no new leaves and eventually died.
My chives are as healthy as ever but have never produced much for eating. My wife has her own growing in a pot, so they have not been used much.
My Thai basil has pretty much had it. I keep cutting but it wants to flower. The stems are turning purple and its looking sickly. Cuttings from it also seem to know they are old and are pushing to flower too. I have an other Thai basil pod in another AG and will replace it soon.
My Genovese basils still look OK but most of the growth is up at the lights. It is harder and harder to find a good spots to cut it back where it will have new growth. I have plants in Kratky grown from cuttings and will replace these one too, but not until I have to.
The parsley is looking rather old (both Italian and curly). Maybe we harvested too much and/or it is just past its prime. I need to replace them.
The garden is still going but it is no longer beautiful. I hope to restore one plant at a time rather than starting over from scratch. Mostly because my wife uses a lot of basil and expect me to keep her supplied.
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Shawn
Administrator
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Post by Shawn on Oct 30, 2020 3:11:56 GMT -5
Joes, I can not help you much in how long as for me, my personal growing for herbs last maybe two months or three tops. Why? Because they can thin over time and go to seed if not cared for. I tend to use a lot. But I also freeze mine so I always have on hand. It may not be bright green and fresh. However frozen fresh is just as tasty and strong as the fresh, only will get mushy if not used frozen. I use these in sauces, soups, even some salad dishes and in really in anything that does not need a fresh pristine leaf.
Also I do not mind starting over. I kinda like it. As for wanting fresh at all times, if she likes basil, why not stagger the growing so when one hits about a month old, you start more and then then that is a month you start more. This way when the first is ready to be restarted you have two others to reply on until this one grows. Just a thought
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joes
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New but already addicted!
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Post by joes on Oct 30, 2020 6:01:53 GMT -5
Thanks Shawn. Rose has frozen some of the herbs but she is always asking for more fresh basil. I do plan to start a rotation, especially with the Thai basil.
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Shawn
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Post by Shawn on Nov 28, 2020 4:13:36 GMT -5
Did you ever get your Thai basil planted?
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Post by u on Mar 10, 2023 16:01:42 GMT -5
One thing I notice in reading replies on this post -- no aerogardener seems to exclaim how wonderful their herbs or produce taste!
I came here having grown herbs that are tasteless, and appreciate the wonderful advice from everyone.
But has anyone grown herbs or produce that is actually yummy -- something that could flavor up a seabass or make tomato sauce to be proud of?
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Shawn
Administrator
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Post by Shawn on Mar 10, 2023 17:13:12 GMT -5
One thing I notice in reading replies on this post -- no aerogardener seems to exclaim how wonderful their herbs or produce taste! I came here having grown herbs that are tasteless, and appreciate the wonderful advice from everyone. But has anyone grown herbs or produce that is actually yummy -- something that could flavor up a seabass or make tomato sauce to be proud of?
Hello. All of m herbs (and I grow many) have always been wonderful in taste with the exception of a few that we were not fond of.. but never tasteless.
Feel free to start a new thread with what you are growing, the machine they are in and how you are growing them.
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Post by lynnee on Mar 10, 2023 19:49:32 GMT -5
One thing I notice in reading replies on this post -- no aerogardener seems to exclaim how wonderful their herbs or produce taste! I came here having grown herbs that are tasteless, and appreciate the wonderful advice from everyone. But has anyone grown herbs or produce that is actually yummy -- something that could flavor up a seabass or make tomato sauce to be proud of? My AG herbs have generally tasted like herbs should, but I'm no connoisseur. Something that helped add flavor to my tomatoes is CalMag+, in concentrations per the label. For my Bounties, that means 3-5ml every two weeks, along with the AG nutrients, when I change the water. The thing that I grow that is tasteless is AG microgreens.  |
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maskedsonnet
AGA Farmer
Without the burden of comparison, everything is beautiful
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Post by maskedsonnet on Mar 17, 2023 11:06:02 GMT -5
One thing I notice in reading replies on this post -- no aerogardener seems to exclaim how wonderful their herbs or produce taste! I came here having grown herbs that are tasteless, and appreciate the wonderful advice from everyone. But has anyone grown herbs or produce that is actually yummy -- something that could flavor up a seabass or make tomato sauce to be proud of? Personally, I think the things I grow taste great!
- The herbs all had lovely, powerful smells and tastes, far superior to anything store bought and not noticeably different to anything I've grown in soil.
- The tomatoes can be a little hit or miss depending on what you're growing - the AG varieties have all kind of flopped for me. I like the red velvet tomatoes from Park's because they don't require extra nutrients outside the AG ones to be bight, wonderful little bursts of flavor. I live alone so a couple of those plants are plenty of tomato for me.
- Every pepper I've grown has been full of flavor better than anything I've bought in a store, though maybe not quite on the level of one grown at home in soil. But the weather here is not great, to the point that it sucks all the joy out of soil gardening for me most of the time, so AG has been a wonderful substitute for that.
- The cucumbers I've grown are tasty and cucumber-y, and an absolutely delight!! Especially in the winter. You do have to watch them closely and keep them pruned, but that applies to anything that grows on a vine.
- I'm doing my very first grow of snow peas right now!! I harvested some a few days ago and they were also a delight far above anything I've bought in store.
- My first zucchini grow several months ago now was pretty "meh", but the plant was a delight to watch grow. I'm doing a different variety now, and it's just as fun to watch it grow as the last one. I can't speak to the produce yet, as nothing's ready to pick. - Not produce, but every single flower I've grown in AG has been fragrant and lovely! Sometimes it's all about how much you're enjoying the growing journey. 
I will say that I when I really started enjoying my produce was when I switched away from the ones that AG ships. They pick things that are generally going to go over well with an extremely large audience, but taste is such a personal thing. It's best to just choose your own seeds from the get-go instead of relying on something selected to appeal to the masses.
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bigshot
AGA Sprout
As an old sage once said, "I'm running out of thyme. I hope my basil isn't faulty."
Posts: 155
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Post by bigshot on Mar 17, 2023 15:17:49 GMT -5
No problem with water or bugs. I use bottled spring water, and everything is happy in it, and the bugs stay outside. I don't mix the things I use for gardening outside with the things inside. That probably helps. I always harvest when I do a water change, so the nutrients get added after the trim. That gives them a little kickstart to bounce back.
The herbs I grow are super concentrated. In fact, even after freezing they smell great. I roasted a whole chicken the other day with a fistful of frozen thyme, rosemary and basil inside and on top and the whole house smelled great while it was cooking.
I generally get about 250 days of herb growth before starting over. I've been judiciously pruning this time, so it may end up even more.
My big discovery was to not mix different kinds of herbs in a single aero garden. I grow all basil in one, all thyme in another and all rosemary in the third. They're growing into big bushes and all the pods are strong and healthy. When I mixed and matched, something would inevitably crowd out something else.
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bigshot
AGA Sprout
As an old sage once said, "I'm running out of thyme. I hope my basil isn't faulty."
Posts: 155
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Post by bigshot on Mar 17, 2023 18:01:31 GMT -5
About Thai Basil... It's supposed to flower, and the older stems are supposed to be purple. That doesn't mean it's done. I just pick off the buds of the flowers and eat them when I water. They're delicious and peppery.
If it's looking sad, just change the water with nice bottled spring water, trim it back and add some nutrients. It will grow back.
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