pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 791 
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Oct 4, 2023 14:00:08 GMT -5
Hi, I'm so happy to see that there is an Aerogarden forum again!
A long, LONG time ago, about 14-15 years, I was a member of another AG forum, and it went defunct. And without a place to get help/advice, I stopped using my AGs.
Recently, I discovered that there was an AG Reddit and also this forum. I got interested in possibly using my AGs again to grow vegetables for both juicing and salads, having bought a nice juicer over the summer.
And then, I found a sale on a new AG Harvest Slim Elite, and got one for $48.11 on Amazon, including a packet of Tatsoi seeds!
I got it running the morning it arrived (Monday) with the salad greens kit it came with.
Yesterday, I cleaned up my very first AG, the original Classic 7 pod model, turned it on to test it, then planted a garden of nothing but Tatsoi. I'm using 14 year old bottles of General Hydroponics Flora series for the Tatsoi garden. But the nutrients look in good condition, so I figured I should try them, rather than toss them. If they work OK, I'm good for some time to come. If not, well, then I'll know.
I used foil over the pods in lieu of labels. But I added a strip of blue painter's tape with the date I started the garden and what I'm growing in it.
The gardens are sitting back to back on my kitchen counter. The new LED garden is so much brighter! But where I live, we get long, gloomy winters, and don't see much sun, so the extra AG light will be very welcome in another month or so. Currently, they are both set to turn on at 2:30 AM.
I'm not sure about the water situation. We have hard water (no added fluoride), but in 2020, I got a Big Berkey filter, so I thought I'd try half tap, half filtered from the Berkey. I used to use distilled, but that can be a pain to find in stock at the store, and I'd really rather not have to use it. So here we go!
My avatar is from a picture of my very first AG grow, the herb garden in the Classic 7 pod model referenced above.
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tdse
AGA Sprout
Posts: 122
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Post by tdse on Oct 4, 2023 14:44:45 GMT -5
Hi, I'm so happy to see that there is an Aerogarden forum again! A long, LONG time ago, about 14-15 years, I was a member of another AG forum, and it went defunct. And without a place to get help/advice, I stopped using my AGs. Recently, I discovered that there was an AG Reddit and also this forum. I got interested in possibly using my AGs again to grow vegetables for both juicing and salads, having bought a nice juicer over the summer. And then, I found a sale on a new AG Harvest Slim Elite, and got one for $48.11 on Amazon, including a packet of Tatsoi seeds! I got it running the morning it arrived (Monday) with the salad greens kit it came with. Yesterday, I cleaned up my very first AG, the original Classic 7 pod model, turned it on to test it, then planted a garden of nothing but Tatsoi. I'm using 14 year old bottles of General Hydroponics Flora series for the Tatsoi garden. But the nutrients look in good condition, so I figured I should try them, rather than toss them. If they work OK, I'm good for some time to come. If not, well, then I'll know. I used foil over the pods in lieu of labels. But I added a strip of blue painter's tape with the date I started the garden and what I'm growing in it. The gardens are sitting back to back on my kitchen counter. The new LED garden is so much brighter! But where I live, we get long, gloomy winters, and don't see much sun, so the extra AG light will be very welcome in another month or so. Currently, they are both set to turn on at 2:30 AM. I'm not sure about the water situation. We have hard water (no added fluoride), but in 2020, I got a Big Berkey filter, so I thought I'd try half tap, half filtered from the Berkey. I used to use distilled, but that can be a pain to find in stock at the store, and I'd really rather not have to use it. So here we go! My avatar is from a picture of my very first AG grow, the herb garden in the Classic 7 pod model referenced above. Welcome! I love having a community / forum as well, to me it is continued motivation to keep my gardens going. I also love the inspiration with all the different plants (as well as different systems). That's a fantastic deal on the Slim. Not sure if you've grown Tatsoi before, but it gets very large (wide, not tall). I just recently planted some in my AG Harvest Slim - they just sprouted yesterday. I'll only have 2 plants in there to accomodate their size. We have (what I consider) pretty long and gloomy winters here as well (I'm in New Hampshire - USA). The AG's are very much a welcome presence during the winter months - both for the light, as well as the fresh produce (and flowers)! Hope to hear more about your garden journeys. |
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Post by scarfguy on Oct 4, 2023 15:00:15 GMT -5
There are tons of valuable information here already and a group of people dedicated to providing assistance and advice. (and humor, and pictures, and a lot of "oops, don't do this" )
Looking forward to hearing of your AG adventures!
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 791
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Oct 4, 2023 15:08:45 GMT -5
Oct 4, 2023 12:44:45 GMT -7 tdse said: Welcome! I love having a community / forum as well, to me it is continued motivation to keep my gardens going. I also love the inspiration with all the different plants (as well as different systems). That's a fantastic deal on the Slim. Not sure if you've grown Tatsoi before, but it gets very large (wide, not tall). I just recently planted some in my AG Harvest Slim - they just sprouted yesterday. I'll only have 2 plants in there to accomodate their size. We have (what I consider) pretty long and gloomy winters here as well (I'm in New Hampshire - USA). The AG's are very much a welcome presence during the winter months - both for the light, as well as the fresh produce (and flowers)! Hope to hear more about your garden journeys. Thank you! I think I had just gotten tired of the cleanup after a grow (I have several AG 6 Elite+/Veggie Pros) and also, having a community helps keep the inspiration. My old basement AG room is stuffed full of junk at the moment, sigh! But the kitchen counter has room for the two gardens, if only my 2 young boy cats don't turn into plant killers! I figure the way to find out is to do a grow, see if either of the cats bother it, LOL! If they do, I've made emergency space in my little office room, to which they are NOT allowed free access because of all the tempting computer cords and cords for recharging e-readers/iPad/etc.... I did think the Tatsoi might be too large to grow 7 pods worth at once. But I thought that maybe I could just remove 4 pods and eat some of them very young, then grow the remaining 3 pods, with one middle front and two outer back. Today I realized that might be a bad plan, as then what do I do with the old roots if I just cut off the plants to harvest? The left behind roots would rot, wouldn't they? Maybe it would be best to cull to two or three once sprouted. |
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campingcorgis
AGA Farmer
🌴 I wet my plants. :-) 🌴
Posts: 3,114
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Post by campingcorgis on Oct 4, 2023 16:21:13 GMT -5
Welcome to AG, pfunnyjoy! I'm also in the PNW and enjoy the extra light in the cooler months! I'm in SW WA. Where are you? I have my AG's set to go on at 4AM. They do light up the front of the house! Most of them go off at about 7:30PM. I remember when I first got them, I had to block the lights in the evening as they seemed overwhelming. Now, they don't bother us at all.  I too took a break for a bit, but shorter time frame that you! I've recently started flowers (Portulacas & Lavendar), Microgreens, greens and herbs too. I find them both useful and peaceful, at the same time! |
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tdse
AGA Sprout
Posts: 122
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Post by tdse on Oct 4, 2023 16:54:52 GMT -5
I put 4 Tatsoi's in my Aerogarden slim, but when they get a bit larger, I'll move them to Kratky jars. You can find a lot of good information online about Kratky jars, but I will tell you, I am super lazy, so this is what I do. I buy wide mouth amber mason jars. Amber jars don't let algae grow, so you don't need to cover or paint the jars. I also don't bother with net cups. I buy these on Etsy - Aerogarden Laser Cut Kratky Lids and then drop the sprouted AG pod right in there. If you don't have separate lights to suspend over the jars, if you set the jar close enough to your Aerogarden, it'll be fine. You can keep the Tatsoi 'smaller' by continuing to harvest the outer leaves, but they still get pretty big. When I can figure out how to post pictures here, I'll share a pic of a couple I have. Edit - Fingers crossed that this works. This is a pic of a couple small herb seedlings I have in Kratky jars: 
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Post by scarfguy on Oct 4, 2023 18:50:48 GMT -5
yes! Your picture came through fine!
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Post by lynnee on Oct 5, 2023 11:30:20 GMT -5
pfunnyjoy, so nice to see you here! What a beautiful avatar photo! Most people here are afraid to clean their AGs in the dishwasher, but I do it all the time (shortest possible cycle, no heat, preferably top rack, remove and reassemble immediately to discourage warping). With the Farm, you have to use a screwdriver to remove the water level indicator from the bowl, of course. The pump can be taken apart for cleaning or just left in when the bowl goes through the dishwasher. 
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Post by lynnee on Oct 5, 2023 11:40:18 GMT -5
tdse, I love your Kratky photo.  I use the amber jars with the laser cut lids, too.
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 791
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Oct 5, 2023 20:23:38 GMT -5
There are tons of valuable information here already and a group of people dedicated to providing assistance and advice. (and humor, and pictures, and a lot of "oops, don't do this" )
Looking forward to hearing of your AG adventures!
Well, I'm "oopsing" all over the place so far! Planted too many pods of a plant that gets broad, check. Mixed nutrients incorrectly, check. Thought short baskets could transfer to a tall basket airstone garden (hoping to thin the over-planted one), check. Worst of all, when I stopped planting my AGs, I forgot to remove the batteries from my Bluelab Truncheon ... and it's a goner via corrosion. I'm usually good about things like that. Big sigh! I'll have to do without for now. |
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 791
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Oct 5, 2023 20:29:25 GMT -5
Welcome to AG, pfunnyjoy ! I'm also in the PNW and enjoy the extra light in the cooler months! I'm in SW WA. Where are you? I have my AG's set to go on at 4AM. They do light up the front of the house! Most of them go off at about 7:30PM. I remember when I first got them, I had to block the lights in the evening as they seemed overwhelming. Now, they don't bother us at all. I too took a break for a bit, but shorter time frame that you! I've recently started flowers (Portulacas & Lavendar), Microgreens, greens and herbs too. I find them both useful and peaceful, at the same time! Eastern OR. I did the petunias once, in a small 3-pod garden in the bathroom. But they were sticky all the time, so if I do flowers again, it won't be petunias. The bathroom is out anyway, as I've gotten older, I need space for supplies, like eye drops, which I need CONSTANTLY thanks to dry eye. Lavender sounds really lovely! |
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 791
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Oct 5, 2023 20:42:19 GMT -5
pfunnyjoy , so nice to see you here! What a beautiful avatar photo! Most people here are afraid to clean their AGs in the dishwasher, but I do it all the time (shortest possible cycle, no heat, preferably top rack, remove and reassemble immediately to discourage warping). With the Farm, you have to use a screwdriver to remove the water level indicator from the bowl, of course. The pump can be taken apart for cleaning or just left in when the bowl goes through the dishwasher. Our dishwasher is on its last legs, and I'm not sure the old AGs like I have were ever rated dishwasher safe. I'd rather not test that. Plus I'd worry that one of the support struts would fall out and get broken. I'm fine with manual cleaning, I tried something new the other day to "rehabilitate" the Classic 7 ... citric acid! A short soak in that really helped with all the crusties, and when the current garden is done, I plan to do an overnight soak and hopefully get any remaining residue off or mostly so. The old airstone gardens are actually pretty easy to do. The grow decks are simple, as no water runs through them, and the pump is inaccessible in the unit base, so you really just need to clean the bowl and replace the airstone. I used to do a vinegar clean on the airstones, but they are cheap, now I just pop in a new one. It's just that I was running some 8 gardens or more at the time I quit and it was too much. I gave away both small 3-pod gardens to the thrift store, and only have the big gardens now, and I've got at least 7 of those, possibly 8, there might be a new one in box that I never set up, LOL! I've got whopping wads of tall baskets, a stack of grow domes, bags of Park Seeds sponges, GH Flora nutrients, pretty much everything except labels. I can get away with foil for those, but might order some for sheer ease/convenience. Seeds I'll need, but it's easy to go overboard, so I don't plan to order more until I see how I do with these gardens. Then maybe more lettuce and perhaps Italian dandelions in addition to the Tatsoi. I could use a true siphon. I have a tube that works, but the occasional mouthful of AG water is, well, UGH! I plan to get a siphon soon, if anyone has any recommendations! |
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campingcorgis
AGA Farmer
🌴 I wet my plants. :-) 🌴
Posts: 3,114
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Post by campingcorgis on Oct 5, 2023 20:50:29 GMT -5
Eastern OR. I did the petunias once, in a small 3-pod garden in the bathroom. But they were sticky all the time, so if I do flowers again, it won't be petunias. The bathroom is out anyway, as I've gotten older, I need space for supplies, like eye drops, which I need CONSTANTLY thanks to dry eye. Lavender sounds really lovely! I'm totally with you on the sticky! This is my first time with Lavender...fingers and paws crossed! |
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 791
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Oct 5, 2023 21:00:59 GMT -5
I put 4 Tatsoi's in my Aerogarden slim, but when they get a bit larger, I'll move them to Kratky jars. You can find a lot of good information online about Kratky jars, but I will tell you, I am super lazy, so this is what I do. I buy wide mouth amber mason jars. Amber jars don't let algae grow, so you don't need to cover or paint the jars. I also don't bother with net cups. I buy these on Etsy - Aerogarden Laser Cut Kratky Lids and then drop the sprouted AG pod right in there. If you don't have separate lights to suspend over the jars, if you set the jar close enough to your Aerogarden, it'll be fine. You can keep the Tatsoi 'smaller' by continuing to harvest the outer leaves, but they still get pretty big. When I can figure out how to post pictures here, I'll share a pic of a couple I have. Edit - Fingers crossed that this works. This is a pic of a couple small herb seedlings I have in Kratky jars: Very cool! I'm looking into Kratky, but I think I'll just see how the Tatsoi sprouts look (they are sprouting after only TWO days), save the best three, discard the rest. Later maybe harvesting the middle one young.
I was going to try and transfer two to another garden, but I'd cut the sponges to fit the short Classic 7 baskets, and didn't want to worry over dropping them deep into a tall basket for the airstone gardens, or trying to extract the sprouts and get them into a full-size sponge. Too much trouble for this old lady!
It's a learning thing. Since I got the old 6 Elite+ cleaned and up and running, I just planted fresh, two pods only, far apart, spacers on the open holes.
Your Kratky jars look very nice! I do have a couple quart amber Mason jars, so I might try this at a future date. |
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Post by mush on Oct 20, 2023 8:42:54 GMT -5
Howdy, all - just joined last night. Mush is the name...has been my nickname forever. Bought a Farm 24 XL over the summer and just finished the first garden (lettuce). Tomatoes are still going on the second side. Ended up getting a Harvest slim for herbs.
I found this site searching for examples of other gardens over the summer and browsed as a guest. When I started looking for preferred seed companies for the next round, I decided to become a member. Looking forward to reading all the forums - you all have some amazing info on here!
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Post by scarfguy on Oct 20, 2023 9:30:41 GMT -5
Looking forward to hearing about your Aerogarden endeavors.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846
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Post by slw on Oct 20, 2023 10:58:54 GMT -5
Howdy, all - just joined last night. Mush is the name...has been my nickname forever. Bought a Farm 24 XL over the summer and just finished the first garden (lettuce). Tomatoes are still going on the second side. Ended up getting a Harvest slim for herbs. I found this site searching for examples of other gardens over the summer and browsed as a guest. When I started looking for preferred seed companies for the next round, I decided to become a member. Looking forward to reading all the forums - you all have some amazing info on here! Howdy, Mush! Welcome to the addiction; we're glad you signed up! |
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Post by lynnee on Oct 20, 2023 12:14:12 GMT -5
Hi Mush! We're always finding new seed favorites! For cherry tomatoes, I recommend Burpee Veranda Reds. They're sweet, productive, and produce multiple harvests.  |
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tdse
AGA Sprout
Posts: 122
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Post by tdse on Oct 20, 2023 13:56:29 GMT -5
Howdy, all - just joined last night. Mush is the name...has been my nickname forever. Bought a Farm 24 XL over the summer and just finished the first garden (lettuce). Tomatoes are still going on the second side. Ended up getting a Harvest slim for herbs. I found this site searching for examples of other gardens over the summer and browsed as a guest. When I started looking for preferred seed companies for the next round, I decided to become a member. Looking forward to reading all the forums - you all have some amazing info on here! Welcome! I'm currently on my first grow in my Farm 24 XL (my 11th Aerogarden). What type of tomatoes are you growing? I'm experimenting with a semi-determine bush that's not a cherry/grape tomato, my goal is to have something I can slice (for sandwiches!)  I have cucumbers (Iznik) in the other side - they have taken off like gangbusters. Looking forward to hearing more about your gardens! |
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Shawn
Administrator
Posts: 16,267
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Post by Shawn on Oct 24, 2023 2:48:01 GMT -5
Howdy, all - just joined last night. Mush is the name...has been my nickname forever. Bought a Farm 24 XL over the summer and just finished the first garden (lettuce). Tomatoes are still going on the second side. Ended up getting a Harvest slim for herbs. I found this site searching for examples of other gardens over the summer and browsed as a guest. When I started looking for preferred seed companies for the next round, I decided to become a member. Looking forward to reading all the forums - you all have some amazing info on here!
Hello and welcome. Glad you decided to join. We look forward to hearing and seeing more of your gardens.
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I use the amber jars with the laser cut lids, too.
