My Farm set up

[lolo2202]

Hello Everyone,

So a lot has happened since my last update.
I transplanted 3 Anaheim Peppers and 2 Sweet Bell Peppers into biodegradable pots to harden before final transplant into 5 gallon buckets.  I also did the same for 2 of the Yellow Dwarf Tomatoes.

The Anaheim peppers are growing a little more leggy than the Sweet Bell Peppers.  Based on research online I am not sure if I should top my Anaheim peppers as far as the Sweet Bell peppers I feel comfortable leaving those alone.

These are my Anaheim Peppers - Day 32.  They seem a little long to me with growth starting to come in on the sides.  The taller one in the front has tiny little peppers but you can barely see them in the top where the growth is.



These are my Sweet Bell Peppers - Day 32 They seem to be be growing a little more fuller than than the Anaheim peppers.  The leaves are bigger and a little darker than the Anaheim.


This is what the Sweet Bell looks like when I lift the leave, there is a lot of growth in the corners between the leaves and the stem.  The top has tiny peppers that are noticeable now, and there is also little tiny peppers growing in between the leaves too but you can barely see those. The stem on them is a lot thicker too.  I did not top these and to me it looks like there is no need.  But any feedback is most welcomed.



The tomatoes and lettuce are doing great.  The first harvest on the lettuce was enough for 4 salads; the family really enjoyed them. We have also been using it in our tacos, burritos, and everything else. 


Here is a pick of a salad I made with the lettuce.. This lettuce is from my 3rd harvest. It has leaves from each lettuce plant in my farm including broccoli, carrots, bacon and sunflower seeds topped with a creamy sesame dressing, it was perfect. The crunch was perfect this time around.


The Tomatoes have flowers every where, and when I was pruning the leaves I found these guys, my first tomatoes!  When I was looking around I must have counted at least 14 baby tomatoes starting to grow through out all the plants.  Very satisfying indeed! I can't wait to add them to my salads.


These are the Aerogarden Mighty Mini Cherry tomato, It is doing good, the plant started to grow a lot slower once it was transplanted into soil but it's doing great, tiny baby tomato in one of the flowers.


Finally these are the Yellow Pear Tomatoes.  They are growing really well too, this morning I saw a few flowers on one of the plants, I was not expecting any so soon since these are going to grow really tall.  I had a cucumber plant in the blue bucket that I had started on my smaller Aerogarden Harvest. But my dog ate the plant I should have planted 2 of them in case I lost one. lol.


I will update again in a couple of weeks.

[campingcorgis]

Wow!  I'm super impressed!  Good job!  I've only grown peppers once, so I'll leave your pepper questions to the experts!  

<<I had a cucumber plant in the blue bucket that I had started on my smaller Aerogarden Harvest. But my dog ate the plant I should have planted 2 of them in case I lost one.>>

  Ya gotta love those pups!  Long ago, I had a doggie that would steal tomatoes from the plants.  But, he had good taste.  He took only those that were ready for eating.  I should have harvested them.  LOL.

[Sher]

What amazing, beautiful and successful garden!

Love yiur photos, too!..

[lolo2202]

Today is Day 47 for the tomatoes and day 45 for the peppers.

Since my last update the peppers have gone through a growth sprout. The peppers are full of tiny little flowers every where.   3 days ago I noticed that the Anaheim Peppers flowers were drying up and falling off, the next day I noticed browning on the leaves which was yesterday. Not all the leaves have it, but majority of them did.  See the pic below.  

   I believe it may be phosphorus deficiency, when I finally looked at the Aerogarden nutrients I noticed the phosphate is really low at 3% considering how big and bushy the Anaheim peppers where getting I'm thinking there was not enough phosphate in the water to support the plant needs.  Same thing has been happening to the Sweet Bell Peppers but it's in the early stages. 

So yesterday I decided to switch the nutrients I am using for the peppers, went to my local hydroponic store and purchased MaxiBloom hydroponic nutrients which has an NPK of 5-15-14, I used a TDS meter to measure the ideal ( ppm/nutrient ) needs for the Anaheim peppers & pruned a lot of the leaves, I left some of the bad leaves on the peppers incase the damage continues that way the old leaves continue to take the hit and not the new ones.  I took 2 cuttings of the plant incase I loose them I wont have to start over.  I will be doing the same for the sweet bell peppers tomo.  I stocked up on so much Aerogarden nutrients that I will still be using those and experimenting with the maxigrow on the peppers.









Sweet Bell Peppers.  



Lettuce Day 47.  It gets harvested daily, the Baby romaine is growing weird but it still good.  


Finally the Tomatoes are growing really well. I haven't really pruned them since I removed the Yellow Dwarf tomatoes outdoors.  They bushed out and started flowering every where, but its hard to tell in the picture because of all the leaves. 
I counted them right after I took the picture, I have about 36 little tomatoes, I think they were going through a growth sprout when I was taking this picture because the entrance smelled like tomatoes with out being touched today first time I been around for it.


Hopefully on my next update in a couple of weeks.  I will have better news in regards to the pepprs. 

[airscapes]

Good luck with the new food!  Looking forward to see how they do with more of what they need.

[lolo2202]

Thank you!😁😁😁

[Sher]

lolo2202, Overall, I think your peppers look good. I can't tell from the photos whether your leaves have a purplish cast or if it's just your lights. If the leaves purple, it is often a symptom of phosphorus deficiency..  Mine always get brown or sick looking leaves here and there and I just cut them off. I hope that is the case with yours.

The bloom formula should produce a lot of peppers. If you get massive flower drop, it might be that the peppers are producing more fruit than they can support. So don't get upset if that happens.

Most of us here add a generous cal/mag supplement to our peppers. Some prefer the version with 1% nitrogen. I like CalMag with 2%. Since you are using a low nitrogen bloom formula, you might want to try a calcium/magnesium supplement with 2%. Those supplements also contain iron.

I love your idea of taking cuttings!

The lettuce and tomatoes look great! As long as the lettuce is not bitter, it doesn't matter if it looks a little funny. When it starts to taste bitter, it's time to replace it.

Thank you so much for the update. Your progress is a joy to follow!

[lolo2202]

Thanks Sher,

I was freaking out a little there for a bit. I feel I've learned more about plants and nutrients since I got these Aerogardens Farms, than all my years just gardening in soil.  In Soil all I really did was water and feed nutrients when the package recommend and that was it, never pruned, pinched or even knew what PH was and grew amazing vegetables. Things happen so fast growing in the Aerogardens I'm still suprised everytime I see anything happen, maybe it's because the Aerogardens are in the entrance of my home and it's hard to miss.
Thanks for the tips & info it put me more at ease.  I will look into the Cal-Mag 2% with Iron I am going to my local store today to see if they have it.

[lolo2202]

Here are some better pics of the tomatoes. 

[Shawn]

You are going to have a wonderful harvest of tomatoes

[Sher]

They are going to be loaded!

[lolo2202]

Hello,  Day 90

It's been a while since I posted any updates.  I have definitely learned a lot about hydroponics and how to grow in these Aerogardens.  I even went through a phase after my peppers suffered nutrient deficiency where I tried so many type of nutrients.  After educating my self further I finally found the right nutrient mix for my peppers, tomatoes and my latest addition strawberries.  I haven't replanted any lettuce although I have 2 salad kits for the farms from Aerogarden, I might need to get another Aerogarden, lol.

Below are the peppers, I went through a lot with the Anaheim peppers, I ended switching to dry nutrients MaxiBloom and it was great at first but I had so much trouble getting the nutrients to dissolve in water, the PH was all over the place and I did not like how all the salts were building up everywhere. So I switched again to liquid this time the Flora 3 part liquid nutrients which is really affordable by the way and after experimenting with them I found the perfect mix for me at least.  I later started using the Flora Bloom along with the Aerogarden nutrients for the perfect combo on my tomatoes which would work just as effectively on the peppers.  Wish I knew all of this sooner.  All you really need is Aerogarden nutrients and the Flora Bloom to fill in the gaps that Aerogarden nutrients lack, or any kind of bloom. 
But today I got my first Anaheim Flower after experiencing flower drops for weeks.







Sweet Bell Peppers are doing good, I been having flowers drop on them too but I have been feeding both the Anaheim and Sweet Bell the same.  The flowers stopped dropping recently so I will have to continue being patient.





Tomatoes, I might have been over doing it with the Calmag because they tasted very metallic with lingering after taste. So I backed off the Calmag, took off all the reddish tomatoes and I'll see how they turn out later.



I just planted Strawberry roots using decorative and clay pebbles and empty grow baskets, I used the Aerogarden stickers as an extra layer of protection for the crowns from the water.  When they arrived they had algae all over them, I washed them with vinegar and water.  A few days later I am starting to see new growth, little tiny green leaves popping up.  Now that I'm more comfortable with growing hydroponically I felt ready for the strawberries.  Once I know I can keep the strawberries going I plan to add the white Pineberry strawberries; they are a lot more expensive so I just want to make sure I got it right.  I am using the Aerogarden nutrients for the strawberries incase anyone is wondering.





I'll be back with more updates in a few weeks.  Hopefully I will have a baby pepper by then.

[campingcorgis]

Woo hoo!  Love the pictures and stories too!  

[Sher]

You have been busy! Love your update.

I am glad you found a nutrient mix that works for you, especially the bloom booster.

And the strawberries! Wishing you success! I will be interested in watching them grow.

[Shawn]

You are doing a nice job with your gardens.  May I ask, when you tasted the tomatoes you said they had a metallic taste.  Did you harvest those before feeding?  I ask because they sat tomatoes taste better after feeding (while herbs and lettuce need to be harvested before).

I enjoyed reading your update and happy you found a nute mix that works for you. I also look forward to seeing your strawberries grow.

[lolo2202]

Thanks Sher, Camping & Shawn.

The first 3 tomatoes were sweet and tomatoly tasting,  I tried harvesting before and a few days after adding nutrients and no difference still weird tasting.  The same one that are growing is soil taste like req cherry tomatoes so I'm sure I did something wrong somewhere.  The only thing I can think of was the Calmag, i was using at fill strength. 

But as of today I now have 6 of the 11 strawberries flowering,  super excited about that.

[Shawn]

Aug 2, 2021 22:36:14 GMT -5 lolo2202 said:

Thanks Sher, Camping & Shawn.

The first 3 tomatoes were sweet and tomatoly tasting,  I tried harvesting before and a few days after adding nutrients and no difference still weird tasting.  The same one that are growing is soil taste like req cherry tomatoes so I'm sure I did something wrong somewhere.  The only thing I can think of was the Calmag, i was using at fill strength. 

But as of today I now have 6 of the 11 strawberries flowering,  super excited about that.

I only grew tomatoes a few times and never added calimag.  But from what I understand you do not need much for tomatoes.  Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

[Sher]

If you are using AG nutrients, they do not need calmag, IMO.

Sometimes people use other nutrients that do not contain enough calcium and their tomatoes get blossom end rot.

In that case, they definitely need to add calmag.