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Post by kissyboots on Dec 18, 2017 14:03:52 GMT -5
Last night I added water to the bottom of the grow bowl per instructions. It began noisily making pump sounds, and it says "do not add water while pump is active" or something to that effect. It's supposed to run 9999/2 according to their recommendations, so I'm wondering what all the noise is. The media was also intermittently floating despite it not being overfilled, and occasionally not. Does anyone have enough knowledge of the grow bowl to know what's going on here? Are my strawberries doomed? Thanks:   |
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Post by kissyboots on Dec 18, 2017 14:06:50 GMT -5
I found this, but I don't know where the fill to here sensor is!
https://www.reddit.com/r/aerogarden/comments/52znsu/bounty_grow_bowl_strawberries_pump_question/
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MaryL
AGA Farmer
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Post by MaryL on Dec 18, 2017 15:48:07 GMT -5
It would seem to me that the sensor would have to be located under the grow bowl and media. But I’ve never had one of these.
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mike
The Pepper King
Posts: 3,661 
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Post by mike on Dec 18, 2017 18:19:17 GMT -5
I never had luck with the grow bowl. I've tried the strawberries twice. I think I had 4 strawberries the first time. But only one the second time. I scrapped the grow bowl.
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Post by serri588 on Dec 18, 2017 18:58:34 GMT -5
The sensor is under the bowl as has been mentioned. It is a post that sticks up that says "fill to here" written on it. I had to remove mine otherwise the pump would just keep cycling.
Something to think about- I don't know if the 2:9999 ratio will grow strawberries, but so far mine are pretty healthy at 2:1440 (once a day). Once a week seems kind of silly unless you are somewhere with really high humidity. Even then, how do the plants get fed if they have so little access to water?!?
The instructions that come with the grow bowl say once every four hours, but that seems to be too much. The top of the grow medium is wet, and from what I understand that is supposed to stay dry.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2017 19:49:28 GMT -5
I never had luck with the grow bowl. I've tried the strawberries twice. I think I had 4 strawberries the first time. But only one the second time. I scrapped the grow bowl. Did you get any gnats, Mike? I think I would want to use the bowl for other crops if there are no pests flying around.\ |
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mike
The Pepper King
Posts: 3,661
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Post by mike on Dec 18, 2017 20:00:13 GMT -5
No, I never had a problem with bugs in the grow bowl. My only problem with bugs was when I brought pots of chives in soil inside to steal light from the AG's. The bugs that came out of that soil seriously grossed me out. I shut down all gardens for four months. Then, when it got cold enough, I left my windows wide open when I went to work in December in Michigan. I will not allow soil indoors EVER again!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2017 20:05:50 GMT -5
Chives is known for gnats and bugs, even when started indoors.
I find no problem with certain potting mixes which I trust that is right out of the bag.(Espoma and Fox Farm Ocean Forest) But...I think of all those beautiful geraniums that I could have brought indoors from summertime and could replant them again in the spring and then DREAD the thought of the spiders, gnats, and who knows what else would make a nice home in my other plants.But...that is for another board, not meaning to hijack this thread.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2017 10:26:54 GMT -5
I never had luck with the grow bowl. I've tried the strawberries twice. I think I had 4 strawberries the first time. But only one the second time. I scrapped the grow bowl. Mike see my PM |
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Post by kissyboots on Dec 19, 2017 10:41:57 GMT -5
Thank you, everyone! Fixed. It was easy, I just had to lift the grow bowl and remove the "fill to here" sensor. The bowl drained for a while and when it stopped it went back to the way it's been. So in case anyone encounters this issue, that's what's up. AG told me that the strawberries should survive  |
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Post by serri588 on Dec 19, 2017 11:44:08 GMT -5
Awesome! Glad to hear you were able to resolve the issue.
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Post by kissyboots on Dec 20, 2017 13:55:54 GMT -5
The sensor is under the bowl as has been mentioned. It is a post that sticks up that says "fill to here" written on it. I had to remove mine otherwise the pump would just keep cycling. Something to think about- I don't know if the 2:9999 ratio will grow strawberries, but so far mine are pretty healthy at 2:1440 (once a day). Once a week seems kind of silly unless you are somewhere with really high humidity. Even then, how do the plants get fed if they have so little access to water?!? The instructions that come with the grow bowl say once every four hours, but that seems to be too much. The top of the grow medium is wet, and from what I understand that is supposed to stay dry. Mine were planted 2.5 weeks ago and they don't seem to be making a ton of progress, so I'm going to try this modification and hope it gets them to grow! They are definitely growing, but they seem stunted comparatively. |
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Post by kissyboots on Dec 20, 2017 14:04:04 GMT -5
ETA: Weirdly, I noticed two new leaves after the pump mishap! So you may definitely be on to something.
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Post by serri588 on Dec 20, 2017 17:07:00 GMT -5
Mine are at most a week older and they have about 6 leaf sets each and I've already picked off the first set of flowers. I think we can confirm that once a week is not enough.
It sounds like they stayed mostly dormant until they got some moisture, so hopefully, the plants are okay.
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Post by drbanks on Dec 20, 2017 22:00:38 GMT -5
I've never tried an ebb and flow setup and while I'm often tempted, they seem to be rather expensive. It never occurred to me that that's how the grow bowl is supposed to work.
And I have zero reflexes for using such a system. Love reading these updates
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Post by kissyboots on Dec 21, 2017 12:15:58 GMT -5
Yes, this is a good A/B test all things considered! I think that at least two crowns are alive and very green- whether their sisters will wake up remains to be seen. I chucked about four crowns into the crisper, IDK how long they can sleep! |
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Post by kissyboots on Dec 21, 2017 12:22:12 GMT -5
Three days later: ![]()  |
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Post by steveg on Feb 3, 2018 16:28:25 GMT -5
New guy here. Thanks for this great post. Just got the growbowl with the strawberries and that pump setting thing was driving me crazy!!! Once a day sounds ideal. Glad I found this forum..  |
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Shawn
Administrator
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Post by Shawn on Feb 3, 2018 16:34:58 GMT -5
New guy here. Thanks for this great post. Just got the growbowl with the strawberries and that pump setting thing was driving me crazy!!! Once a day sounds ideal. Glad I found this forum..  Glad to have you Steve ! Don't be a stranger  |
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MaryL
AGA Farmer
Posts: 3,532
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Post by MaryL on Feb 4, 2018 14:49:15 GMT -5
Welcome, Steve. Most of us on here have not tried the grow bowl yet, so the few of you who have them will be very instructive to us. Even just posting about mistakes helps us all.  |
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