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Post by darais211 on May 2, 2022 19:48:09 GMT -5
i thought it would be fun to show off some of the special stuff you do for your plants, i know a lot of people just set up the aerogarden and just put water and food in and let it grow. i also know some of us like to push our plants to get the most out of them, so i thought lets share!
i'll start: First i oxygenate my water, i also give it 1/4 tsp of myco (great white for those interested), and every other week i might give it a product called "Superthrive". (thats just what im doing now i have used other products)
your guys turn! i can't wait to hear what some of the stuff you guys do!
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Post by lynnee on May 2, 2022 23:19:08 GMT -5
Before finding this forum, I always gave my plants AG nutrients according to the instructions, and let them grow. I added R&Rs with every plant food alert on my own, after losing a productive green pepper quite suddenly to root rot. Now I know--from Shawn, Sher, and many others--that the majority of plants will benefit from supplementation with CalMag+ (per amounts suggested on the label, or a bit less). So I now add that as soon as the plants are developing lots of leaves. I've also started testing the pH for plants that don't seem to be growing right. So far I only do regular pH testing for strawberries, which are more sensitive to pH variations than most things that are commonly grown in Aerogardens.  |
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Post by darais211 on May 2, 2022 23:44:23 GMT -5
Supplements are definitely a necessity sadly, no one plant food is going to give you all the nutrients you need sadly! and your 100% right about the ph a lot of people don't know you got to watch that kind of stuff when your putting in your water. i also use to test the PPM on stuff but been slacking the past few months  . calmag is a great product but if your giving that to the plants just to help in flower blooming i would suggest something more like kelp, what a plant needs for flowers is Potassium and Phosphorus. (if anyone is interested i could write up a guide for what each nutrient does and what ones are critical) |
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Post by lynnee on May 2, 2022 23:56:56 GMT -5
What happens when you add Great White to an AG? Is a root system booster really needed for an AG? (I usually get more roots than I really want--they clog the water level indicator and/or the pump.)  |
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Post by darais211 on May 3, 2022 0:31:46 GMT -5
great white makes the roots explode and helps with nutrient uptake in the flowers, as for clogging i haven't really had any issues but every couple of weeks or so when i do my feeds i make sure the roots aren't clogging it and keep them kind of trimmed away from it.
is it needed....no bbuuuuutttt like i said on the first post i like to push my flowers so im always looking for a new way to keep pushing them to get a better plant (wither it be more colorful flowers, more blooms, or just helping it grow faster and stronger)
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Shawn
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Post by Shawn on May 3, 2022 3:00:19 GMT -5
Special Techniques? HA, I really do nothing. I use the AG Nutes, Mr. Mucha-Stash and now added KoolBloom. This is for my peppers. My herbs I add nothing more then nutes (maybe I should be adding something but I have no clue what). On my flowers I might use a pinch of Miracle Gro Bloom.
I stopped testing pH a long time ago. It drove me nuts. Maybe if needed on a rare occasion I will add a teaspoon of peroxide to my water. I do R&R's but not bi-weekly like recommended. I do it when I feel like it (I know my bad).
Other then that I just trim out the dark old leaves to make some air circulation space and turn my plants so the roots do not run together as much.
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Post by lynnee on May 4, 2022 9:49:13 GMT -5
darais211 , I supplement peppers and other fruiting plants with small amounts of KoolBloom when they start to flower. I got the idea from this forum, after my poblano peppers started dropping the fruit right after it set. KB is supposed to help with fruit development as well as blooms. In fact, adding CalMag+ and KB has increased my cherry tomato production tremendously! I still need several mature plants to supply the household, but I'm getting close to harvests of 40 or so tomatoes per week from two plants. Recently I didn't need to buy any retail tomatoes for a couple of weeks! It also increases tomato harvests if I remove all tomatoes that are "breaking orange", and let them finish ripening on the kitchen countertop. That idea came from this forum, too.
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Post by areyoukittenme on May 4, 2022 18:49:01 GMT -5
i thought it would be fun to show off some of the special stuff you do for your plants, i know a lot of people just set up the aerogarden and just put water and food in and let it grow. i also know some of us like to push our plants to get the most out of them, so i thought lets share! i'll start: First i oxygenate my water, i also give it 1/4 tsp of myco (great white for those interested), and every other week i might give it a product called "Superthrive". (thats just what im doing now i have used other products)
your guys turn! i can't wait to hear what some of the stuff you guys do!
How do you oxygenate your water? I hadn't thought to do that with the AGs because I can hear the water splashing around when the pump gets going, but maybe that's not enough? |
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Post by darais211 on May 4, 2022 20:56:50 GMT -5
i thought it would be fun to show off some of the special stuff you do for your plants, i know a lot of people just set up the aerogarden and just put water and food in and let it grow. i also know some of us like to push our plants to get the most out of them, so i thought lets share! i'll start: First i oxygenate my water, i also give it 1/4 tsp of myco (great white for those interested), and every other week i might give it a product called "Superthrive". (thats just what im doing now i have used other products)
your guys turn! i can't wait to hear what some of the stuff you guys do!
How do you oxygenate your water? I hadn't thought to do that with the AGs because I can hear the water splashing around when the pump gets going, but maybe that's not enough?
I have a very small aquarium pump that i use and i've lately been playing with different air stones trying to get it to oxygenate the whole system using only 1 pump and stone. you really don't have to oxygenate all it does it helps the plant take up nutrients better. if you look in the back of the res it should have small little holes for a oxygen line to go through, i know my bounty basic has two.
i will say this though if you oxygenate it your roots and plant are going to explode so be ready to do a little more maintenance on them, but they will be extremely happy.
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Post by darais211 on May 4, 2022 21:01:23 GMT -5
forgot to also mention that you also got to remember that the pump isn't running very often so that water is often stagnant what the aquarium pump will do is agitate that water so the roots aren't just sitting in stagnant nutrients.
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Post by areyoukittenme on May 4, 2022 21:13:54 GMT -5
How do you oxygenate your water? I hadn't thought to do that with the AGs because I can hear the water splashing around when the pump gets going, but maybe that's not enough?
I have a very small aquarium pump that i use and i've lately been playing with different air stones trying to get it to oxygenate the whole system using only 1 pump and stone. you really don't have to oxygenate all it does it helps the plant take up nutrients better. if you look in the back of the res it should have small little holes for a oxygen line to go through, i know my bounty basic has two.
i will say this though if you oxygenate it your roots and plant are going to explode so be ready to do a little more maintenance on them, but they will be extremely happy.
Ooh I see the little holes you're talking about in my own Bounty! I actually have a small aquarium pump & airstone I was using for a DWC setup that I could press into service. Maybe I'll give it a try with my tomatoes.
And that makes sense what you said about the AG pump not being on all the time. Thank you for the information and ideas!
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Post by lynnee on May 5, 2022 12:35:47 GMT -5
forgot to also mention that you also got to remember that the pump isn't running very often so that water is often stagnant what the aquarium pump will do is agitate that water so the roots aren't just sitting in stagnant nutrients. One of the things I like about the Farms and Bounty Elites, is that you can customize the pump cycle. This may be available on other models--it's a feature worth looking for. My plants grow very well with the pumps running all the time (setting 060/000, or on 60 minutes and off 0 minutes). Perhaps I should mention that my plants also survive pretty well for a couple of weeks, when I forget to plug in the pump after an R&R!  |
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Shawn
Administrator
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Post by Shawn on May 5, 2022 12:46:12 GMT -5
One of the things I like about the Farms and Bounty Elites, is that you can customize the pump cycle. This may be available on other models--it's a feature worth looking for. My plants grow very well with the pumps running all the time (setting 060/000, or on 60 minutes and off 0 minutes). Perhaps I should mention that my plants also survive pretty well for a couple of weeks, when I forget to plug in the pump after an R&R! 
Yes that is something I really like as well. I always change the pump times around depending on what I am growing. AND I often forget to plug the pump back in. Now what I do is tape it to the counter/desk table whatever and put a huge postit on it to plug it in. Of course I sometimes ignore that as well LOL
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Post by areyoukittenme on May 5, 2022 15:06:40 GMT -5
forgot to also mention that you also got to remember that the pump isn't running very often so that water is often stagnant what the aquarium pump will do is agitate that water so the roots aren't just sitting in stagnant nutrients. One of the things I like about the Farms and Bounty Elites, is that you can customize the pump cycle. This may be available on other models--it's a feature worth looking for. My plants grow very well with the pumps running all the time (setting 060/000, or on 60 minutes and off 0 minutes). Perhaps I should mention that my plants also survive pretty well for a couple of weeks, when I forget to plug in the pump after an R&R! 
I just took a look through the menu of my Bounty Basic and it can do this, too. Pretty nifty that they put that in there!
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Post by darais211 on May 5, 2022 15:39:44 GMT -5
and here's a video on myco that is extremely informative:
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Post by darais211 on May 6, 2022 12:57:23 GMT -5
one thing i did forget to mention if you did this make sure your air stone is secured to the bottom so it doesn't float up and get entangled in the roots, i did that mistake a few months ago and had to fight through the roots to get the air stone out and saw the roots were actually growing INTO the stone.
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Post by lynnee on May 6, 2022 15:09:18 GMT -5
one thing i did forget to mention if you did this make sure your air stone is secured to the bottom so it doesn't float up and get entangled in the roots, i did that mistake a few months ago and had to fight through the roots to get the air stone out and saw the roots were actually growing INTO the stone. That's a terrific video--I watched the first 10 minutes, and will go back to it when I'm ready to try myco (Great White) in one of my AGs. I wonder, would it help with strawberries? Mine are doing well right now, but I'm interested in figuring out what it takes to grow strawberries easily in an AG. My previous attempts didn't go very well, and many people have difficulty growing them at all. I suppose that roots with myco are more likely than noncolonized roots to grow far into an AG pump?  |
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Post by darais211 on May 6, 2022 15:19:17 GMT -5
one thing i did forget to mention if you did this make sure your air stone is secured to the bottom so it doesn't float up and get entangled in the roots, i did that mistake a few months ago and had to fight through the roots to get the air stone out and saw the roots were actually growing INTO the stone. That's a terrific video--I watched the first 10 minutes, and will go back to it when I'm ready to try myco (Great White) in one of my AGs. I wonder, would it help with strawberries? Mine are doing well right now, but I'm interested in figuring out what it takes to grow strawberries easily in an AG. My previous attempts didn't go very well, and many people have difficulty growing them at all. I suppose that roots with myco are more likely than noncolonized roots to grow far into an AG pump?  Im pretty sure it would, thats probably going to be the next thing i try in my AG since i've been wanting to do that for over a year and was challenged by my parents (they think i can't do it).
The Myco helps the roots grow strong and fast so you will have to keep a more constant eye (i check mine every feeding) on them but i haven't really had a issue with it getting into the pump. when i do my next res change i'll try and take a picture of my petunia roots so you can see what myco does  |
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Post by lynnee on May 6, 2022 15:21:45 GMT -5
A photo of the petunia roots would be great, darais211! Whenever it's convenient, of course!  |
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Post by darais211 on May 8, 2022 11:57:32 GMT -5
A photo of the petunia roots would be great, darais211 ! Whenever it's convenient, of course! well i went to do a res change today and uhhh...the flowers have wrapped around the light and now i can't move the res lol, sadly wasn't able to do a change like i normally do and get the pictures  . I ended up just throwing everything in the res and trying to balance the stuff on the fly ((NEVER DO THAT!!! im an idiot for attempting lol)) (Flowers seem to be doing a bit better though, still has some problems though but im working on it!) |
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. calmag is a great product but if your giving that to the plants just to help in flower blooming i would suggest something more like kelp, what a plant needs for flowers is Potassium and Phosphorus. (if anyone is interested i could write up a guide for what each nutrient does and what ones are critical) 
. I ended up just throwing everything in the res and trying to balance the stuff on the fly ((NEVER DO THAT!!! im an idiot for attempting lol)) (Flowers seem to be doing a bit better though, still has some problems though but im working on it!)