Where did I go wrong?

[sojourner]

Hi all,
The first time I planted my little 6 pod Harvest Elite, I planted all six pods and ended up with quite a jungle; the parsley was one of the luxuriant herbs that was a great success.  In an effort to have less of a jungle I only planted two pods this time around.  One was curly parsley and one was Italian parsley.  They have done terrible; failed to produce much greenery and went brown as if they had been starved for water or burnt from light.  I had decided to cut back on plant food because there were less plants.  Since the Harvest Elite is set up for six plants and I only had two, I I fed with about 30% of the recommended plant food each time.  Was that my mistake?  Is there some other accommodation I should make when planting fewer herbs?

[airscapes]

The amount of nutrient is based on the amount of water the unit holds, not the number of plants. If you have not removed the 2 parsley plants that are sickly,  drain and refill and use the amount of nutrient listed for a 6 pod unit and the parsleys will probably recover and grow just fine.   You should cut off anything brown or dead, and you will be surprised at how resilient parsley is.   If you pulled them already, next time just follow the instruction on the bottle and you will be fine.  With many plants, you do not add more, but you may need to add more often as the plant get big, or better to drain and refill more often, as  the strength of the nutrient does not go up with more plant but does get consumed faster. 

[Shawn]

When I plant herbs in my Harvest I usually plant 4 plants to keep some airflow.  Yes you can plant all 6 but you need to be vigilant in pruning and making sure all have flow.

As for nutes, I do not put them in until the plants have germinated and are above the label.  Then I start off slow by adding 4ml, then two weeks later I will add 6ml and I stay at that unless they look as if they want more.  The most you add is 8ml every two weeks.  Make sure you do not add the nutes weekly.  Also once a month after I start the nutes you should do an R&R (Rinse and Refill or D&R Dump and Refill.  Both are the same thing)

If they were turning brown you may have been adding too much nutes or the light was too close to the plants.  If you ever are questioning something, post a picture (see how to post pictures here) and ask you questions.  We have a very knowledgeable group and are happy to help if we can.

One great thing about Aerogardens is that no matter what time of year it is we can always start a garden and if something fails (we all have them) we can start anew.  Do not get discouraged ... I am one with a black thumb outside however I have been growing using Aerogardens for years now (and still have the black thumb outside )

[sojourner]

Follow Up: after adding the amount of nutrients based on the amount of water vs number of plants I trimmed any brown stems.  I'm seeing improvement quite rapidly.  So glad to have this forum!  I was getting ready to pull those plants and dispose of them!  Many thanks.

[Shawn]

Happy to hear you were able to find help here.  keep us up to date on how they are going