patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
Posts: 80
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Post by patlab on Jul 22, 2023 9:41:48 GMT -5
It’s so hot with this dang heat wave that I’m still starting early determinate tomatoes, melons and squash. If I get them in by the middle of august they will still have at least 3 months of good weather. At least that’s what the southwest gardeners and weather forecasts say. Then I can put them in poly tunnels if they need more time. I won't be starting cool weather crops until late August.
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Post by gingercat on Jul 22, 2023 10:15:11 GMT -5
Today, the first of three bok choy pre-seeded pods sprouted. I've never grown this before so I'm excited to watch it develop.
I pruned my strawberry plants a little--I'm not really sure how much I should prune at this early stage, so I just remove any growth that looks older and less healthy.
And I gave nutrients to my lettuces and herbs. In addition to oregano, purple basil, thyme, I'm growing some herbs/flowers for tea--chamomile, mint, lemon balm, echinacea. I drink A LOT of herbal tea, so I'm particularly excited about those.
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Post by lynnee on Jul 22, 2023 11:04:58 GMT -5
gingercat, With AG strawberries, you need to remove the runners and dead lower leaves. The runners take energy from fruit development, and dead undergrowth will attract gnats. Here is a great website with all kinds of information about growing strawberries. It's aimed at soil gardeners, but the basic guidelines apply equally to hydroponic gardeners. The FAQ section is especially useful! Strawberryplants.org 
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Post by lynnee on Jul 22, 2023 19:20:36 GMT -5
The peppers and tomatoes look great, and your tulips are pretty, too! Don't you just love it when your AG transplants thrive outdoors?  |
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Post by ricksgarden on Jul 23, 2023 14:01:03 GMT -5
Thank you, YES, it's super exciting! Never mind the fact that I don't really have a clue what I'm doing, although this community has helped greatly.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846 
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Post by slw on Jul 24, 2023 12:07:22 GMT -5
ricksgarden -- the Picker looks great! I can't wait to try mine out but I'm waiting till September due to the heat in Houston. It is brutal out there.
As for what I did with my Aerogarden(s) today... it was nutes day so I added plant food and checked water. Finally removed one Iznik from the Bounty though I really hated to do it. I moved it to a grow bag outside but it's so dang hot I don't expect it to thrive out there. I have tons of new little seedlings... most excited about the banana peppers and the fajita peppers.
I received the Harvest 360 Elite a couple of days ago. I tested the pump and lights and then mothballed it; I don't have a spot for it right now. I'm probably going to move some herbs into it when I need to use a regular Harvest to start some seeds for my outdoor fall garden.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846
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Post by slw on Jul 25, 2023 15:13:39 GMT -5
Wow, the Iznik I moved outside yesterday is really pissed at me today. I put it in a grow bag in a shady spot and watered it well; today it's all droopy and sad. Not sure if it will thrive out there in the heat.
In other news, I am going to have to block the Aerogarden website on my browser. I keep getting sucked into the vortex. Today I bought another Bounty after finding the "additional $20 off" coupon online plus the website sale. I'm such a sucker.
Also, I dug out some Bounty trellis and tried to see if I could rig it to fit on the Harvest XL, but it was a no-go. The Harvest trellis has a curved in area to accommodate the light post and the Bounty doesn't... plus the Bounty is a larger so oh well. Back to the ole' drawing board.
I pruned the tomato plants and my bok choy and called it a day.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846
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Post by slw on Jul 25, 2023 19:38:23 GMT -5
Is anyone growing the banana pepper pods from AG? lynnee, I believe you bought some during the sale...?? I started two pods and each has 3 little seedlings. I can't bare to thin them and toss, so I'm going to try to save the culls and put them in fresh sponges. I might put one or two in Kratky mason jars and see how that turns out. |
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Post by lynnee on Jul 25, 2023 22:29:12 GMT -5
Wow, the Iznik I moved outside yesterday is really pissed at me today. I put it in a grow bag in a shady spot and watered it well; today it's all droopy and sad. Not sure if it will thrive out there in the heat. When I transplant something from the AG to soil, I water the heck out of it for 2-3 days. My reasoning is that you can't overwater, because the plant has been growing in water! This gives the plant some time to adapt. I don't bother with "hardening", even when nights go down to the low 50s, but I do give that extra water. |
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Post by lynnee on Jul 25, 2023 22:36:11 GMT -5
Is anyone growing the banana pepper pods from AG? lynnee, I believe you bought some during the sale...?? I started two pods and each has 3 little seedlings. I can't bare to thin them and toss, so I'm going to try to save the culls and put them in fresh sponges. I might put one or two in Kratky mason jars and see how that turns out. I have one AG banana pepper in a Bounty Elite, growing slowly. It's only at 23 days, though. Just looks like a laggard because the Spoon tomato it's sharing with is much more energetic! Your "transplants" should do fine. I slit the sponges along one side to hold culls, insert them carefully into a pod, and thread the roots through the open parts of the pods. I do try to keep the seedlings out of the water for as short a time as possible. You made me smile when you mentioned blocking the AG newsletters. How do you think I ended up with something like 9 Bounties, a couple of Harvests, 3 Farm 12XLs, a Farm Plus, and a Farm 12?  |
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846
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Post by slw on Jul 25, 2023 22:42:27 GMT -5
I have one AG banana pepper in a Bounty Elite, growing slowly. It's only at 23 days, though. Just looks like a laggard because the Spoon tomato it's sharing with is much more energetic! Your "transplants" should do fine. I slit the sponges along one side to hold culls, insert them carefully into a pod, and thread the roots through the open parts of the pods.  That's the same method I use for transplanting culls. I hope I can ease them out with sufficient roots still attached. I have one banana pepper that's about 3" tall and the others are much smaller. They germinated slower than the big one. |
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Post by lynnee on Jul 25, 2023 22:47:06 GMT -5
What I did today was remove a blooming Anaheim pepper and a small blooming Bell pepper from a Farm 12XL. The plants were healthy, but not setting fruit because four pepper plants are too many for a Farm 12XL. What's left is a Bell pepper that has set at least one fruit, and a Shishito that has blooms. It's too bad about the Anaheim pepper, as I really wanted one of these. Will try again soon.  |
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Post by swimmom500 on Jul 26, 2023 7:28:12 GMT -5
I tried a new experiment with my pods a couple weeks ago. I wanted to put 2 mega cherry tomatoes in my Bounty but only had 1 pod left. I noticed there were 3 seeds in the pod. The plants seem to take a while to recover when I separate them after they sprout. So I took a chance and used tweezers to remove 1 seed and place it in a new pod.
I am happy to report SUCCESS. I had the seed I moved germinate as well as both seeds left in the original pod. It made me wish I hadn’t left 2 seeds in the original pod.
Now let’s hope I like these more than the Mighty Minis I put in my Harvest. I thought the flavor of the mighty minis was terrible- no better than store bought.
As a side note, my tomatoes and peppers in my Earthboxes are thriving in spite of the heat. I also see some zucchini on the plants that were blown out of their small pots by the wind. My cukes are blooming nicely as well. My zucchini and cukes are in a raised bed.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846
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Post by slw on Jul 26, 2023 14:57:08 GMT -5
Today I watered and trimmed; just piddling mostly. I thinned the banana pepper plants; from the two initial pods I now have five. I hope the little "culls" will survive; their roots were very fragile and mostly broke off so we'll see. For now they are all in one Harvest XL, so if the additional ones survive I'll have to shuffle them around a bit. I might have to put a couple outside where the only things thriving are various peppers and some chives.
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Post by lynnee on Jul 26, 2023 17:34:11 GMT -5
swimmom500, H and I thought that the Mega Cherry tomatoes tasted about the same as store bought. You may be able to improve the flavor by giving them CalMag. Agreed about the Mighty Minis. Poor flavor. However, the AG Golden Harvest and Heirloom Reds have good flavor, and they grow larger in greater quantities with even better flavor if you supplement AG nutes with CalMag and Koolbloom (or equivalents). Burpee Veranda Red is a very sweet cherry tomato that is even better than the AG Heirloom Red.
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Post by ricksgarden on Jul 26, 2023 18:48:37 GMT -5
Curious if anyone has grown either Little Sicily or Homeslice hybrid tomatoes? I have 3 seeds of each "soaking"? right now and they will be put in my Harvest 360 tomorrow.
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Post by gingercat on Jul 26, 2023 19:49:12 GMT -5
lynnee, that is great to hear! I have some AG golden harvest and red heirloom growing now in a Farm 12XL. Do you recommend adding CalMag even if you use tap water? I've read different things about this.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846
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Post by slw on Jul 26, 2023 23:16:01 GMT -5
Curious if anyone has grown either Little Sicily or Homeslice hybrid tomatoes? I have 3 seeds of each "soaking"? right now and they will be put in my Harvest 360 tomorrow. I have not grown either of those varieties. However I do have to ask... are you planning to grow all 6 plants in your 360 or will you be transplanting them? |
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Post by ricksgarden on Jul 27, 2023 3:40:28 GMT -5
Hi Sarah, no, I plan on using 2 pod with 3 seeds each and will see what sprouts and then thin keeping the best 2, I guess.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846
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Post by slw on Jul 27, 2023 11:22:13 GMT -5
Hi Sarah, no, I plan on using 2 pod with 3 seeds each and will see what sprouts and then thin keeping the best 2, I guess. Well, that makes sense!! (I get confused easily so don't mind me. ) |
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