What Did You Do With Your AeroGarden Today?

[Clovis Sangrail]

It's planting time at Chez Clovis.

Five AGs filled and planted today --

2 Harvests each with 4 assorted AG Heirloom Greens. I thought I had them all used up, but then dug around and found more. There's a couple of Black-Seeded Simpson in the mix, so when those don't germinate (which is normal), I'll just combine these two AGs.
1 Harvest Slim with 6 chives
1 Harvest Slim with 6 Merlot
1 Harvest Slim with 6 Jericho Romaine

Meanwhile, I am harvesting the Merlot and Jericho planted back in July.

Culinary hint -- That Merlot is an excellent lettuce, but it a delicate thing and not robust enough to stand up to Caesar dressing. The Jericho, on the other hand, does just fine. The Merlot loves to be in bacon sandwiches and also goes quite nicely with Chez Clovis House Dressing.

When you see 'Harvest Slim,' does it make you think of gardening cowboys?

[Clovis Sangrail]

More planting from Chez Clovis.

Today, I cleaned up a Bounty and planted some of these --



Three seeds in each of three pods. Is three pods too many for peppers in a Bounty? If so, I will keep the best 2 out of 3 once they start growing.



I will be asking for some pruning help, so I'm sending thanks in advance.

[lynnee]

Clovis Sangrail, you will probably want to reduce the pepper population to two pods in the Bounty. Two pods will do just fine, though. I always start with two pods of peppers in a Bounty or Farm. If the plants do really well, you'll have more peppers than you can use with just two plants.

Pruning is easy once you learn to recognize the growing tips and Y branches. Peppers benefit from removal of lower leaves that aren't getting light, and from space for air circulation.

I really get a kick out of growing bell peppers in an AG! They are so large, it seems like it shouldn't be possible.

[lynnee]

Today (Labor Day) I terminated my Veranda Red tomato garden at 367 days. The plants were still producing, but were up into the lights and well outside their AG growing area.

I also pruned the Homeslice tomato (quite a few tomatoes developing), and the Aloha and AG peppers. All three peppers are growing low, and are putting their energy into developing huge lower leaves. I took off most of the large leaves, and will do R&Rs in a few days. They do have some blossoms.

The Merlot lettuce thinks it is an Art Deco sculpture! It hasn't bolted yet, but is probably about to, so I gave it nutes without an R&R. I'll harvest it in a few days, and store the leaves in the fridge.

[Clovis Sangrail]

Great looking Merlot, lynnee . Here's mine -- 

Not as tall as yours, as this is only a Harvest, but it's a hedge wall. I can't eat it fast enough. There are six of them in there.



Well, five now.



That Merlot is some good stuff.

[lynnee]

Merlot is my regular lettuce now, instead of AG Salad Greens. If you love leaf lettuce, as I do, it can't be beat. Love your thicket, Clovis Sangrail!

[lynnee]

Today the Aloha pepper and the two AG Bell peppers got their R&Rs. I love the Bounty and Farm AGs, but they do require toting a lot of water!

These guys are much shorter than my peppers usually are.  Maybe raising the lights will encourage them to reach higher.  All of them have blooms, but I don't think they have set fruit yet.

The room has been very warm, which may have caused the giant lower leaves and low height.  (The lower leaves removed yesterday were bigger than the ones in the photos.)  Maybe the plants are trying to stay cool by using their leaves like a cooling blanket?  

[scarfguy]

lynnee, the aloha pepper I had also grew short and stalky.  The peppers have really thick stems and are very meaty.  The peppers tended to grow into the joints of the branches and get "stuck" as they grow almost to the point of breaking the branches.  Keep a close eye on them as they grow and move them slightly to help them find room to grow.

I had a beautiful first harvest of 7 or 8 peppers.  The next group was just about ready when I found the SPIDER MITES!  .   So I ended up throwing away the aloha plant as well as 4 other mature pepper plants.  Don't let anybody tell you that one of the advantages of AG farming is "no bugs"!  You get less bugs but the little bastards will find a way in!

[Clovis Sangrail]

Sept 4, 2024 8:42:48 GMT -5 scarfguy said:

 You get less bugs but the little bastards will find a way in!

[lynnee]

Timely advice, scarfguy! My Aloha has a bloom in one branch, right next to the main stem, that had me wondering. I'll take another look in the morning, and see whether it can be shifted a little.

[lynnee]

Turns out that the Aloha pepper is something of a diva. When I checked the bloom positioning this morning, I discovered that it was dropping leaves. At first I thought that major weather-related changes in the room temperature were the cause--then I saw that the pump was unplugged.

Geez! I did the R&R less than two days ago! Most plants will tolerate low oxygenation for a week before they start to look puny. The Aloha not only was dropping leaves, it had edema on most of the retained leaves.

[scarfguy]

Speaking of pump problems, I had that issue again where the AG program on the bounty changed the pump cycle.  I couldn't figure out why my green bean leaves were turning yellow.  I finally remembered to check the pump settings.

Here's the problem, please, EVERYONE TAKE NOTE!

The AG bounty sets the initial pump setting to a germination setting of 1 hour ON and 11 hours OFF (or something like that).  It says during the initial setup that after germination period, it will "set the pump cycle to the appropriate setting for the plant specie you have planted". 

I always choose a custom setting for something like beans that isn't one of the AG choices. I always set my pump to always on.  The AG design just provides barely minimal oxygenation even at full on. I don't know why they even bother to offer other settings.

SO... after you initially set up your planting, and you ALTER the pump settings to your liking (in my case 60 on, 0 off) every thing is cool UNTIL about 2 weeks later when the AG automatically sets the pump to what it has programmed to be the appropriate setting for your crop.  In the case of my beans (a custom setting), two weeks after planting, it changes my always on setting to 5 minutes ON and 25 minutes OFF!

That change is enough to seriously damage a plant that has been used to an "always on" setting.

The moral of this story is CHECK YOUR PUMP SETTINGS FOR 2 OR 3 WEEKS AFTER STARTING A NEW CROP! even, and particularly, if you override the AG default settings.

[lynnee]

Thanks for the warning, scarfguy. I checked the Aloha pepper this morning, and it was still dropping leaves. The pump wasn't running! Unplugging and replugging finally got the thing going.

Hopefully I won't have to start over with the Aloha pepper seeds. Just a few days without any aeration at all may do the poor pepper plant in. I do have the pump set to always on.

[scarfguy]

Sept 6, 2024 9:55:49 GMT -5 lynnee said:

Thanks for the warning, scarfguy . I checked the Aloha pepper this morning, and it was still dropping leaves. The pump wasn't running! Unplugging and replugging finally got the thing going. Hopefully I won't have to start over with the Aloha pepper seeds.

If your pump dies and you have a fairly mature plant, all is not lost.  You can purchase an inexpensive aquarium air pump to add oxygen to the water in an emergency.

All you need is the pump, tubing, and a bubbler. Just stick the bubbler through one of the unused pod holes and try to sink it as close to the bottom as possible. Use some dark tape to hold the tubing in place and to block the light from entering through the pod hole.

There are a million to choose from on Amazon.  I bought this one and it's worked well for me:

www.amazon.com/hygger-Aquarium-Adjustable-Powerful-Accessories/dp/B0B6W2CK5Y

[lynnee]

Ordered the bubbler, scarfguy! It'll be here on Sunday. I think the pepper plant will survive--my plants usually do--but I was already wondering about adding an aerator for a while.

When I go upstairs, I'll tell it that help is coming! (Yes, I do talk to my plants, though only from time to time. )

[scarfguy]

Sept 6, 2024 19:30:54 GMT -5 lynnee said:

Ordered the bubbler, scarfguy ! It'll be here on Sunday. I think the pepper plant will survive--my plants usually do--but I was already wondering about adding an aerator for a while.

When I go upstairs, I'll tell it that help is coming! (Yes, I do talk to my plants, though only from time to time. )

Be sure to install the inline check valve so that water doesn't siphon out of the bowl into the pump and damage the pump.  You have to install the check valve in the line the correct way so that air flows into the bowl and water doesn't flow out.  You can run these pumps without the check valve as long as you keep the pump on something that is above the level of the bowl.  BUT, I always install a check valve cause us old people are forgetful coupled with clumsy.

[Clovis Sangrail]

Today, I terminated the Harvest Slim with the Jericho romaine, but I harvested a gallon ziploc bag full of it. 

Then I cleaned that Harvest and a Bounty and got them ready for planting.

Last week, I ordered some seeds that lynnee wrote about in her thread Lettuces, Superdwarf Tomato, and they arrived a couple of days ago. So today was plantin' day.

The Bounty got four pods of Orange Hat. I'll be happy if three sprout, but if they all do, I'll find space for them somewhere.



And the Harvest got six pods of Tennis Ball. I went zero for 6 with some Gaea's Blessing buttercrunch, so when I saw that lynnee's had all germinated, I had to try them.



Seeds and images are from Rare Seeds of Mansfield, Missouri.

(Thanks for the tip, Lynnee.)

In other news, of the 8 AG heirloom greens pods that I planted last week, only three have shown any growth. I'm going to give them another couple or three days before I rip them out and throw them across the room and replace them with something else. Maybe these free seeds Rare Seeds sent me --

Yedikule Cos

[swimmom500]

Sept 7, 2024 15:30:01 GMT -5 Clovis Sangrail said:

Today, I terminated the Harvest Slim with the Jericho romaine, but I harvested a gallon ziploc bag full of it. 

Then I cleaned that Harvest and a Bounty and got them ready for planting.

Last week, I ordered some seeds that lynnee wrote about in her thread Lettuces, Superdwarf Tomato, and they arrived a couple of days ago. So today was plantin' day.

The Bounty got four pods of Orange Hat. I'll be happy if three sprout, but if they all do, I'll find space for them somewhere.



And the Harvest got six pods of Tennis Ball. I went zero for 6 with some Gaea's Blessing buttercrunch, so when I saw that lynnee's had all germinated, I had to try them.



Seeds and images are from Rare Seeds of Mansfield, Missouri.

(Thanks for the tip, Lynnee.)

In other news, of the 8 AG heirloom greens pods that I planted last week, only three have shown any growth. I'm going to give them another couple or three days before I rip them out and throw them across the room and replace them with something else. Maybe these free seeds Rare Seeds sent me --

Yedikule Cos

Looks like you did better with your Bakers Creek freebie than I did. I wanted to order the Merlot and the Orange Hats everyone is raving about. I also ordered a pepper called Giant Aconcagua from them as well as another cucumber. My freebie looks like a weed.
www.rareseeds.com/lettuce-miner-s

Looks like the dollar weed to me that I keep pulling out of my lawn!

[Clovis Sangrail]

Minor's lettuce is a ground cover native to the west coast. It is high in vitamin C, and it got its name because it was foraged by miners during the Gold Rush, who ate it to prevent scurvy.

You could take it out into the yard and fling it, and maybe it will choke out that dollar weed.

[lynnee]

Betcha that all of your Orange Hat seeds germinate, Clovis Sangrail ! How many seeds do you plant in a pod, generally? Just curious. I used to do three, but now I go with two, and still have to thin the pods.

Love that Yedikule Cos photo! I may have to order some of that. My Orange Hats are growing taller, but not showing enough to make photos worthwhile.

My Tennis Ball plants have leaves that are spreading out widely. I hope that they eventually form a tight ball like the photos,



swimmom500 , I'd have liked the Miner's Lettuce, especially now that Clovis Sangrail has explained the history! You do need a bit of luck with the Rare Seeds freebies. I once got a free packet of some vegetable, maybe beets, that I couldn't grow in an AG at all.


scarfguy, I'm still waiting for the aquarium aerator--now due Tuesday. Stupid Amazon!


However, I gave the Aloha pepper an early R&R yesterday, and today it looks healthier. Can't point to anything specific--it just gives an overall impression of healthy. Isn't it interesting, the way that you can sometimes just glance at your plants, and see that they are looking good or bad?

Nearly all of the Aloha pepper blooms dropped off, so it will be a while before the plant sets fruit.