Raised Platform for Farm

[slw]

My Farm arrived today and with my husband's help it was easily assembled.  I worried about some reviews stating that assembly is difficult because the pre-drilled holes don't line up but we had no such issues.   It actually sits perfectly on the carpet... very stable and there's not even water in it yet.  Now that I actually see the size of it, I decided that I don't want a taller platform at all.     However I do like agnoob 's idea of the wheels in case the Farm needs to be moved around for some reason. 

So back to the ole' drawing board.  I decided to get a black furniture dolly and found one on Amazon that has a 24" x 16" platform and is only 5" off the floor.  It should be here Sunday so I won't be starting up the Farm until then.  

[maskedsonnet]

Some of the Farms I’ve bought has had that problem with the holes not lining up. I’m never worried about it, because it’s always just 1 or 2 screws that I can’t get in, and it doesn’t change the stability any. Just in case you get another Farm in future and run into it, don’t ruin your day over a couple of screws not going in, so long as MOST of em go in!

[agnoob]

I've also read about the misaligned holes and was prepared to have to wrangle the frames to get it to work. Not at all the case. In fact, I can tell that the hole have been "expanded" from a round one to an oblong one - it looked like it's been drilled on again. Maybe that's AG responding to the alignment complaints and decided to re-drill the holes to be wider for more wriggle room? It worked really well for me - everything aligned. I also only hand tightened all the bolts at first and only used the Allen wrench when everything had been roughly fitted together.

[slw]

I hope they have addressed the alignment issue.  All I know is that mine went together easily and only took about 15 minutes to unbox and assemble.  

If I paid $820 for a Farm (Best Buy current price) and got home and the thing didn't line up correctly, it would be returned immediately and I'd never buy another one.  I have a reasonable expectation of a certain level of quality for high-ticket items.  

Heck, I'd return it after paying the sale price. 

And speaking of Best Buy...  I noticed that they didn't charge me any sales tax on my Farm, which was ordered online.  I can't figure out why or what I should do about that; it was $249 and that's exactly what they charged.   Free shipping and NO sales tax.  Weird. 

[scarfguy]

I bought 1 farm a long time ago.  It didn't line up worth a damn. I made it work using lots and lots of 4 letter words. I've never bought another farm. I never will.

[lynnee]

Aug 12, 2023 14:02:45 GMT -5 scarfguy said:

I bought 1 farm a long time ago.  It didn't line up worth a damn. I made it work using lots and lots of 4 letter words. I've never bought another farm. I never will.

As handy as you are, I believe that some of the Farms must have misaligned holes! I've been lucky, I guess. All but one of my Farms went together easily. The outlier also went together eventually, but I had to take it apart and tighten all of the screws evenly, instead of fully hand-tightening one corner at a time.

[tatmia]

I have 2 12 XL farms.  The first one I purchased during the Aerogarden sale in June thanks to all of your here and I had so many issues assembling it due to misaligned holes.  I know it's a newer farm based on the much improved trellis system.

I also purchased a Best Buy Farm, and it's an older one - the pods were a year past their sell date and the trellis in the old system.   I was prepared for the misalinged issues again and didn't have a single one.

So, I think it's a luck of the draw situation.  

(side note, I couldn't figure out why everyone was complaining about the trellis system until I got the Best Buy farm.   They've definitely improved the trellises. I'm about to purchase two more sets as someone wasn't very smart and thought a semi-determinate tomato meant that it would be more compact that the average indeterminate lol)

[slw]

Interesting, tatmia.  Now you're going to have to explain the Farm trellis system upgrade since this is the first I have heard of it.      I haven't opened the packaging of trellis stuff with my new Farm yet so I need to be aware, lol. 

[Shawn]

My farm trellis magnets hardly stay on.  Not strong enough so I dont bother with them.

[slw]

tatmia -- your post about the "old" Farm from Best Buy made me pay more attention to mine.  I also got old stock; the seed pod kit is expired and it has the original style trellis with magnets.  Also, the drain tube has permanent folds in it from being stored for so long; I guess I'll have to figure out a replacement for that.  That explains the great deal from Best Buy, lol. 

I ordered the new style trellis from AG and then sent them a message about receiving an "old" system sold as new.  I'm wondering if they will send me the new style trellis as a goodwill gesture (but not counting on it.) 

[agnoob]

That’s good to know since I also got mine from the Best Buy deal. Still worth it even if the seeds are old and the trellis doesn’t work well. $250 is just such a good price.

[tatmia]

Aug 12, 2023 17:08:21 GMT -5 slw said:

Interesting, tatmia .  Now you're going to have to explain the Farm trellis system upgrade since this is the first I have heard of it.      I haven't opened the packaging of trellis stuff with my new Farm yet so I need to be aware, lol. 

The old trellis system has the magnets that aren't strong enough (Like Shawn mentioned)  The newer system is basically a bungee cord system but with wide clips rather than hooks.   It works great.  

[tatmia]

Aug 13, 2023 18:21:35 GMT -5 slw said:

tatmia -- your post about the "old" Farm from Best Buy made me pay more attention to mine.  I also got old stock; the seed pod kit is expired and it has the original style trellis with magnets.  Also, the drain tube has permanent folds in it from being stored for so long; I guess I'll have to figure out a replacement for that.  That explains the great deal from Best Buy, lol. 

I ordered the new style trellis from AG and then sent them a message about receiving an "old" system sold as new.  I'm wondering if they will send me the new style trellis as a goodwill gesture (but not counting on it.) 

Even my newer one has permanent folds in the drain tube.   I have a few ideas on how to fix them but haven't tried them out yet.   I did ask them about the expired pods and they told me to try to sprout them and they'd honor the guarantee even if they were years old.   I don't have any empty slots yet so it will be a bit before I try necro-sprouting 

[slw]

Aug 14, 2023 12:45:30 GMT -5 tatmia said:

The old trellis system has the magnets that aren't strong enough (Like Shawn mentioned)  The newer system is basically a bungee cord system but with wide clips rather than hooks.   It works great.  

Thanks; I figured it out after I posted about it.  I ordered a replacement "new" style but I tried out the original this morning and it seems pretty sturdy; it will be fine for pepper plants and such. 

[slw]

Aug 14, 2023 11:52:15 GMT -5 agnoob said:

That’s good to know since I also got mine from the Best Buy deal. Still worth it even if the seeds are old and the trellis doesn’t work well. $250 is just such a good price.

I agree it was a great deal.  I finally started mine up today and everything works great. 

tatmia -- I got the same response about the seed pods... to try them and if they are duds I can get replacements.  They asked me to send a picture of my "old" trellis and my sales receipt so maybe they are considering sending me the upgraded trellis.   I just bought one but it would be nice to have a spare!! 

lynnee posted a link to some black aquarium tubing that works to replace the Farm drain tube.  I'm going to order some of that today. 

[lynnee]

Aug 13, 2023 18:21:35 GMT -5 slw said:

tatmia -- your post about the "old" Farm from Best Buy made me pay more attention to mine.  I also got old stock; the seed pod kit is expired and it has the original style trellis with magnets.  Also, the drain tube has permanent folds in it from being stored for so long; I guess I'll have to figure out a replacement for that.  That explains the great deal from Best Buy, lol. 

Black aquarium tubing works fine with the Farms, and it doesn't kink or develop folds.  The inside diameter is slightly smaller than the AG tubing, so it drains a little slower; but it goes further into the pump tube, so the connection is more secure.

Aquarium Tubing

[lynnee]

Aug 14, 2023 12:45:30 GMT -5 tatmia said:

The old trellis system has the magnets that aren't strong enough (Like Shawn mentioned)  The newer system is basically a bungee cord system but with wide clips rather than hooks.   It works great.  

My Farms came with magnetic trellises--wide magnets joined with wire. They stay on the Farm if you use the short connectors across. However, I don't use the magnetic trellises because plants won't use them to grab onto. The wire is too thin, I guess.

The soft ties that AG sells (rubber-coated bendable wire wrapped around a card) work fine as trellises. You just cut a long length and wrap the ends around the Farm uprights. Plants will happily attach to the soft tie--but they like best the places where the tie and upright come together.

[slw]

I received an email from AG customer service a little while ago stating that they were sending "replacements" but they didn't specify exactly what they are replacing.  I guess I'll be getting a surprise package soon. 

[tatmia]

That's great.   I didn't even think to ask about replacing mine, I'll probably just let it go.   I do have two more sets of the new ones being delivered this week along with some AeroVoirs now that they are back in stock.   We're going on a short vacation in August and I at least want to ensure that the farms don't run out of water - hopefully vacation setting will handle the others.

[slw]

Aug 14, 2023 21:20:19 GMT -5 slw said:

I received an email from AG customer service a little while ago stating that they were sending "replacements" but they didn't specify exactly what they are replacing.  I guess I'll be getting a surprise package soon. 

Mystery solved, and kudos to AG's customer service.   They replaced the drain tube, trellis, and the seed pod kit, and included a few more replacement pieces.  The "Small Replacement Parts" bag has all kinds of goodies, so yay.  I was happy to see the drain tube stored properly without the folds.   (Though I did order the aquarium tubing Lynnee suggested.)