OK - so what's everone's strategy re: Aerogarden shutdown ??

[finallyinseattle]

What are your plans?  Buy parts?  Buy Grow Anything pods?  Give up??

[greenthumb]

I think buy a replacement motor maybe? What happened?

[finallyinseattle]

Check Aerogarden's home page 

[blueoak]

Lots of third party pod parts are available, as well as other nutrients, so there's no problem continuing as long as our current gardens work. After that, there are other brands. Maybe they will even improve and fill the gap.

[pfunnyjoy]

Oct 2, 2024 12:24:36 GMT -5 finallyinseattle said:

What are your plans?  Buy parts?  Buy Grow Anything pods?  Give up??

No, I see no reason to give up.

I have 4 relatively new Bounty models, they should all last awhile, I plan to use them! Likewise for the other AG units I have. However, having gotten overwhelmed when trying to do too much, I'm planning to scale back, not have so many gardens going at once. maybe a couple upstairs, and the 4 Bounties downstairs will be enough to tend. And probably mostly just greens.

Even just the one cherry tomato plant was heavy and awkward for me to lift out of the unit for root trimming.

I do not plan to buy more AG units, I will use what I have until they die. After that, who knows, I may be too physically impaired to continue, or I'll see what is on offer. I'm simply not going to worry over it. I have always reused the pods and grow domes, and will be more careful about letting plants grow until they get so large that the pods are adversely affected. Other than that, one can get sponges elsewhere, and I have enough grow domes, and I always did use alternate nutrients and seeds, so realistically, I'm good to go as long as the units hold up.

I probably will buy a few spare pumps, but those are sold by third-party sellers and probably will be for some time to come, so I'm not going to get crazy there either. Worst case scenario, one can use airstone pumps.

I did decide that I really didn't like bothering with the app, and I figure that'll be toast after a while, so I deleted that, LOL!

Anyone who is growing AG seeds and wants to continue with a specific AG heirloom variety and doesn't have a secondary source for those seeds, I'd encourage to save seeds! 

[slw]

I don't have a strategy; I'll just use the ones I have until they die.  There are already 3rd-party pumps, sponges, etc. available and plenty of knock-off hydroponic systems to choose from.  I enjoyed Aerogarden and hate to see them fail, if only for the loss of more American jobs.   Sign of the times, unfortunately. 

[finallyinseattle]

I have enough pods & nutrients to last me a while. I just ordered some back-up pumps. Has anyone found a source for lights?

I’d love to see others chime in on recommendations for other vendors they’ve used.

[kanewai]

I just bought two pumps, but after that I will give up.

For close to two years I have been unable to grow herbs in my two Bounties.  I've tried everything I could think of, and I am out of ideas.  I don't know if the fertilizer changed, or if I have a batch of infected sponges, or if there's something hiding in the system that disinfectant can't reach.  I only know it's not the water and not in the air, because I've been growing very healthy herbs in a cheaper unit from another brand.

I'm tired of sinking time and money into Aerogarden.  It was great for a few harvests, and then I was unable to replicate my early successes.   I'll try seeing if a new pump makes a difference.  If not, into the trash they go.

[lindaeh]

I'm new here--my first post!  Since there is 30% off site wide, I ordered sponges, etc. and 2 pumps along with a couple of trellises.  I have three Farm systems so I use quite a bit of supplies.  I'm also sorry to see them go, but we are all resilient people--aren't all gardeners? We will survive and I see this site as being more important than ever!  Thanks for being here.

[birdsatflight]

I would get a few replacement parts but not too much. I guess I’ll use up what pods I have and get 3rd party sponges.

I have multiple units so using them in rotation would help reduce the wear and tear. I bet there will be a flood of units sold in FB marketplace. Grabbing those for cheap would also help supply replacement parts.

[birdsatflight]

Oct 2, 2024 15:12:36 GMT -5 kanewai said:

I just bought two pumps, but after that I will give up.

For close to two years I have been unable to grow herbs in my two Bounties.  I've tried everything I could think of, and I am out of ideas.  I don't know if the fertilizer changed, or if I have a batch of infected sponges, or if there's something hiding in the system that disinfectant can't reach.  I only know it's not the water and not in the air, because I've been growing very healthy herbs in a cheaper unit from another brand.

I'm tired of sinking time and money into Aerogarden.  It was great for a few harvests, and then I was unable to replicate my early successes.   I'll try seeing if a new pump makes a difference.  If not, into the trash they go.

Wait. Please don’t trash it. Maybe there can be a channel in this group for selling unwanted units for parts. Let’s get creative!

[LoveSalads]

Oct 2, 2024 15:12:36 GMT -5 kanewai said:

I just bought two pumps, but after that I will give up.

For close to two years I have been unable to grow herbs in my two Bounties.  I've tried everything I could think of, and I am out of ideas.  I don't know if the fertilizer changed, or if I have a batch of infected sponges, or if there's something hiding in the system that disinfectant can't reach.  I only know it's not the water and not in the air, because I've been growing very healthy herbs in a cheaper unit from another brand.

I'm tired of sinking time and money into Aerogarden.  It was great for a few harvests, and then I was unable to replicate my early successes.   I'll try seeing if a new pump makes a difference.  If not, into the trash they go.

Please don't throw the Bounty's away I will gladly cover shipping costs if and when you are truly done with them.

I have had a few bad runs growing various things also but with all the knowledge here at this forum I am convinced you can get back to more consistent growing from your AG"s. Ask away that is what this forum is here for,  Successes and failures .......   

[slw]

I decided to buy one more spare pump, some sponges, a couple of seed kits, and some baskets.  I never bought baskets before but since the 'AG' seed kits won't be available for long I want to have baskets that will fit my gardens.   I have a significant number of Aerogardens so I can probably coast along for quite some time with the supplies I have. 

I'm sure they will have better sales as the "final curtain" approaches but stuff will begin to sell out so I may as well go for it now. 

[swimmom500]

Oct 2, 2024 18:48:17 GMT -5 slw said:

I decided to buy one more spare pump, some sponges, a couple of seed kits, and some baskets.  I never bought baskets before but since the 'AG' seed kits won't be available for long I want to have baskets that will fit my gardens.   I have a significant number of Aerogardens so I can probably coast along for quite some time with the supplies I have. 

I'm sure they will have better sales as the "final curtain" approaches but stuff will begin to sell out so I may as well go for it now. 

[br
Things are selling out now. Managed to order a pump, a seed starter kit, an extra trellis and threw in some covers so I could get free shipping. A lot of things I looked at were already out of stock. Will pick up a few more things if they up the discount.

[lynnee]

Good point, all, about the grow baskets. These can be 3D printed, but I decided to buy baskets that fit my many AGs. I'll just go on using the AGs until they quit. After that, I'll buy another brand of hydroponic garden, or jerry-rig a setup like scarfguy's ingenious "laundry rack Farm".

[Shawn]

Well this forum will still be here....

[scarfguy]

SO... I've only used aerogardens.  A lot of you have tried the various other gardens that have sprung up in recent years as competitors to the aerogarden.  I think most of you have agreed with the fact that aerogarden seemed to be the best quality and best design of them all.

Those that have tried others, which ones are good?  which ones are the closest to the functionality of the aerogarden?  Which ones should one consider when it comes time to migrate to another product?

[swimmom500]

I have only tried one off brand and it was the Idoo. Definitely a downgrade from Aerogarden. In fact I am so unhappy with it that I haven’t even tried anything else. The light isn’t as bright, the seeds take forever to germinate, the pump is weird. I really wanted to like it when I ordered it but I was disappointed. I do use it from time to time to germinate seeds if all my Aerogardens are full.

I have heard good things about a couple others like LetPot and Spider farmer. But I had heard good things about Idoo before I ordered it, so I didn’t want to set myself up for disappointment

[CatHerder]

Oct 3, 2024 10:44:48 GMT -5 scarfguy said:

SO... I've only used aerogardens.  A lot of you have tried the various other gardens that have sprung up in recent years as competitors to the aerogarden.  I think most of you have agreed with the fact that aerogarden seemed to be the best quality and best design of them all.

Those that have tried others, which ones are good?  which ones are the closest to the functionality of the aerogarden?  Which ones should one consider when it comes time to migrate to another product?

I only have one other: AHopeGarden. link  I like the cool see-through bowl to see the roots and that the pump is working.  I mainly use it for my lettuce supply, as like to always have fresh lettuce. Note: I did buy it when it was on sale for $50, so maybe see if it goes on sale for Prime day.

I haven't tried it for anything else, but I guess now, I will have to. AG Experiments has had success using it for cucumbers, I believe.   They apparently have an upgraded model now with a water reminder, etc. that's $35 off on Amazon.  I may buy one just for retail therapy as I mourn the loss of AG. 

[CatHerder]

Pumps are sold out.