For our more recent members ....

[Shawn]

I would love to hear from our more recent members (and even our wonderful lurkers ) about your experiences with Aerogardening.

Please don't be shy, jump in and tell us what you are growing, how long you have been enjoying this hobby and what machines you have.

[greengrass]

Hi. I have ordered my Aerogarden harvest and it's waiting for me when I return home tonight. Awaiting to be unpackaged. I think it comes with the herb kit, and it's all year round coriander and basil I want most as I've not had much success in soil with those two. I’ve watched some youtube video's and am having a look through the forum to try and come up with ideas, savings and items that will be successful Won't be long before I am going rogue and trying my own seeds I expect. Wish me luck.

[Shawn]

greengrass, I started with my first machine almost 3 years ago and grew basil and other herbs from the kits.  It was not long before I tried peppers.  Now I have many machines and always have an Herb garden growing and at least 4 different pepper plants at a time.  I also have flowers growing and will be planting some lettuce soon.

I do all custom seeds now and as you read through the forum you will see all the different projects we all experiment with. Some with great success some not so much.  We learn from each other. 

BTW I had a black thumb before I these machines and have had pretty good luck with them.  I am sure you will also.  ANd if you have any issues we are here to help or hope to

[greengrass]

Thank you. Just a quick question. When I first started looking at the AG's I remember seeing a warning suggesting the lights could be harmful to eyes. Is there any truth in this? I wondered whether I should have it in a cupboard, but I'd rather have it out in view. Thanks

[serri588]

Is it possible that the lights are harmful? Sure, but most people who use them have them out where they are visible. Any large garden will be difficult to keep hidden away all the time. If you are concerned you may wish to dig into it more. I am not aware of any issues with the LEDs causing eye damage.

Personally, I'm going to keep mine out and not worry too much about it. To be fair, my eyes are already garbage anyway. 

I definitely wouldn't recommend staring directly into the lights. 

[jerry]

Own Harverst and Bounty.

Fisrt garden: AG Harvest, AG Custom Herbs - 138 days total.  Fresh herbs were awesome.

2nd garden:  AG Bounty, AG Heirloom Salad Greens - 78 days. Fresh lettuce was AWESOME!

3 garden started in Bounty - AG Cherry Tomatoes. 18 days planted and plants are 4 inches tall and growing fast over the past week.  Water pump seems to be on constantly. Is this normal for toms? Also, adding AG nuts.  I see people using CALiMAGic. Is this in addition to the nuts?

Now have Garden Plus on order.  The plan is to have non stop lettuce for my wife if I alternate the gardens, toms in the Bounty and herbs in the harvest.

Next step to venture away from AG pods and try my own seeds.

I don't think I've gone overboard...yet!??

[Shawn]

Jul 2, 2018 21:06:42 GMT -5 jerry said:

Own Harverst and Bounty.

Fisrt garden: AG Harvest, AG Custom Herbs - 138 days total.  Fresh herbs were awesome.

2nd garden:  AG Bounty, AG Heirloom Salad Greens - 78 days. Fresh lettuce was AWESOME!

3 garden started in Bounty - AG Cherry Tomatoes. 18 days planted and plants are 4 inches tall and growing fast over the past week.  Water pump seems to be on constantly. Is this normal for toms? Also, adding AG nuts.  I see people using CALiMAGic. Is this in addition to the nuts?

Now have Garden Plus on order.  The plan is to have non stop lettuce for my wife if I alternate the gardens, toms in the Bounty and herbs in the harvest.

Next step to venture away from AG pods and try my own seeds.

I don't think I've gone overboard...yet!??

Jerry, If you read what most of us have, Not yet

Great things growing in your gardens!

As for the Cal Supplements, some use CaliMag and some use Mr. Mucha Stash in addition to the AG nutrients. Mostly on strong progress like peppers. I grow a lot of custom lettuce, but have never found the lettuce projects to need it. But more advice on Calcium additives  I will leave to others who use it in their AG Farm units  and Bounty vegetable crops.They can better explain the function and purpose of the additive.

Great to hear from you.

[Shawn]

Jul 3, 2018 7:56:47 GMT -5 @cornne said:

Great things growing in your gardens!

As for the Cal Supplements, some use CaliMag and some use Mr. Mucha Stash in addition to the AG nutrients. Mostly on strong progress like peppers. I grow a lot of custom lettuce, but have never found the lettuce projects to need it. But more advice on Calcium additives  I will leave to others who use it in their AG Farm units  and Bounty vegetable crops.They can better explain the function and purpose of the additive.

Great to hear from you.

 

And to piggy back what Corinne said about the supplements, take a look at this thread as there is some info. 

[spksfroggy]

I am a total newbie, having recently found an AeroGarden for $5 at a thrift store!
Not sure of the model. Maybe the Classic? White, boat-like shape, 7 pods.
I've always wanted one, and now that I live in an apartment, I love it!
I bought some extra baskets and sponges, and fertilizer (FloraGro) from Amazon.
I have basil clones in there, held up in the baskets with a bit of foam, and parsley and lettuce seeds.
The light cycles properly, but I can't find any info on the pump cycles. I find it off several times a day, and restart it by switching the AG off and on. Should I leave it off and wait?
Thanks for the help.

[Shawn]

Jul 3, 2018 10:26:22 GMT -5 spksfroggy said:

I am a total newbie, having recently found an AeroGarden for $5 at a thrift store!
Not sure of the model. Maybe the Classic? White, boat-like shape, 7 pods.
I've always wanted one, and now that I live in an apartment, I love it!
I bought some extra baskets and sponges, and fertilizer (FloraGro) from Amazon.
I have basil clones in there, held up in the baskets with a bit of foam, and parsley and lettuce seeds.
The light cycles properly, but I can't find any info on the pump cycles. I find it off several times a day, and restart it by switching the AG off and on. Should I leave it off and wait?
Thanks for the help.

Welcome spksfroggy!

That is a great find for $5.  As for the model Can you post a picture?  (see Photo Repository thread here)  Is it a CFL or LED hood?

Have you looked at the Aerogarden site for the manual?  That can be found here.  Maybe something about the pump cycles can be found if you find the right model.

I am sorry I can not help with that more.  I own the Harvests, Extra, Ultra and Bounty.  Used to own a Sprout but that is a whole other story LOL.

[spksfroggy]

Thank you Shawn! I'll post a picture eventually, but my model is on the videos by This Girl Can Do It All. You can see it clearly on her "Learn how easy it is to set up and plant your AeroGarden" video.
It has the CFL lights. I see that I can find an adapter (eBay) to use LEDs. So I am looking on Amazon for a replacement grow light. Just a better one, this one works.
I have read all the manuals, and didn't see anything about pump cycles. I'm sure it's there somewhere, but I thought someone here could tell me what theirs does.
They've really done a good job with the AG. I'm sure there will be more than one around here some day! I mostly want parsley and lettuce.

I also am one for good AG finds..especially on Craig's list. The Classic CFL was my favorite machine.

great to hear from you.

[spksfroggy]

Thank you, Corrine. I don't feel comfortable using Craig's List alone. Too bad for me.
I'm starting to explore this interesting site a little more.
So much to read about. I'm still struggling with posting a picture. Tried the One Drive, and reopened a Flickr account, but still no pictures...
Here is a link to the one picture (I think):

www.flickr.com/photos/155320119@N04/

***

[Shawn]

I have a video posted in the first part on the repository thread that shows how to use the Flickr acct to post.  Did you view that?   Maybe I need to redo it.

If you read later in that thread there are other sites.  Otherwise, just use the attachment.  I will get it in a repository for you until you can figure it out 😊

[MaryL]

Jul 3, 2018 11:38:25 GMT -5 spksfroggy said:

Thank you Shawn! I'll post a picture eventually, but my model is on the videos by This Girl Can Do It All. You can see it clearly on her "Learn how easy it is to set up and plant your AeroGarden" video.
It has the CFL lights. I see that I can find an adapter (eBay) to use LEDs. So I am looking on Amazon for a replacement grow light. Just a better one, this one works.
I have read all the manuals, and didn't see anything about pump cycles. I'm sure it's there somewhere, but I thought someone here could tell me what theirs does.
They've really done a good job with the AG. I'm sure there will be more than one around here some day! I mostly want parsley and lettuce.

Hi spksfroggy and welcome!  I believe I had one of your models. I had a lot of older cfl models, but most of those were bubblers as opposed to the pump version.  So, my memory is very hazy on the subject, but I think maybe the pump was always going.  But by all means please don’t take my faulty memory to be accurate, lol.  It’s accurate probably less than 50% of the time.  

In any event, these days the company has revised their advice and they’re suggesting that we needn’t run the pump more than 5 minutes per hour. (In fact they’ve programmed the new “Harvest” machines to only run 5 minutes per hour with no custom settings available). So even if yours isn’t running as originally intended, I don’t think your garden will suffer at all.  Plus, if you really want more oxygen in there all you need is a small and inexpensive aquarium pump. Easy peasy. 

Your garden looks very pretty, btw.  Keep it up and let us know how it’s going!

[Happy]

Thank you, Shawn, for hosting this board

[Shawn]

Jul 20, 2018 22:49:01 GMT -5 Happy said:

Thank you, Shawn, for hosting this board

Your Welcome Happy    I am happy you are enjoying it and finding it useful.  Also glad to have you participating as well

[Shawn]

I do want to add  ...    While I host the forum, I still consider it OUR forum. Because without the participation of all the members we would not be here.

We started with the core group of five from the old forum that has since closed to this one. I am very happy to take over the hosting which gave our old owner the break and rest she wanted.  I am glad I was able to keep it going for all us Aerogardeners.

Whether it be just 5 members that post to how many wish to post we are here to share, help and learn with one another.