Aerogarden // Hydroponics

mjbnj0001

With our ongoing covid lockdown, getting fresh stuff - produce especially - has been spotty (we're in NJ, and are considered "high-risk" for infection so we're doing extreme isolation). I got a small Aerogarden unit for Christmas, but didn't activate it, as we couldn't figure out a good site for it. Well, "necessity is the mother of figuring things out," and we got it going today.

Anybody else have any success (or failure) stories to tell about this unit?

Our daughter is working on a sizable outdoor veg garden, so it looks as if we'll reach harvest at about the same time. However, if this unit works out, I might switch over to herbs for the winter rather than the "caprese salad" starter mix that came with the unit (cherry tomatoes and basil). And/or even upgrade to something larger that has a substantial harvest potential.

I had previously been investigating tower hydroponics, but that is a whole 'nother level of hydroponics. Baby steps first, I suppose.

Thanks in advance!

Katmary71

I don't have that exact model but one similar and older. It sat in the closet for years and I hauled it out in Fall. For some reason the two cartridges in one hole haven't grown but the other two, basil and thyme, have done great. The basil especially is really good and has been great over winter. It was tall enough that a few leaves were burnt from the light! Thyme is good but I overwinter thyme outside. I just bought a bunch of basil plants for outside so I may retire it for summer but am tempted to do only basil in fall, I'll have basil cubes but love fresh in salads.

As far as more advanced systems I've seen people post a tower setup that looks real cool. I made "self watering " containers for outdoors with storage bins for heirloom tomatoes, the lid was made into a shelf 2/3 of the way down with holes then dirt on top so it watered bottom up. The drip system I put in a PVC pipe that went to the bottom. You can always do something like that and put water in the pipe as needed, I do this with 5 gallon buckets too but without a reservoir. Obviously non-plastic would be best and you could get something more practical from a hydroponic store, I needed a bunch and had awful soil and was curious. The containers I made a gardener came up with years ago, he called them Earth Tainers. I'm sure you can find something on it if you're interested in making your own.

mjbnj0001

@Katmary71 thanks. the tower setup is pretty cool, and i think a little beyond me at this time - especially as we're working to downsize and get out of this house in the next year. so, if hydroponics are to be a "thing" for us, then a self-contained system is probably the ticket. they have much larger units than these starter kits. people are growing all sorts of stuff in them (there are at least 3 facebook groups devoted to them, i found out last night).

between projects while i was working, a couple years ago, i put up a deck full of tomatoes (cherry, beefsteak and roma), plus peppers, in pots (18 in all). then i got a travel gig for the rest of the season, was only home on the weekends. the family got most of the bounty, as did the neighbors, but i saw the power of growing in containers and small areas from that. maybe once we settle in to a new place ...

this unit is *bright*. might have to find another site in the house for it.

I suspect your seed pods from the old unit didn't germinate from age. aerogarden says in their literature they'll replace such if you report them.

fresh basil is great. two of the "caprese" pods in this starter kit are basil, one is cherry tomatoes.

Katmary71

How did your cherry tomatoes do in the Aerogarden? I have a seed pot with cherry tomatoes, just figured they wouldn't turn out that good but the basil sure did! Mine's pretty bright too, I can turn all the lights off and the kitchen lights all the way to my bedroom! Since my Aerogarden sat in the closet for years I'm sure the seeds are just old, it's weird that the other two did okay but out of the herbs I tried parsley and dill and they're a bit more picky than basil. I figure I'll order new seed pods come fall when the annuals start dying. I'll do a search on Facebook for groups, never think of it and there's groups for everything these days!

mjbnj0001

@Katmary71 they're still germinating. i just started the garden 2 days ago. will let you know ...