dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Jun 11, 2020 14:09:58 GMT -5
Does anyone else have an AeroGarden? What are you growing in it?
I had a small one that I used for herbs. Since a quick trip to the grocery store for fresh salad greens whenever I want them is not something I'm doing at present, I decided to get another one to grow salad greens. I tried to get one of the big ones, but of course they were all out of stock by the time I got the idea to get one. I was able to get one to grow 6 plants, though, and it's doing well. I don't know why I didn't think of this ages ago. It's so easy and makes pretty plants you can eat! When this crop of lettuces is done, I'm going to try radicchio.
Bugs and squirrels and that pesky groundhog tend to get a lot of the vegetables I grow outside, but this is all mine!
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oped
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Post by oped on Jun 11, 2020 14:24:26 GMT -5
It was a present about four years ago, i finally drug it out this year and started some peppers and tomatoes in it... it was faster than windowsill but could only grow a few compared to the windowsill. I have nothing in it now. Maybe I should try lettuce this winter but i have a bunch outside right now so it doesn't seem necessary.
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justme
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Post by justme on Jun 11, 2020 14:25:14 GMT -5
I have one. It's been out of use for a while though I'm debating starting it again. The 16 hours of light was REALLY pissing me the fuck off. The light wouldn't shut off until 2am and as I'm in a condo it lit up the entire fucking place. I shoved it in my second room and shut the doors, but that meant I forgot about it. They grew too much and the roots sucked up so much water the resivor was emptying in like 2 days ... which forgetting I had it I often forgot. So they started dying so I just threw it all in the trash.
Does yours keep the lights on for 16 fucking hours? I'd really like some fresh stuff but I cannot with the bright lights for 16 hours. I don't need my stuff to grow that fast.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Jun 11, 2020 14:47:35 GMT -5
I have one. It's been out of use for a while though I'm debating starting it again. The 16 hours of light was REALLY pissing me the fuck off. The light wouldn't shut off until 2am and as I'm in a condo it lit up the entire fucking place. I shoved it in my second room and shut the doors, but that meant I forgot about it. They grew too much and the roots sucked up so much water the resivor was emptying in like 2 days ... which forgetting I had it I often forgot. So they started dying so I just threw it all in the trash. Does yours keep the lights on for 16 fucking hours? I'd really like some fresh stuff but I cannot with the bright lights for 16 hours. I don't need my stuff to grow that fast. I can see how the bright light in an area where it could not be isolated would be a problem. The 16 hours of light is what makes the plants grow so fast; I don't know whether the automatic length can be altered. The 6-unit garden can apparently also be managed manually, so the light could be turned off at night and on whenever it was more convenient. I did find that I was happier with the unit when I moved it to a corner of the kitchen on a low table so the light was not at eye level as it had been on the tall sideboard.
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dannylion
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Gravity is a harsh mistress
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Post by dannylion on Jun 11, 2020 14:50:14 GMT -5
It was a present about four years ago, i finally drug it out this year and started some peppers and tomatoes in it... it was faster than windowsill but could only grow a few compared to the windowsill. I have nothing in it now. Maybe I should try lettuce this winter but i have a bunch outside right now so it doesn't seem necessary. I haven't tried starting plants in it yet to be moved outdoors; that's a good idea. I'm really enjoying having prolific amounts of fresh basil and dill available without having to plan ahead to make sure to buy some. And it's easier on my knees than getting to the plants growing outside. I've got a few herbs in containers on the deck, which is fine, but the AeroGarden plants grow faster and are right there in the kitchen when I want them.
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justme
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Post by justme on Jun 11, 2020 15:09:25 GMT -5
I have one. It's been out of use for a while though I'm debating starting it again. The 16 hours of light was REALLY pissing me the fuck off. The light wouldn't shut off until 2am and as I'm in a condo it lit up the entire fucking place. I shoved it in my second room and shut the doors, but that meant I forgot about it. They grew too much and the roots sucked up so much water the resivor was emptying in like 2 days ... which forgetting I had it I often forgot. So they started dying so I just threw it all in the trash. Does yours keep the lights on for 16 fucking hours? I'd really like some fresh stuff but I cannot with the bright lights for 16 hours. I don't need my stuff to grow that fast. I can see how the bright light in an area where it could not be isolated would be a problem. The 16 hours of light is what makes the plants grow so fast; I don't know whether the automatic length can be altered. The 6-unit garden can apparently also be managed manually, so the light could be turned off at night and on whenever it was more convenient. I did find that I was happier with the unit when I moved it to a corner of the kitchen on a low table so the light was not at eye level as it had been on the tall sideboard. Hmmm manual might work. Turn it on when I wake up, off before bed. It's just me. On 16 hours it was making so much stuff if I was to keep it pruned nicely I was throwing away a ton. Less would be good.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Jun 11, 2020 16:53:14 GMT -5
It was a present about four years ago, i finally drug it out this year and started some peppers and tomatoes in it... it was faster than windowsill but could only grow a few compared to the windowsill. I have nothing in it now. Maybe I should try lettuce this winter but i have a bunch outside right now so it doesn't seem necessary. I haven't tried starting plants in it yet to be moved outdoors; that's a good idea. I'm really enjoying having prolific amounts of fresh basil and dill available without having to plan ahead to make sure to buy some. And it's easier on my knees than getting to the plants growing outside. I've got a few herbs in containers on the deck, which is fine, but the AeroGarden plants grow faster and are right there in the kitchen when I want them. I grow lettuce, mesclun, spinach, etc. in large terra cotta pots (14 inch diameter +) all the time. Maybe you could place a few on your deck along with you herbs? Although the hot weather is coming or upon us, and usually lettuce doesn't do so well in the heat. Do you have a shady area on the deck you could use to try?
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Happy prose
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Post by Happy prose on Jun 11, 2020 16:59:16 GMT -5
It was a present about four years ago, i finally drug it out this year and started some peppers and tomatoes in it... it was faster than windowsill but could only grow a few compared to the windowsill. I have nothing in it now. Maybe I should try lettuce this winter but i have a bunch outside right now so it doesn't seem necessary. Did you grow tomatoes on your windowsill? Tell me more please.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Jun 11, 2020 17:31:03 GMT -5
I haven't tried starting plants in it yet to be moved outdoors; that's a good idea. I'm really enjoying having prolific amounts of fresh basil and dill available without having to plan ahead to make sure to buy some. And it's easier on my knees than getting to the plants growing outside. I've got a few herbs in containers on the deck, which is fine, but the AeroGarden plants grow faster and are right there in the kitchen when I want them. I grow lettuce, mesclun, spinach, etc. in large terra cotta pots (14 inch diameter +) all the time. Maybe you could place a few on your deck along with you herbs? Although the hot weather is coming or upon us, and usually lettuce doesn't do so well in the heat. Do you have a shady area on the deck you could use to try? I'm thinking of trying some radicchio in a planter on the deck, but I'm not sure how well that will do. It's too late to plant lettuce outdoors for a successful crop here, at least on my deck, which faces south. It gets pretty hot in Maryland, so I think the AeroGarden will be the best mode to keep growing salad greens through the summer. If I can get one of the big AeroGarden units, that will expand my options considerably. I'm sure they will become available sooner or later. I'm just really loving having fresh herbs and greens right in the kitchen.
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oped
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Post by oped on Jun 11, 2020 18:50:28 GMT -5
It was a present about four years ago, i finally drug it out this year and started some peppers and tomatoes in it... it was faster than windowsill but could only grow a few compared to the windowsill. I have nothing in it now. Maybe I should try lettuce this winter but i have a bunch outside right now so it doesn't seem necessary. Did you grow tomatoes on your windowsill? Tell me more please. I started plants. I have very wide windowsills... They are all wide... but some of them are like windowseat width...
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oped
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Post by oped on Jun 11, 2020 18:53:50 GMT -5
Those 9 are the ones I intended to plant... 4 paste, 4 heritage and 1 cherry... I gave 5 to the neighbor and then two more popped up so I planted those too
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bobosensei
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Post by bobosensei on Jun 11, 2020 20:28:26 GMT -5
Yes, mine was a gift 3 Christmases ago. It does 9 plants at a time, and is wifi enabled so I get the notice on my phone when it needs food or water. The amount of light is based on what you plant. I've done herbs, tomatoes, and currently I have jalepeno and cayenne peppers going. The plants had so many more blooms than the amount of peppers I'm getting so I am not sure it is as good with flowering plants. I'd like to try lettuce next. My butterhead lettuce did the best this year so once the peppers are done I'll try them.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Jun 11, 2020 20:55:21 GMT -5
Yes, mine was a gift 3 Christmases ago. It does 9 plants at a time, and is wifi enabled so I get the notice on my phone when it needs food or water. The amount of light is based on what you plant. I've done herbs, tomatoes, and currently I have jalepeno and cayenne peppers going. The plants had so many more blooms than the amount of peppers I'm getting so I am not sure it is as good with flowering plants. I'd like to try lettuce next. My butterhead lettuce did the best this year so once the peppers are done I'll try them. The 9-plant version will be my next AeroGarden acquisition. Not sure I'll spring for the WiFi enabled one, though. I'd have to remember to turn on my phone. I've seen some very small cherry tomato varieties that grow on small plants, so I'd like to try one of those. Did your tomatoes do well? I haven't tried tomatoes yet. It's been a while since I grew peppers, but I think some of the flowers are boy flowers and only the girl flowers produce the peppers, so maybe that's why you're seeing more flowers than peppers.
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Jun 11, 2020 21:12:21 GMT -5
I can see how the bright light in an area where it could not be isolated would be a problem. The 16 hours of light is what makes the plants grow so fast; I don't know whether the automatic length can be altered. The 6-unit garden can apparently also be managed manually, so the light could be turned off at night and on whenever it was more convenient. I did find that I was happier with the unit when I moved it to a corner of the kitchen on a low table so the light was not at eye level as it had been on the tall sideboard. Hmmm manual might work. Turn it on when I wake up, off before bed. It's just me. On 16 hours it was making so much stuff if I was to keep it pruned nicely I was throwing away a ton. Less would be good. Could you put it on a timer?
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bobosensei
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Post by bobosensei on Jun 11, 2020 22:08:04 GMT -5
Yes, mine was a gift 3 Christmases ago. It does 9 plants at a time, and is wifi enabled so I get the notice on my phone when it needs food or water. The amount of light is based on what you plant. I've done herbs, tomatoes, and currently I have jalepeno and cayenne peppers going. The plants had so many more blooms than the amount of peppers I'm getting so I am not sure it is as good with flowering plants. I'd like to try lettuce next. My butterhead lettuce did the best this year so once the peppers are done I'll try them. The 9-plant version will be my next AeroGarden acquisition. Not sure I'll spring for the WiFi enabled one, though. I'd have to remember to turn on my phone. I've seen some very small cherry tomato varieties that grow on small plants, so I'd like to try one of those. Did your tomatoes do well? I haven't tried tomatoes yet. It's been a while since I grew peppers, but I think some of the flowers are boy flowers and only the girl flowers produce the peppers, so maybe that's why you're seeing more flowers than peppers. The tomatoes did very well. I even transplanted them outside and continued to get tomatoes for a while once I was ready for something else in the aerogarden. I had no idea about the flowers for peppers, makes sense, but I'd say there have been hundreds of flowers that didn't produce anything and I have 8 peppers growing right now. So it is really out of proportion, but I'll have to read up on this. Maybe that is how it usually is. I appreciate you sharing that information with me.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Jun 11, 2020 22:13:13 GMT -5
The 9-plant version will be my next AeroGarden acquisition. Not sure I'll spring for the WiFi enabled one, though. I'd have to remember to turn on my phone. I've seen some very small cherry tomato varieties that grow on small plants, so I'd like to try one of those. Did your tomatoes do well? I haven't tried tomatoes yet. It's been a while since I grew peppers, but I think some of the flowers are boy flowers and only the girl flowers produce the peppers, so maybe that's why you're seeing more flowers than peppers. The tomatoes did very well. I even transplanted them outside and continued to get tomatoes for a while once I was ready for something else in the aerogarden. I had no idea about the flowers for peppers, makes sense, but I'd say there have been hundreds of flowers that didn't produce anything and I have 8 peppers growing right now. So it is really out of proportion, but I'll have to read up on this. Maybe that is how it usually is. I appreciate you sharing that information with me. Or maybe there's boy pollen and girl pollen instead of boy flowers and girl flowers. That actually makes more sense, I think. It's been a long time, so I've probably got it all wrong. I wonder if hand pollinating the flowers would increase the yield? The bees take care of all of that when they're grown outdoors but the plants would be on their own for random pollen movement/transfer indoors without human intervention.
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justme
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Post by justme on Jun 11, 2020 23:12:25 GMT -5
Hmmm manual might work. Turn it on when I wake up, off before bed. It's just me. On 16 hours it was making so much stuff if I was to keep it pruned nicely I was throwing away a ton. Less would be good. Could you put it on a timer? So they have programs built in with a timer already. It's just a 16 freaking hour timer! Manual might work though if mine has it...I would have thought I would have checked instructions for that but frankly I was just pissed the hell off when I shoved it in my second room and shut the doors until everything basically died lol. It's almost the longest day of the year in Florida and we don't frigging have 16 hours of sun so I dunno why they built those timers. They market them to people without a yard which means you don't have space to put it where 16 hours of bright blue and red lights wouldn't be a problem.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Jun 12, 2020 15:44:34 GMT -5
The tomatoes did very well. I even transplanted them outside and continued to get tomatoes for a while once I was ready for something else in the aerogarden. I had no idea about the flowers for peppers, makes sense, but I'd say there have been hundreds of flowers that didn't produce anything and I have 8 peppers growing right now. So it is really out of proportion, but I'll have to read up on this. Maybe that is how it usually is. I appreciate you sharing that information with me. Or maybe there's boy pollen and girl pollen instead of boy flowers and girl flowers. That actually makes more sense, I think. It's been a long time, so I've probably got it all wrong. I wonder if hand pollinating the flowers would increase the yield? The bees take care of all of that when they're grown outdoors but the plants would be on their own for random pollen movement/transfer indoors without human intervention. You need to bring some pollinators inside: bumble bees, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds. 😉 You can also hand pollinate with a q-tip.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Jun 12, 2020 15:45:53 GMT -5
One other thought: I’m a bit particular about my growing containers. I much prefer growing food in wood or terra cotta over plastic. JMHO. YMMV.
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gambler
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Post by gambler on Jun 14, 2020 21:30:02 GMT -5
Grow pot needs lots of light and water. Just saying
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bobosensei
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Post by bobosensei on Jun 22, 2020 10:31:00 GMT -5
I'm getting a lot more jalepenos now. Still not nearly as many as flower buds I have, but a big improvement.
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