AeroGarden working much better than expected

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larry_stewart

Master Chef
Joined
Dec 25, 2006
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Location
Long Island, New York
Hey guys and gals,

Like many others out there, although loving the snow, im still imagining what next years garden is going to be like. Browsing through the catalogs, looking over last years plans wondering where I went right or in many cases wrong. This past holiday season i received an aerogarden as a gift. I was a little skeptical at first. Im not the type of person who likes to push a product on anyone, But in this case, I cant argue with success. I started the garden on December 24th. Here is a pic of my lettuce 2 1/2 weeks later. This week nice, home grown salad is on the menu. Ive got 4 different lettuces growing. In addition I got basil and mint too. It took me 10 minutes to set it up. The machine takes care of the light timer. lets me know when to add water, and the nutrition tablet. Other than that, just watch them grow ( germinated in 2 days) Oh yeah, got some arugula in there as well. At this point, they are growing so fast, im affraid to open the door. Kinda feels like Little shop of horrors!! But at least Ill be eating the plant instead of the alternative. Anyway, thanks for listening.

larry
 

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Yes, Larry, my stepmother has one and I was blown away when I saw all the beautiful herbs she had in there over Christmas! Yours looks fabulous, too!

Kinda pricey, so if anyone would like to send me one of these, please PM me and I will send you my address! :cool:

Lee
 
Thanks so much for the pic & the recommendation Larry!! I too was gifted with an Aerogarden "Deluxe" for Xmas from my husband. I haven't set it up yet because I still haven't decided on the best spot for it where I can enjoy it but at the same time keep the darn cats away from it - lol!! But it really is nice to know that it does in fact live up to all the promotional hype. Organic or not, your greens look gorgeous!
 
That was our first challenge also, finding a place all 5 cats cant get to. We have an extra room that we use as an office room (asa crap room). We can keep the door closed, and this room is seems to stay a little warmer than the rest of the house. as far as organic goes, it was never my intention to be organic, although outside i try my best ( ill never use pesticides), But miracle grow and other things i have no problems using.

larry
 
That was our first challenge also, finding a place all 5 cats cant get to. We have an extra room that we use as an office room (asa crap room). We can keep the door closed, and this room is seems to stay a little warmer than the rest of the house. as far as organic goes, it was never my intention to be organic, although outside i try my best ( ill never use pesticides), But miracle grow and other things i have no problems using.

larry

Great minds think alike - lol!! With 6 horses at my manure-producing disposal, I too garden organically outdoors. How could I not, with all that wonderful compost at hand? That said, I'm also not adverse to using Miracle Grow products for my flowers & containers.

I now hope to get my Aerogrow set up really soon. I know, however, that at least one of the cats is just waiting for what he perceives is simply the combination tanning bed/sauna/salad bar Santa brought him for Xmas.

As far as where to buy these, here's the website, which frequently (if not always) offers free shipping. There are now SO many different models to choose from: little 3-pod desktops, triangular types to fit into corners, wall models, & gigundus ones that are fitted to grow full-size beefsteak tomatoes, peppers, etc., etc. Hard to find one that wouldn't fit someone's needs. Plus - lots of different seed choices, including ones that allow you to use your own seeds (that's what I'm really interested in).

AeroGarden®

Around here we've seen them sold at local stores, as well as Costco. Prices haven't really been much different than those at the company website.
 
A little while before Thanksgiving I picked up a 7 pod Aerogarden at a thrift store. At the BB&B they only had one 7 pod set, Gourmet Herbs (or something). It has some herbs that we don't use but I bought it anyway.

It started sprouting almost immediately and about 2 weeks later I was able to start harvesting the herbs. It is very nice to be able to use fresh herbs in my cooking although I think next time I'll get the Mexican Herb set.

Chad
 
If i didnt have cats, id probably keep it in my kitchen with a constant supply of fresh herbs. But because of the cats, it has to be tucked away upstairs in the office , closed door. Good thing im a vegetarian, or id consider cooking the cats up with some of the fresh herbs, that would solve my problem!!!
 
I originally had my AeroGarden in a nice spot in a side room and immediately realized I was ignoring it and that it needed almost daily attention, like any garden. It has since been moved into the kitchen where I am around it constantly.

If I had a cat I think I would try growing Cat Nip elsewhere in the hopes they liked that better, or perhaps grow hot peppers in the AeroGarden for my salsa.
 
I have six of the large size Aero Gardens and love them for Lettuce and Herbs. I did cherry tomatoes and Jalapeno's in one this year. The tomatoes were watery with no flavor and very thick skins. The Jalapeños had the heat of a Habinero and were so bad that after cutting one in the kitchen it had peoples eyes burning the bedrooms at the other side of the house. I won't be doing either in the Aero Garden again. But lettuce and herbs are great.

They are organic. The fertilizer liquid that comes with them is organic and so are the seeds used.

I had a shelf put up on my main wall in the living room this year to put them on. They not only look nice in the living room they provide lots of light. Why pay for lights when you have to have them lighted to grow I figured make them do double duty.

Robert
 
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