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Aerogarden Pro 200
Well after a long time between posts’ I’ve now added a third aerogarden to my hydroponic gardening hobby. I purchased the aerogarden Pro200 so I could grow bigger produce like the mega tomato range or bell peppers.
I still have some cherry tomatoes growing in one of my other systems but they are a bit on the small size lol.
Allthough they grow fairly quickly in these hydroponic systems the cherry tomatoes don’t really do it for me. Which is why I’ve got this Pro 200 now.
New Aerogarden…… New Salad Greens!
I meant to post this sooner but I’ve been kind of busy lately. After transplanting the Gourmet herbs I made a start with Cherry Tomatoes but before I go into that let me tell you about the new Aerogarden I purchased for the kitchen. It’s the same model as I had but the Silver version.
I planted the Salad Greens seed kit a couple of weeks ago now and they have already grown big enough to start harvesting.
Salad Greens 3 Day
3 Salad Green Plants
I don’t know if you can spot the slit in the label above but I noticed when the seeds started to grow up through the hole in the label that some of them were getting trapped underneath. On further inspection I found out that all the labels had come unstuck and the only way tofix this was to cut a slit in them and carefully put the labels back like a colar around the fragile plants.
Fortunately this didn’t harm the plants and they have grwon up through the labels safely.
Salad Greens 4 days old
Speckled Salad Green
I had read that some of these salad greens have brown speckles on the leaves and not to worry about this, it’s not any kind of disease but a normal coloration of the plants. As they mature some of them turn purple or a deep reddish brown color.
Speckled Salad Green Plant
Salad Green Plant After 7 Day
Moving On From Gourmet Herbs Part 2.
After carefully removing the seed pods and setting up some suitable pots partially filled with general potting soil I started the transplanting proccess. Below you can see how the Gourmet herbs looked outside the Aerogarden system. Notice how long a lush the root systems are on all the plants.
Italian Herb Roots
Purple Basil Roots
My next decision was do I remove the plastic seed containers before transplanting the herbs and I decided it would be best to remove the plants completely from the plastic holders. Using a pair of pliers and some small cutting snips I carefully snipped the plastic holders and slowly removed the plant from the encasement trying hard not to damage the root system.
It wasn’t easy removing the plastic and I did damage some of the roots but the majority of the plant roots looked fine. Here are some photos of the end results after planting in pots.
Purple Basil In Monkey Pot
The Purple Basil is still doing well weeks after transplanting and moving to the back porch.
Here we see the Thyme plant being transplanted in a pot that used to have a Bonsai plant growing in it.
Unfortunately not long after transplanting the Thyme it died but both Basil Plants are still thriving in their new home. The Mint and Chives were already showing signs of wilting before transplanting and they have not improved any since potting them but I’ve not given up on them completely just yet ;o)
Moving On From Gourmet Herbs Part 1.
The Gourmet Herb Kit was my first experience growing plants in the Aerogarden system and all though I had a few problems and not all the herbs survived I still think it was worth trying and I had a lot of fun over the past couple of months.
I decided to try transplanting the Italian Basil, Purple Basil, MInt, Chives and Thyme in pots outside so that I could set up the Aerogarden system with the Cherry Tomato kit. Here are some photos of the plants during the transplanting stage.
Gourmet Herbs Before Transplant
Mint Before Transplanting
Thyme and Chives Before Transplant.
Changing the Magnetic Float in your Aerogarden.
Well I finally received the magnetic float for my Aerogarden. The system has an auto water level warning light that flashes red when the water reaches a certain level. This is controlled by a plastic float that contains a small magnet. Somehow mine developed a crack in the float which let water in and sunk the float causing the red warning light to flash constantly.
The funny thing was I received the float without realizing what it was lol there was no paper work in the package just the float in a bit of bubble wrap. Even the box had nothing on it to say it had been sent by Aerogarden. It took me a few day’s to figure out that it was indeed the float I had been waiting for.
Aerogarden Magnetic Float
Above is a photo I took of the float so you can see what one looks like.
Replacing the float is very easy to do and can be done without emptying the water from your Aerogarden. If you ever have to replace your own magnetic float you will find full step by step instructions with pictures on the main Aerogarden website. Here is the direct link for changing the float. http://www.aerogrow.com/customercare/waterlight_wontstop/wontstop.php?clickname=Customer%20Care%20Water%20Light%20Wont%20Stop&parentmenu=Troubleshooting
Purple Basil Monster Herb
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything in this aerogarden journal due to the fact I’ve been waiting on them to send me the replacement magnetic float. This float controls the red warning light that reminds you to add more water. The problem was this has somehow developed a crack in it and sunk to the bottom so the red light is now constantly blinking.
I also had to raise the lights as the Purple Basil had grown into a monster lol no matter how much I pruned it the leaves were always reaching up towards the lights and geting burned. I was waiting on the replacment seed pods but due to Aerogarden opening up a new warehouse the order had got forgotten about so they ended up offering to send me a completly new Gourmet herb kit instead of the original 3 herbs that hadn;t grown.
I’ve recieved this new herb kit but not the float so I putin another order which hopefully should be here in a week or so. Meanwhile I’ve been harvesting more Basil than I can use. So far I’ve tried it in Pasta, Rice, and soup….. but I’ve come to the conclusion it’s not one of my favorite herbs.
I may try selling the new Gourmet Herb Kit on Ebay and buy one of the many other seed kits available, I still have th Cherry Tomoato kit to try out and I love tomatoes so if they grow as well as the Purple basil I’ll be very pleased.
I like the AeroGarden, but the seed kits cost $20 each. Does anybody know how to make them cheaper?
queen_bee asked: I’m using the original AeroGarden, which costs about $149 and uses 7 seed pods. If anybody has the new, smaller version (I saw them on one site for $99; 2 for $149), I’d appreciate any modifications for that, too. Thanks!
Create a video blog…instantly.
Can you ajust the light timmer on the Aerogarden pro 200?
Plant-man asked: I am thinking of getting an Aerogarden pro 200/ the plants that i am going to grow needs specific hours of light and dark. are you allowed to change the hours of light your plant receives or is everything preset?
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does anyone know anything about an aerogarden lighting settings?
How to build an indoor vegetable garden?
Allyssa asked: My grandfather used to love to work in the garden, but because of mobility reasons he cant do that anymore. I would like to build him an indoor vegetable garden. I would love to get him one of those Aerogarden herb gardens but they are too pricey for me : ( I think something simple with 2-3 plants that doesn’t take up a lot of room would be perfect. He loves tomatoes. His house is old and the windows are hard to open so a windowsill garden would not work for him. What kind of lighting (flourescent or something? because he doesn’t have any windows that get good lighting from outside), soil, vegetables would I need or could he grow? Any ideas or input would be greatly appreciated.
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