AeroGarden

[Daniel]

We just set up our AeroGarden three days ago. Along with buying a couple of window boxes filled with herbs, we decided to start growing lettuce in the AeroGarden.. I dont have camera posting abilities for a little bit, but right now there isnt much happening.. We have just a few sprouts.. Anyone else using theres right now and have suggestions..

[Daniel]

Well its almost a month later and we are ready to eat the lettuce.. We will cut the tops today and we have another three months of harvesting... We have also purchased another one since my last post and have started to grow tomatoes.. The tomatoes are a little more involved.. I think they take three months to fully mature..

Here is the lettuce after it just sprouted about two weeks ago..

Here it is this morning:

This is the tomatoes after two weeks..

[Anna N]

I jumped at the AeroGarden idea until I saw the price! Holy schmoly - $25 for basil seed/plant - I don't think so.

For those who are puzzled, here's a link to the AeroGarden

Edited to add link.

Edited July 15, 2006 by Anna N (log)

[BryanZ]

Thanks for the pictures, Daniel. I'm anxious to follow your experiences with the product.

[Daniel]

I understand that it might be an expensive thing.. I look at it as serving two purposes.. The first is, it provides fresh vegetables.. I know that there werent any chemicals or things sprayed on my lettuce. People who grow lettuce often complain about the large amount of dirt and bugs.. The lettuce is grit and bug free.. The second thing is, its equally attractive as it is functional.. Its really decorative and cool to have plants growing in your apartment.. Living in a city I, cherrish any sort of nature.. But things like the herbs, I already have growing in window boxes.. So, I am not going to grow there herbs.. But things like there berries and peppers.. Well, I am excited to use it..

I could see this being popular in urban areas like a Tokyo where people dont have the room for gardens..

A down side would be the time it takes and the amount produced.. I just trimmed the lettuce and had enough for four salads.. Now I have to wait a week... Looking forward to the tomatoes..

Today I made a little sandwich for lunch.. Turkey, chopped liver, swiss, lettuce mixed with a champagne vinegar dressing on rye toast..

Edited July 15, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[UnConundrum]

My son thought I should get one too, but when I saw $185 for the garden, and $25 for a seed pack, I couldn't buy into the idea..... It says the salad mix is good for only 75 salads over 2 to 3 months. That's about $ .30 a salad without considering the cost of the garden itself. I can buy a lot of organic salad for that price.

That being said, I am also interested in how your experiment goes. Really curious how those tomatoes will taste. If they're close to home grown, I might get my arm twisted A good tomato mid winter surely has it's attraction. Please keep us posted.

[runninwithscissors]

My son thought I should get one too, but when I saw $185 for the garden, and $25 for a seed pack, I couldn't buy into the idea.....  It says the salad mix is good for only 75 salads over 2 to 3 months.  That's about $ .30 a salad without considering the cost of the garden itself.  I can buy a lot of organic salad for that price. 

That being said, I am also interested in how your experiment goes.  Really curious how those tomatoes will taste.  If they're close to home grown, I might get my arm twisted   A good tomato mid winter surely has it's attraction.  Please keep us posted.

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Another thing to consider is the price is based in Canadian dollars...still kinda pricey, but...

[helenjp]

I think lighting systems for hydroponics are at least as expensive as the AeroGarden, but if you just want to supplement natural light from a window, rather than grow plants in pitch black conditions, surely you could work out a light and reflector system without too much pain?

[Ohba]

I could see this being popular in urban areas like a Tokyo where people dont have the room for gardens..

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People in Tokyo are quite resourceful in using any bit of available outdoor space for, among other things, growing plants, often in containers. Most apartments have a small balcony for drying clothes, which sometimes get used for plants as well. Steps, stairs, and the space around external walls and even parts of the pavement or roadside are also used. The fact that space is so limited could even work against the AeroGarden for some people, because not everyone will want to sacrifice precious internal space for plants.

[Daniel]

True.. But again, one can not grow lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, or berries in a window box without much effort or space.. I have all my windows filled with flowers and herbs and still love my two areogardens.. I have my one garden on top of a bookshelf and the other ontop of my cable box.. As long as you have a plug, there is space for these guys...

Edited July 16, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[Susan in FL]

I live in sunny Florida and have an acre and a half, but I can see the appeal. Bugs and weeds are a pain in the ass; the soil is so sandy, if you really want something that you grow to taste good you have to treat the soil; and then there is the constant watering because it's so hot during most of the year. After you have weeded and watered, then the weeds grow again, much more than the food grows. Also, other critters besides bugs come along and eat up your stuff, or crawl around underground and mess up the root systems. During the summer and fall about the time you've got this all under control, along comes a tropical storm and blows it apart, or a hurricane and a tree falls on it.

If it weren't so expensive, I would buy it.

[scubadoo97]

I live in sunny Florida and have an acre and a half, but I can see the appeal.  Bugs and weeds are a pain in the ass; the soil is so sandy, if you really want something that you grow to taste good you have to treat the soil; and then there is the constant watering because it's so hot during most of the year.  After you have weeded and watered, then the weeds grow again, much more than the food grows.  Also, other critters besides bugs come along and eat up your stuff, or crawl around underground and mess up the root systems.  During the summer and fall about the time you've got this all under control, along comes a tropical storm and blows it apart, or a hurricane and a tree falls on it.

If it weren't so expensive, I would buy it.

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Susan I'm right with you on this one. I too live on an acre in sunny Florida and grow my herbs in pots outside. I agree the biggest problem growing fruits and vegetables is rabbits and other critters that get to the produce before we do.

You may want to try pots with drip irrigation to eliminate the heavy weeding and for some reason the rabbits don't chew on my basil leaves in pots.

[Daniel]

Mmmm rabbit.. For me, I would grow a garden in my backyard just to attract the rabbits.. Is there anything you can grow that will attract lobsters and veal..

Edited July 16, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[Hiroyuki]

I could see this being popular in urban areas like a Tokyo where people dont have the room for gardens..

←

People in Tokyo are quite resourceful in using any bit of available outdoor space for, among other things, growing plants, often in containers. Most apartments have a small balcony for drying clothes, which sometimes get used for plants as well. Steps, stairs, and the space around external walls and even parts of the pavement or roadside are also used. The fact that space is so limited could even work against the AeroGarden for some people, because not everyone will want to sacrifice precious internal space for plants.

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You put it really well, Ohba. Another factor is that many Japanese have faith in sunlight. They really like to dry laundry and bedding in the sun.

[tryingsomethingnew]

Well its almost a month later and we are ready to eat the lettuce.. We will cut the tops today and we have another three months of harvesting... We have also purchased another one since my last post and have started to grow tomatoes.. The tomatoes are a little more involved.. I think they take three months to fully mature..

Here is the lettuce after it just sprouted about two weeks ago..

Here it is this morning:

This is the tomatoes after two weeks..

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Daniel,

How did the tomatoes come out? Do they taste good? Are they cherry tomatoes?

Do you have to use their seeds or can you use any seeds to plant?

[Marlene]

I've just bought one of these. I'm going to grow mint, basil, garlic chives, italian parsley, oregano and thyme. At least I think that's what's in the Italian herb seed packet).

I grow herbs in the summer, and sometimes I even remember to dry them out and freeze them. But it's in the winter, for braises that I use these herbs the most and I don't have window sills that I can put boxes on to grow them. Yeah, it's pricey. But I don't have to run out to the store to buy whole bunches of herbs that go bad before I can use them up, and these should last me through the winter until it's time to plant in my garden again.

Edited September 9, 2006 by Marlene (log)

[deltadoc]

I bought a couple of Klimagro greenhouses. One fits in my garden window in the kitchen. It has autoglass sliding doors on both long sides and also the roof is made of sliding autoglass. It has a built in light source, a built-in timer (I keep it at 18 hours to keep the herbs from flowering), it uses dirt, has a built in humidity wand and meter, and also a built in heating element beneath the dirt and a sliding temperature control so you can set it to a higher temperature during the winter to make up for the window being colder. It is fabulous, and the rosemary is so big that we have trouble using it all. I've grown all kinds of basil, oregano, aloe vera, French tarragon, etc. Using the extension on the kitchen faucet allows me to water it whenever it needs. After a while, you get to know when it needs water and you don't have to use the humidity wand to stick in the dirt to measure how moist it is.

It is self draining, and while you're supposed to change the dirt every couple of years, this one has been going for 4 years without changing it.

I have a really big onein the back bedroom. Both of these have removable glass shelves for hanging plants or putting seedlings closer to the builtin lights. The lights are a special wavelength that mimics true sunlight.

I've also gone the hydroponic route, but overall changing the reservoir tank and keeping it clean, and the cost of the 400 watt bulbs was way too much work compared to these greenhouses. They're much more economical.

www.klimagro.com

doc

[Aileen]

I saw a display of these in a local mall a couple of weeks ago, and I'm tempted to buy. I, like Marlene, grow herbs myself in the warm months, but waste a lot of money through the winter on the packets from the grocery store. I also don't have a window near my kitchen that would work for a window garden, and these things are very pretty! I think I just talked myself into buying one.

[Daniel]

That looks awesome.. I pray that my girl does not come across this item..

[jgm]

I've been thinking really hard about getting one of these. It was a brutal summer in Kansas for anything growing outside, and although the neighborhood squirrels and bunnies are well-fed, in the end it was not even close to worth the effort.

Is there any way to grow things from your own seed, Daniel, or is it absolutely necessary to buy what the company offers? For what I spend in the winter on fresh herbs --usually in really poor condition-- I could buy one of these things.

I'm just trying to figure out how to keep the cats out of it.

[merstar]

I've just bought one of these.  I'm going to grow mint, basil, garlic chives, italian parsley, oregano and thyme.  At least I think that's what's in the Italian herb seed packet).

I grow herbs in the summer, and sometimes I even remember to dry them out and freeze them.  But it's in the winter, for braises that I use these herbs the most and I don't have window sills that I can put boxes on to grow them.  Yeah, it's pricey.  But I don't have to run out to the store to buy whole bunches of herbs that go bad before I can use them up, and these should last me through the winter until it's time to plant in my garden again.

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Marlene,

Please keep us posted on how the herbs turn out!

[BryanZ]

You have to use their seed pods.

I've got one in my apartment at school. Everyone wonders what it is.

[Joann]

You have to use their seed pods.

I read somewhere that they were coming out with more seed pods this month, Japanese herbs and a couple others. I'm sooooo ready for one of these. In white, to match my kitchen.

[deltadoc]

In a Klimagro greenhouse, which really do look awesome and professional and complement my house and kitchen, you can use any seeds or seedlings. Only constraint is that it makes sense to plant similar herbs that require the same amount of moisture and sunlight. You can put in the glass shelf which sort of shades that which is planted directly beneath it so there is some latitude in what you can grow together at the same time.

doc

[Joann]

In a Klimagro greenhouse, which really do look awesome and professional and complement my house and kitchen, you can use any seeds or seedlings.  Only constraint is that it makes sense to plant similar herbs that require the same amount of moisture and sunlight.  You can put in the glass shelf which sort of shades that which is planted directly beneath it so there is some latitude in what you can grow together at the same time.

doc

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They start at $600. I'd have to grow weed to be able to afford that. Nice units, love the floor model for orchids.