Thu, 2011/11/10 - 8:59pm
Hope this is where I post an intro -- I've been lurking a few days trying to figure out how this forum works. I have itty bitty, like 3/4" lettuce plants in my first AG, a 6, and tomorrow I'm going to get a 7 I found on Craigslist for $40. I can already tell I'm going to want to grow more than 6 plants at a time, can't wait to try tomatoes, peppers and - wow - even eggplant???
Just wondering if anyone would like to share any "If only I'd known _________ when I first started..." insights.
Suzylynn
Thu, 2011/11/10 - 10:45pm
#2
Welcome, Suzylynn, and thanks for speaking up! 
Ooh... if only I'd known... Not much, it's actually pretty fool-proof, growing lettuce in these AG's. If you do grow tomatoes, make sure it's the very brightest / tallest AG (Aerogarden) you can get, and consider adding an extra "daylight" growlight to side-light it, or place it in a window to get a little extra sun. And you do need to follow the pruning instructions on tomatoes, no matter how much it hurts to cut off buds and blooms.
Oddly enough, fairy tale eggplant are much faster and easier. If you like eggplant.
I like having two lettuce machines, because lettuce grows the best, but each lettuce garden doesn't last too long. So I alternate, one lettuce garden small, one harvesting, and varieties of lettuce. I dunno where you're located, but the romaines do better with winter-dry indoor air here. Basil grows as fast as lettuce, so you can freely mix in a basil pod.
Oh... and the brassicas and lettuces hate my tap water. The lettuces survive it, and grow badly. The brassicas (tatsoi, mizuna, arugula, etc.) don't do well at all. I use rain water instead... 
But you'll see if your tap water works.
Fri, 2011/11/11 - 1:01pm
#3
Thanks! I have a wall of glass in my kitchen, S/SE exposure, and I think I'm going to try the mylar emergency blanket trick, too. And I adore eggplant, so will be ordering some seeds and the cheaper sponges from Park Seeds, sounds like the way to go.
My first set-up, I used water from my Brita filter, but since I'm in western Oregon, there is plenty of rain to collect during the fall and winter. Last summer I left my arugula in the ground when it started bolting and just "harvested" the seed pods, can't wait to try them, too.
Fri, 2011/11/11 - 1:18pm
#4
I think the unit I'm picking up in a few hours has the seed starter -- I will have to wait and see whether with 2 AGs in the windows with mylar, I can set up some sort of rotation system. Hoping maybe I can keep some lettuce and herbs growing in pots next to the AGs. The Trader Joe's potted basil I was about to toss, has really perked up in 8 days next to the AG6!
There's a picure in my head of how I might arrange things, including the little vinyl greenhouse I used for starting seedlings last spring. Thank goodness today is a holiday for me, and I have three days to play; then will try to post pics.
Fri, 2011/11/11 - 1:46pm
#5
Looking forward to the pix!
Careful about putting lettuce in window or mylar, though - lettuce likes cool, like the cool end of human habitations. (Romaine works better that way, too.) And lettuce and basil don't need the extra light - though they'll enjoy it.
Mon, 2011/11/14 - 9:35am
#6
Hi Suzylynn,
Welcome! I originally got my AG to grow cucumbers - I tried many times and cucs don't like the AG!. I am really happy with the peppers I'm growing - Jalapeno (ag seed kit) and bell peppers (Ace). Basil grows really good, too. I've still got lettuce growing outside, so I'm not growing any inside.
Beth
Sat, 2011/12/10 - 10:25pm
#7
Oh how I wish Picassa would work for me! AG#1 is producing a gorgeous crop of lettuce, and my experiment with #2 is very successful so far. Since I can't post a picture, maybe I can describe my alternative to pod labels. I cut two strips of landscape fabric about 3" wide, and a few inches longer than the width of the AG. Masking taped the strips on to hold still, and by feel cut an x over each circular opening where pods go. Then I trimmed a tiny bit of the point of each of the four triangular flaps over the pod openings.
To plant, I inserted the pods with a couple of heirloom seeds in each of the holes of the Park Seed things that finally arrived, covered them with the domes, then put the fabric pieces over them, centering x-es over the domes. I tucked the fabric strips under as I put the top on the AG. Easy to remove the domes when seeds sprouted. My mesculun mix, tomatoes and eggplants appear to be thriving so far. Fairly opaque non-woven interfacing would probably work as well, if not better than my landscape fabric. Wow, I like this SO much better than the idea of paying so much for a few seeds from AG or gluing labels on, for heaven's sake!
I'll try Picassa again next weekend, in case anyone interested can't visualize how this works.
Happy growing,
Suzanne
Sat, 2011/12/10 - 11:39pm
#8
Very cool, Suzanne! Are you using the Park Starts size plug from Park Seed? Or another size?
I ask, because I tried one other size from ParkSeed, that doesn't work so well 
, and I wondered if there were others that would.
If you can get the pictures up on Picasa, btw, you can paste pictures in here manually.
1. Look at Picasa picture and right-click | Copy image location on the picture (your browser/OS may vary)
2. Go into a comment box (like, click "reply" in this topic) on the website and click the "Insert/edit image" button (glyph of landscape)
3. Paste the "image location" into the popup menu (as "URL"), and set the width of the image to something reasonable (like, 500). And click OK.
In other words, if you can see the picture - or any other picture - anywhere on the Internet, you can post the picture here manually.
Sun, 2011/12/11 - 7:37pm
#9
https://picasaweb.google.com/suzanne97205/Aerogarden#5684696202215986802 is best I can do now, In preview it appears that you can click it. Looks like I really, really need to work on my Picassa skills!
I have the Park Start Replacement Cylinders and so far so good, I think. They are in my second AG6, which I've not emptied yet, but when I check water level it looks like they may be disintegrating a tiny little bit.
I ordered the seed starter thing from AG when it was half-price, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how that works. I'm going to try various things in pots with lights. I'm also slowly collecting things I'll need for a simple DWC system - got a nice pump at the Habitat Rebuild Store, a few other things that I think will work with it.
SO jealous of your cukes! When I have a 4 day weekend over New Years, I'm going to take time to read the blog thoroughly.
Sun, 2011/12/11 - 9:40pm
#10
Hm... If that link works when you click it, but not when I do - have you maybe set your Picasa album private? Because I can't seem to open that link, or suzanne97205 (that a zip code? 
)
Ah, thanks, re the Park Starts. They're not ultra-tough, but in the end, they don't need to be, really.
Sounds like you've got lots of projects! 
I think the real keys to the cukes were:
1. Right kind of seeds - Socrates is ideal for conditions at my house (winter temperatures not above 68ºF - which is downright chilly for summer cucumbers.) I had some other cool-weather Korean cukes last winter that worked, too, and Tasty Jade.
2. Enough light, somehow... Fortunately, their needs aren't as extreme as tomatoes and peppers.
3. No soggy roots. If the soil's too wet (or you grow them in water), the roots rot. I have them in self-watering pots with basic Miracle Gro potting mix - but I added a bunch of hydroton grow rocks / perlite / anything, to keep the soil less soggy.
4. They seem to like azalea fertlizer now and then - Miracle Gro for acid-loving plants. I don't know why. Actually, I read in seed catalogs they're supposed to like more neutral pH soil. However... my cukes seem to like azalea food. 
Maybe the local tap water's just too alkaline? Who knows...
Welcome Suzylynn;
If only I'd known that the lettuce would grow so fast I would have had my tomatoes growing in the other AG to enjoy more salads! I had my first of many lettuce harvests in 18 days of planting. Because I only have 2 AG's I couldn't grow tomatoes at the same time. Now I'm growing cherry tomatoes and as soon as they get close, I'll plant more lettuce.
Enjoy!
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