By anonymous
Mary's Mom's SS6 with 5 herb pods and 1 salad green pod
Submitted on Fri, 2009/04/10 - 2:58pm
Last updated on Sat, 2009/05/23 - 2:43am
This is the AG SS6 we gave our Mom for her Birthday.
Planted on Jan 26, 2009 with 5 herbs - basil, dill, oregano, thyme, chive and 1 salad green pod using the herb setting and herb nutrient and city water.
Day 8 on Feb 3, 2009 - first photo op
Day 15 on Feb 10, 2009 - growing up
Day 71 on Apr 7, 2009 - removed empty/failed chive pod and replaced with spacer
Day 73 on Apr 9, 2009 - replaced spacer with rockwool germinating Chinese Wax Gourd
Additional beneficiaries of AG lights are also included..
Fri, 2009/04/10 - 7:05pm
#2
Hi Gisette,
My Mom's Dill is doing very well. I think she can harvest it a couple of times a week and either use it for Salmon Salad sandwiches and sometimes I grab some to make smoked salmon pasta or smoked salmon quiche :D
I have not taken one apart yet but I think the pump / airstone / airpump are built into the base and a clear tube come out of the base and through the bowl to aerate the water.
Sorry I got lazy and did not take pictures of my Mom's garden in the middle. I really need to give her training on the digital camera I bought her again.
Fri, 2009/04/10 - 10:37pm
#3
LOL, Mary! I got my mother a classic and digital camera, too. And she needs further training (not in taking pictures, but in the offloading to the computer part. ) And out of all the herbs, the only one she really used was the dill, on her salmon. 
I like dill in a lot of things... Great in pasta salad, and with cucumbers, or to jazz up canned vegetable soup, or egg salad, or quiche, or...
Thanks re the design. So you still see the clear air hose looping out the back of the system? This is a good thing. Then when / if the internal air pump goes sour, you can easily plug an external air pump into the valves, rather than having to replace the base. Both my minis run on an external aquarium air pump. The internal pumps didn't die, though - I ripped them out, because the minis were a noise nuisance. Hence, the AG3 redesign...
Fri, 2009/04/10 - 11:27pm
#4
P.S. Mary - dunno if you care, but this is one of those attachments done as a lightbox. You can copy this into your own scratch post to see how it's put together. The user interface is really awkward, but after you've uploaded pictures here, you can embed them in a post with the standard image gizmo on the editor, if you want to.
Sat, 2009/04/11 - 12:19am
#5
Nice set up Mary! I love the yogurt cups!
Sat, 2009/04/11 - 2:07am
#6
Gisette,
Actually this is the 2nd digital camera I got my parents. The one I got for Xmas 2004 HP 4.1 MP they barely used. I got them a 10 MP Kodak this past Xmas and I had run through some instructions on each occassions but I think I need to get them on it again :D
The Aerator is not really visible except for the clear tubing coming out of the center of the base. When I do a water change in a little over a week time for my Mom's SS6, I will try to take a picture. I might use the AG water - diluted for some of her seedlings.
Yes, I found the lightbox information after the fact and will try to do something with it tomorrow.
Sat, 2009/04/11 - 2:12am
#7
Jessi,
My mom started using a few of these small yogurt cups last year and used them a bit more this year. Actually a double row of these yogurt cups can fit into one of those 1 lb plastic salad containers and if you put the lid on, almost an instant greenhouse :D
Sat, 2009/04/11 - 2:24am
#8
Lots of red cherry tomato, yellow full sized tomatoes and Lebanese Cucumber seedlings plus an african violet taking a ride on the SS6 lights on the same tray top.
Some of her seedlings on the ground are also enjoying the extra light. Sweet Chocolate pepper in the 8 pod peat strip in the white basin, lebanese cucumber in the 8 pod peat strip in the clear salad container, yellow cherry tomatoes in the flat black round container, scarlett runner in the white and beige deep pots. My mom said that the green circular pot next to the white and brown circular pots is grown from a Dahlia root.
She promised to share some of the seedlings with me...
Fri, 2009/05/01 - 7:21pm
#9
The salad green pod at my Mom's SS6 is at the end of its cycle aftr 3 months. Here is a photo before RIP. Down to 2 bolting plants.
Havested the remaining salads and cleaned out pod as much as I can and tried Grand Rapid Lettuce again since the one in rockwool is not doing well at 2 weeks.
Sat, 2009/05/23 - 2:46am
#10
I started some tomatoes in the 2 spare pods on my Mom's SS6, they grew a little but not doing extremely well at 3 weeks. When I see Peat's Tomatoes, I have to hang my head in embarrasment. Not sure if it is due to rockwool, nutrient concentration, lights too high or being shaded by the dill... But here is the updated picture of Mom's SS6.
Week 16 - May 19
Sat, 2009/05/23 - 3:18am
#11
No need to hang your head in embarrassment, the plants that have grown have done really well.
The two herb packs that came free with mine have never been used, I only have two Classics and they seem to have been tied up with lettuce/toms and cukes - the herbs have not had a chance; they are over a year old now!
As you said, all the reasons for your poor tomatoes are valid - they really need that light and the nutes have to be correct. The rockwool will probably not be the issue, I've seen people grow in this without balancing it...
Sat, 2009/05/23 - 4:31am
#12
Mary, maybe it is the dill. Is it mature already?
Got this passage from a companion planting site. http://gardening.about.com/od/totallytomatoes/qt/Tomato-Companions.htm
Bee balm, chives, dill, mint and parsley improve health and flavor. Use dill early since mature dill starts to inhibit tomato growth.
Sat, 2009/05/23 - 10:07am
#13
Thanks for that link, stonecold. I'd heard about fennel and tomatoes, but hadn't realized dill and brassicas (cabbage family) were an issue, and I grow both all the time. Dumb luck that I hadn't put any brassicas in a tomato growbox yet.
Sat, 2009/05/23 - 11:24am
#14
Yes, it was a mature Dill at about 3 months.
Good link and some great information stonecold. My mom would be planting her tomatoes soon and there are some self sprouted Dill (seeds that dropped last year) in one of her garden plots and she also has some peppers, kohlrabi and other Brassicas seedlings so she needs to think about that when she plans where to plant and maybe a Square foot garden.
Thu, 2009/06/11 - 11:29pm
#15
I have been largely offline for the last 2 weeks and will likely be that way for at least 1-2 weeks since my Mom is hospitalized. I have a few but not regular pictures of the AGs but don't have time to post them.
Thu, 2009/06/11 - 11:48pm
#16
I'm so sorry to hear that, Mary. I hope your mother gets well soon!
Fri, 2009/06/12 - 11:16am
#17
Mary - our prayers are with you.
Sat, 2009/06/13 - 4:36am
#18
Best wishes to your mum for a speedy recovery.
Wed, 2009/06/17 - 10:47pm
#19
Hi Mary!
I am just now really getting back in the swing of things myself after my mom has surgery. I know it can be a challenging thing. I wish you & you mom the best!
Sat, 2009/06/20 - 8:10am
#20
Thanks everyone for the good wishes. My mom is back home from the hospital after a 3 weeks stay for acute pancreatitis and complications. She has to take it easy for a little bit and cannot fly for 4-6 weeks plus need to be back in in a months time to have her gall bladder removed but things seem to be good.
I had cleared my schedule first week of June to take my Mom down to US to see my uncle who is dying of pancreatic cancer but she became unwell end of May and was hospitalized May 29. Unfortunately we heard last night a few hours after my Mom was released from the hospital that he passed away. My mom and I were discussing for me to go down and see him in her stead this weekend or next week but he went quickly.
Sat, 2009/06/20 - 10:29am
#21
Mary: I'm so sorry to hear about your uncle -- but very glad to hear that your Mom is getting better. There always seems to be both good and bad in our lives. Thank goodness that the good seems to outweigh the bad most of the time.
Still thinking of you,
Take care.
Sat, 2009/06/20 - 12:12pm
#22
Mary, so sorry to hear about your family troubles. So sad, to miss your uncle's passing by such a short time.
I had that gallbladder-nearly-taking-out-the-pancreas thing when I was 29... What a mess. I hope your mother mends well!
Wed, 2009/06/24 - 4:20am
#23
My Mom is gradually mending. I take her to the lung specialist on Thurs to get the stiches to close the chest tube site and some checkup. She has the pancreas checkup early July and possibly surgery for gall bladder removal end of July or beginning of August since she still has a number of stones.
My dad and I react differently to my Mom's grief, he tells her not to cry and I just go and hug her. He is still a bit stressed out since my Mom is sad with her brother's passing and he needs to learn a whole new way of cooking for low fat. Fortunately, I gave them the oil sprayer for olive oil and found a store that stocks similar items also in stainless steel and will buy another for canola oil for them. I caught him trying to stir fry with a noticable pour of canola oil the day my Mom is released and trying to teach him to cook using oil sprayer or chicken broth.
Wed, 2009/06/24 - 4:28am
#24
The Chive sprouted briefly and died. The lettuce ran its course.
I had to discard the Oregano for my Mom monday and several trim back her thyme, basil and dill since her herb garden got infested with some kind of gnats and the basil leaves and other plants are getting diseased leaves. I took some more Oregano cutting before discard the dead parts since my only decent live cutting went to my brother / SIL with 3 of the strongest basil cuttings. I planted other basil cuttings and some dill from Mom's garden into a flower pouch for her. The basil cuttings I got from the recent hack will be for me if they survive. The basil plant is only left with one stem with some leaves and flowers. I might see if it can grow seeds. Dill is not a big issue since my Mom had some dill in the garden but the thyme is half dried out. I q-tiped everything with 3% hydrogen peroxide.
Wed, 2009/06/24 - 10:48am
#25
Good luck with it all, Mary!
Wed, 2009/06/24 - 11:14am
#26
I tried the chives in the AG last year using the standard tablets, they were dismal; thin, sparse and weedy - not worth the effort. I'd never do them again - perhaps they would have been better with my flora?
Wed, 2009/06/24 - 6:53pm
#27
I have chives outside - gone perennial. It may actually be too warm indoors for them. They were happily blooming long before my pansies this year, I think. They kinda draggle thru summer. Their purple pom-pom flowers are kinda cute. 
I got bored of actually eating them long ago. I bought one chive pot and stuck it in my garden maybe a decade ago. They migrated into a planter and moved to another house with me. I added more chives to the railing planters last year because I read somewhere that they discourage aphids, and this new place seems inundated with aphids. They do seem to occur slightly less in chive pots.
Sun, 2009/08/02 - 2:10pm
#28
I retired Mom's herb garden after close to 6 months since the 3 remaining plants looked really sad. Took some basil cuttings and got them rooted in a flower pouch bag and they seem to be doing okay but a bit bug bitten.
Mom has lots of Garlic Chives, Mint and some Cilantro and Dill even after pulling lots of Cilantro, Dil and Mint in her garden plus the Basil so it is only thyme and Oregano that we are missing. She has lots to contend with in her outdoor garden and she is not yet 100% so wanted the AG to be retired until late fall. I cleaned and disinfected with hydrogen peroxide so it is temporarily set aside.
Sun, 2009/08/02 - 3:20pm
#29
Sounds like a successful run of herbs!
Sun, 2009/08/02 - 4:22pm
#30
Mom's Garlic Chives, mint, cilantro and dill are all in her outdoor garden so she does not see the point for a AG herb garden right now. If I plant a herb garden myself in the winter, it would be mostlhy basil (I now have seeds for cinnamon, lemon and regular italian basils) and some oregano.
Ooh, Mary, that dill looks so good... I need to plant some more of that soon.
Interesting, I'd never seen such a close-up of the SS6 surface before. Do the air lines still run outside the unit from the air pump, out a hose, back in through a valve, and down to the airstone? Or is all that inside on the newer air-pump systems? (I have only the original airstone system, the AG mini, which was replaced with the slightly re-engineered AG3.)