Sat, 2011/11/19 - 1:33pm
Well, after I ordered seeds as well as sponges from Park Seeds, wonderful find today! Stopping in for something else, I discovered my friendly neighborhood Ace Hardware has 2012 seeds from Botanical Interests, several heirlooms. Besides mesclun mix, I got silvery fir tree tomatoes, which look really interesting.
So, here's the plan: start 3 lettuce and 2 tomatoes in AG6#2 (only got 5 sponges with used 2nd AG, but 6 baskets.) In a couple of weeks, move the lettuce to first AG, try transplanting three of the current crop to dirt. By then I'll have my pepper and eggplant seeds from Park and can start them in #2. Are you following?
OK, so I'm dreading cutting out and gluing the label things and got this hairbrain idea... make 2 covers for the "grow surface", with radiating slits over each of the 3 holes, in front strip and back strip. I'm thinking leftover landscape fabric, which would be easy to mark and cut, possibly just leave a little extra to tuck in under the grow surface, no adhesives at all required.
I really, really will take pics and figure out how to post them if this works!
Happy growing to all,
Suzanne
Mon, 2012/05/14 - 6:34pm
#2
I just planted 3 of them last week. I think tomorrow will be a week. I can see most of the lettuces are poking heads above the labels. meclun is a little slow. The herbs are mostly up but dill is a bit slow. The flowers are very slow. the herb and flowers were in used AG's so the bulbs are not as fresh. I did put the reflector strips on the flower one so perhaps it would get more light from reflection. When my new lights come, I may be able to change the lights out. but it is sort of expensive when we have to replace bulbs every 6 months. The new AG has the lettuces in it. I have another backordered that I want to plant tomatoes and peppers in. I put out a garden with water under it and put strawberries there and they are blooming already. They were bareroot plants and we planted them on 17th of last month the morning we were leaving for a trip. Our neighbor watered for us for the week. I bought 2 more of those boxes as they seemed to work so well. Got them from LTD Commodities. had a trellis to go on the back as well. Was easy to put together. Not exactly hydroponic but definitely has water under the potting soil. I have started sprouting as well but for eating not growing past sprouts. I'm learning.
Mon, 2012/05/14 - 8:45pm
#3
If the bulbs are interchangeable, the fruiting plants need the most light, flowers next, then herbs, lettuce last.
I use Growboxes (different design, same concept as Earthboxes), and they do awesomely well. Wish I had room for a couple more.
Mon, 2012/05/14 - 9:21pm
#4
SweetCaroline - could you post a link to the design of planting boxes you use? I'd like to see! 
Looking forward to seeing it, Suzanne!
The AG's really are inspiring, aren't they?