slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 748 
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Post by slw on Feb 16, 2024 19:02:46 GMT -5
I just terminated a chard garden; the "Bright Lights" variety. It was easy to grow and the plants were gorgeous with the multi-colored stems. You will find that the Bounty trellis helps hold the long stems up when they mature.
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Post by tompepper7 on Feb 16, 2024 22:10:27 GMT -5
And a weaker light at only 15W? And no more grow domes? It seems possible those two things go together.
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Post by lynnee on Feb 17, 2024 10:09:05 GMT -5
CatHerder, the Harvest 2.0 is the first major redesign in several years. I think it is the first redesign since Aerogarden was sold to MiracleGro by the original owner. 
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CatHerder
AGA Sprout
"If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat".
Posts: 75
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Post by CatHerder on Feb 17, 2024 19:14:22 GMT -5
Well, I'm beyond pathetic. I fell for the President's Day sale; I got a Bounty Elite, Bounty seed starting tray, another bamboo shelf unit, and 50 grow sponges for $238. "Practically free!!" 
Justification: What if the new Harvest is an indicator of things to come?? I "need" to buy the Elite with the fantastic light while there's still time!!  Yeah, they reel me in like a carp.
I'm right there with ya'. [me] "I think I need another AG for cucumbers.... they're on sale...." [hubby] "okay" [me] "....or two, maybe for more lettuce too...." [hubby] "that's fine" Now I can't decide which one(s) to get. I just purchased the Harvest XL (still empty). Then the suggestion of getting a Harvest Slim dedicated to lettuce was a good one. Thanks Clovis Sangrail ! Or maybe just use the new Harvest XL for the lettuce....  I've read all your opinions on the disadvantages of touch screens, which makes me hesitant to purchase a Bounty or Bounty Elite (don't care about the app). But I think having the 50W light might be useful for cucumbers and bell peppers.... Ugh. Here we go again.....  |
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Post by tompepper7 on Feb 17, 2024 19:31:34 GMT -5
...I've read all your opinions on the disadvantages of touch screens, which makes me hesitant to purchase a Bounty or Bounty Elite (don't care about the app). But I think having the 50W light might be useful... The firmware/software on the Bounty with the touch screen is nicer than on the Harvest with just the buttons IMO. I started with Bounty Basics and was very happy with the results but I do have a couple Bounty Elites growing Brussels Sprouts and Thai Chilis now. Like you I wondered if the higher watt light would be better. The app is nice mostly for setting, changing and syncing times.
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 17, 2024 19:37:53 GMT -5
I've read all your opinions on the disadvantages of touch screens, which makes me hesitant to purchase a Bounty or Bounty Elite (don't care about the app). But I think having the 50W light might be useful for cucumbers and bell peppers.... Ugh. Here we go again.....
Don't forget you have another option that I pioneered some time ago when I struggled with the same issues. I now purchase only bounty basics so I don't get the touch screens. The light hood is removeable and you can take it off and add external lighting above the bounty. You just need to figure out how to suspend an external light. I use a garment rack and two AG 45 Watt light panels side by side. This gives me a wide light source at a strong 90 Watts! It also allows greater growing space. With the rack I'm using I have a max of over 40 inches from the deck to the light panel.
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Post by Clovis Sangrail on Feb 17, 2024 19:43:07 GMT -5
[me] "I think I need another AG for cucumbers.... they're on sale...." [hubby] "okay" [me] "....or two, maybe for more lettuce too...." [hubby] "that's fine" So here's what you do -- [you] "I think I need another AG for cucumbers.... they're on sale...." [hubby] "okay" [you] "....or two, maybe for more lettuce too...." [hubby] "that's fine" [you] "And then I'm going to get some sheep. Just a couple so we can make our own wool . . . " And if he say's "That's nice, dear. You do that." then you know he's not paying a lick of attention to what you are saying, which gives you carte blanche from there on out. [hubby] "UPS is out front with two huge boxes from some place called 'Aero-something' . . . " [you] "Oh, good. Those are for growing peppers and tomatoes. They go upstairs." [hubby] "Upstairs? [you] "For making our own pico de gallo. You remember. We talked about it last week, and you said it sounded good." [hubby] "Oh, yeah, right." This gives you great power. Use it responsibly. None of this -- [hubby] "Why is there a pony in the TV room? . . . ' [you] "To keep the sheep company." [hubby] "Sheep?" [you] "The sheep I got so we can spin our own yarn." [hubby] "Yarn?" [you] "So we can make our own sweaters. We talked about it." [hubby] "Oh. OK." The poor dear doesn't really know, so be kind and do not take advantage. |
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 748
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Post by slw on Feb 17, 2024 20:47:50 GMT -5
ETA--forgot to say that I like the touch screens!!
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Post by Clovis Sangrail on Feb 17, 2024 21:34:14 GMT -5
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Post by lynnee on Feb 18, 2024 10:40:18 GMT -5
CatHerder, go ahead and try the Bounty or Bounty Elite. The settings are far easier than the ones on the Harvest, the pump can have custom settings, the light is much stronger, you have 24" of growing height, and you can grow all but the largest plants (e.g., indeterminate tomatoes, which don't work well in the Farms, either). The Bounty is by far the most versatile of all the AGs. The Bounty Elite app is useful when it's working, though it's sometimes unavailable wirelessly when the AG servers are down for maintenance or whatever. The app allows you to sync clocks via Android but not iOS. The touchscreen works fine when the app is down, so the app issues aren't so important unless you have touchscreens that are too high to reach easily (e.g., stacked Farms). I love my Bounty Elites! 
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 748
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Post by slw on Feb 18, 2024 10:44:51 GMT -5
The app allows you to sync clocks via Android but not iOS. Lynnee--I have an iPhone and I have no trouble syncing the time on my gardens using the app. It would be nice to be able to sync them all at once, though. |
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Post by lynnee on Feb 18, 2024 11:00:42 GMT -5
The app allows you to sync clocks via Android but not iOS. Lynnee--I have an iPhone and I have no trouble syncing the time on my gardens using the app. It would be nice to be able to sync them all at once, though. I'll have to try syncing with iOS again. Maybe it's the iPad that is the problem--I don't have an iPhone. (Yay Galaxy!)  |
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Post by Clovis Sangrail on Feb 18, 2024 11:37:35 GMT -5
One of the things that has distinguished Aerogarden from the cheaper knock-offs is the way the grow deck is designed to channel water to all of the pods.
I can't find anything in all the Amazon and AG marketing blurbs for Harvest 2.0 that addresses this. (Can't find any reviews, yet, either)
That would be one easy place to invisibly cut features.
So if anyone rushes out and buys one (and I know someone will), please check that and let us know.
Thanks.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 748
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Post by slw on Feb 18, 2024 13:34:58 GMT -5
One of the things that has distinguished Aerogarden from the cheaper knock-offs is the way the grow deck is designed to channel water to all of the pods. I can't find anything in all the Amazon and AG marketing blurbs for Harvest 2.0 that addresses this. (Can't find any reviews, yet, either) That would be one easy place to invisibly cut features. So if anyone rushes out and buys one (and I know someone will), please check that and let us know. Thanks. I was trying to figure that out, too. I spent an hour yesterday enlarging all the pictures of the grow deck but I can't see any little "spouts" on the holes in the deck. It was already disappointing that the feeding schedule reminder appears to be gone (unless I just don't see it); that is another thing that sets AGs apart from the competition. |
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 18, 2024 13:48:27 GMT -5
This just in...
I have a sneak preview of the Harvest 3.0 ! The next iteration of cheap!
Add water and nutes, stick your plant in the top, add your own light, give it a shake to oxygenate the water.
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Post by Clovis Sangrail on Feb 18, 2024 14:01:39 GMT -5
I was trying to figure that out, too. I spent an hour yesterday enlarging all the pictures of the grow deck but I can't see any little "spouts" on the holes in the deck. It was already disappointing that the feeding schedule reminder appears to be gone (unless I just don't see it); that is another thing that sets AGs apart from the competition. I spent about an hour this morning doing the same thing. I don't see 'em. Maybe the food indicator is like on a Sprout -- a tiny little red light. |
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veng1
AGA Sprout
My logo is from a spectroradiometer I designed to measure a Sprout.
Posts: 48
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Post by veng1 on Feb 18, 2024 15:39:38 GMT -5
The intensity of an LED light is not accurately measured by watts unless the LEDs are the same type and quantity.
Intensity requires an additional number, usually lumens/watt which is multiplied by watts to give lumens which is a measure of luminous flux. Unfortunately lumens are weighted to what people "see" not what plants "see". Plants "see" PAR.
So 15W versus 20W is mostly marketing BS. AG knows this, they are purposefully being vague.
However, depending on the LEDs used in the original versus the ones used in the new design, it is entirely possible that the efficacy has increased to the point where 15W is putting out more flux than the 20W. In the past, say, 20 years LEDs have gone from 80lumens/watt to at least twice that or even close to three times that. Although I doubt AG is using top of the line LEDs, I could easily believe a new design could incorporate LEDs that are outputting 33% more.
I've personally used a lot of Samsung LEDs and they have a horticultural LED module with a raw efficacy of 178 lm/W. Note that this is just the LED module. Efficacy goes down as the LEDs get hot and it is impossible to keep them as cool in the real world as the data sheet numbers.
If anyone ends up with an old version and a new version, I'd suggest a fairly accurate way to measure PAR is this app: growlightmeter.com/
Please post your results as I'm not currently planning on buying a Harvest 2.0 as I have three of the old design.
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Post by lynnee on Feb 18, 2024 16:03:51 GMT -5
veng1, I sure didn't know that "plant light" is measured see differently from "human light"! I'm going to download the Photone app that you mentioned.
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 18, 2024 16:15:03 GMT -5
I have had the photone app for some time now. I use it a lot to position my lights at the proper distance.
It measures PPFD (which I think is PAR adjusted for the light source) and DLI. DLI is the total amount of light dilivered to the plant over a 24 hour period.
When you buy the app, they give you directions to make a diffuser from paper. You need a light difuser over your smartphone camera lens. You can now purchase a really neat little plastic diffuser from the makers of the app that works really well.
You will also need to reference their blog page:
which will tell you what the light requirements of each plant should be.
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CatHerder
AGA Sprout
"If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat".
Posts: 75
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Post by CatHerder on Feb 18, 2024 17:45:46 GMT -5
I have had the photone app for some time now. I use it a lot to position my lights at the proper distance.
It measures PPFD (which I think is PAR adjusted for the light source) and DLI. DLI is the total amount of light dilivered to the plant over a 24 hour period.
When you buy the app, they give you directions to make a diffuser from paper. You need a light difuser over your smartphone camera lens. You can now purchase a really neat little plastic diffuser from the makers of the app that works really well.
You will also need to reference their blog page:
which will tell you what the light requirements of each plant should be.
Thanks for this! It helped me with determining if I could grow cucumbers in my Harvest XL. And the Bounty Basic readings were sort of shocking. I thought they'd be higher than the Harvest XL, but they weren't. Now, I'm not sure if it's because the setting is for 'lettuce' and the other settings may be brighter? I don't want to risk changing it and erase my current settings. Measured using my own 'quick stick' creation I use to measure distance easily, both taken at 6". The Harvest XL: 445 PPFD, 28.8 DLI, 17900 Illuminance (lux), 7300 CCT (Kelvin) Bounty Basic: 410 PPFD, 26.6 DLI, 16500 Illuminance (lux), >12000 CCT (Kelvin) According to their chart: To grow cucumbers/peppers: 300 – 600 PPFD, 20 – 30 DLI So... I can grow them in either.... ..... yeah, that still doesn't help me with which Bounty to buy on sale though.... really.... does it.....?  |
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Yeah, they reel me in like a carp. 
