patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
Posts: 80
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Post by patlab on Dec 1, 2023 9:08:56 GMT -5
slw If you like basil, you might want to give them a try as microgreens. They’re not a fast grower but they are my new favorite. I had a bunch of different basil seeds that I didn’t want to grow as full plants ( I have plenty!) so I gave them a try and I love them in my salads. Not as strong as full plants but a delicious mild addition to salads. I even bought a second harvest microgreen kit so I could always have them on hand. My other favorites are radishes (super fast grower) and a greens mix I make with extra broccoli, kale, cabbage and any other green seeds I have left over.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 770
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Post by slw on Dec 1, 2023 12:33:43 GMT -5
slw If you like basil, you might want to give them a try as microgreens. They’re not a fast grower but they are my new favorite. I had a bunch of different basil seeds that I didn’t want to grow as full plants ( I have plenty!) so I gave them a try and I love them in my salads. Not as strong as full plants but a delicious mild addition to salads. I even bought a second harvest microgreen kit so I could always have them on hand. My other favorites are radishes (super fast grower) and a greens mix I make with extra broccoli, kale, cabbage and any other green seeds I have left over. Thanks, Pat! I love radishes so I will definitely try those. I'm not a big basil fan but I'm willing to try the microgreens, so thanks. What kind of eggplant is that in your avatar? Those look beautiful.
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Dec 2, 2023 0:19:45 GMT -5
pfunnyjoy , could you just terminate a few pods and space the others out some? The thought had occurred to me! I may try. I'm not sure how easy it would be to move them around. Since I can't see what the heck I'm doing with multiple plants per pod and so many pods, there's a high likelihood I'm harvesting more than a third of each plant. They are looking fairly neat at the moment, I harvested so heavily. I am a big salad eater. The kind that does 3-4 cups of lettuce in a large pasta bowl. I will say the Bounty is providing that, but at a cost of sanity!
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Dec 2, 2023 0:20:41 GMT -5
slw If you like basil, you might want to give them a try as microgreens. They’re not a fast grower but they are my new favorite. I had a bunch of different basil seeds that I didn’t want to grow as full plants ( I have plenty!) so I gave them a try and I love them in my salads. Not as strong as full plants but a delicious mild addition to salads. I even bought a second harvest microgreen kit so I could always have them on hand. My other favorites are radishes (super fast grower) and a greens mix I make with extra broccoli, kale, cabbage and any other green seeds I have left over. Is it only the regular Harvest that has the microgreens kit? I am tempted to get one, if only for that.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 770
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Post by slw on Dec 2, 2023 2:35:59 GMT -5
Is it only the regular Harvest that has the microgreens kit? I am tempted to get one, if only for that. There is one for the Bounty, but it's more complicated to install than the Harvest model. The Harvest kit will fit the regular Harvest and the Harvest Elite.
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patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
Posts: 80
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Post by patlab on Dec 2, 2023 4:07:28 GMT -5
Those are Patio Baby. They gave me a great harvest. Small, but tasty and prolific.
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Post by lynnee on Dec 2, 2023 17:57:02 GMT -5
pfunnyjoy, as slw said, the Harvest microgreens kit (interchangeable deck) is much easier to use than the Bounty kit (pry apart deck stem and replace with different locking-in stem).
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Dec 2, 2023 18:35:59 GMT -5
Is it only the regular Harvest that has the microgreens kit? I am tempted to get one, if only for that. There is one for the Bounty, but it's more complicated to install than the Harvest model. The Harvest kit will fit the regular Harvest and the Harvest Elite. Thanks, good to know. I don't have either, yet. And no room currently made, so I think I'll wait.
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Dec 2, 2023 18:54:32 GMT -5
Feeling discouraged. I had such high hopes for my parsley/cilantro and watercress gardens, but the seedlings look SO burnt and unhappy. Apparently a 1/2 TSP per gallon of MaxiGro was too much. Or, the combo of my particular water and the MaxiGro doesn't work so well. The Tatsoi downstairs on MaxiGro are growing, but are slightly yellow around the rim of the leaves! Which is not an issue I've had with the upstairs Tatsoi on Flora series.
MaxiGro is SO easy to use, but it isn't doing very well for my plants. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, or if it's not me at all, but I feel like I have a black thumb again!
The chicory (Italian Dandelion) seedlings look unhappy but the two Japanese Dandelion sprouts look fine, though they are younger.
Should I have only used a 1/4 TSP MaxiGro per gallon for seedlings?
I feel like I should just abandon the parsley/cilantro and start again.
The watercress is harder to think about abandoning, because it took such a while to sprout in the first place.
I'm just tired of rinsing/refilling and mixing different nutrients to try and a) keep PH down and b) keep seedlings happy. I never used to have this much trouble! All I want is to grow plants and EAT THEM!
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Post by scarfguy on Dec 2, 2023 19:12:06 GMT -5
Be sure you are using a teaspoon and not a tablespoon.
I've had the same issue you are having from time to time. I try different things and have sick plants and don't know why. Whenever that happens, I go back to basics. I use only the AG nutes as directed. If they perk up good. If not, I don't wait too long and terminate, clean, and start over with fresh seeds.
All this good stuff on the market is fine but ya can't beat the AG nutes, a little Cal-Mag, and some Kool Bloom.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 770
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Post by slw on Dec 2, 2023 20:09:35 GMT -5
I am the world's laziest Aerogardener. I just use tap water and AG nutes, seldom R&R (gasp) and let it rip. If I became too involved in monitoring water quality, calculating nutes, etc. the fun hobby would become work. So far I've been pretty lucky. I have purchased a pH meter (still in the box), different nutes, cal-mag, etc. but I ignore all of it for the most part. If something doesn't do well I just trash it and start over.
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Post by tompepper7 on Dec 2, 2023 21:10:16 GMT -5
...I just use tap water and AG nutes, seldom R&R (gasp) and let it rip...
For fertilizer I have been using Greenway lettuce fertilizer (for lettuce as they list on their site to include the Brussels sprouts I am growing-also requires a cal/mg addition), Fox Farm fertilizer (for peppers), and Masterblend Tomato formula (for tomatoes). Currently rinse and refill every 7-10 days.
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Dec 2, 2023 21:29:00 GMT -5
Be sure you are using a teaspoon and not a tablespoon. I've had the same issue you are having from time to time. I try different things and have sick plants and don't know why. Whenever that happens, I go back to basics. I use only the AG nutes as directed. If they perk up good. If not, I don't wait too long and terminate, clean, and start over with fresh seeds. All this good stuff on the market is fine but ya can't beat the AG nutes, a little Cal-Mag, and some Kool Bloom.
Absolutely using a half-teaspoon measure. While I do possess a single half-tablespoon measuring spoon, there's NO WAY I would mistake the two, because the half-tablespoon is part of a magnetic set and has a big black magnet disk on it. I'm leary of the AG nutes, as that is exactly what I used, exactly as directed with my little lettuces in the Bounty. And the AG nutes did NOT control PH and my lettuces nearly bit it from high PH! This was AG nutes in the Bounty: I rescued them with MaxiGro, as it seemed to control PH better, then I went back to AG nutes as the lettuces got past the seedling point and I could use the higher dose of AG nutes as per AG instructions. So far, so good. What I'm looking for is the right mix for germinating seeds and growing young seedlings without them getting burnt and sad, or without PH rising to 8.5 with no additional water being added. I'm tired of "rescue" R&Rs before my gardens are even 3 weeks old! Dandelion/Chicory garden, day 19. I'm not sure whether they were got by the MaxiGro or high PH. I did a R&R to lower PH several days ago, but the seedlings still look unhappy. The Japanese dandelions are unaffected as yet. Parsley/Cilantro garden, day 17: These had drifted to a very high PH, I did a R&R to lower PH, the plants only got worse. Day 22 in the Watercress garden:I just feel depressed looking at these plants!
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Post by scarfguy on Dec 2, 2023 21:33:41 GMT -5
Hey, tompepper7, I've notice for some time now that you use a large variety of fertilizer brands. You seem to have a particular brand (blend) for each of your various species. I've been wondering how you choose which fertilizer to use for each plant? What is your criteria for evaluating a particular nute?
I understand the basic principles of NPK relationships and growth cycles but I must admit that my method is rather a hit and miss, trial and error approach. There are so many different and similar products on the market it's really hard to distinguish them.
FYI, I always start seedlings with the AG nutes. Then I like the IONIC grow and IONIC bloom products for most plants. For tomatoes I like the Fox Farm products. I don't like the multi-part products that I have to mix. I spend way too much time already purifying water with reverse osmosis and adjusting the pH.
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Post by scarfguy on Dec 2, 2023 21:44:15 GMT -5
pfunnyjoy, wow there is definitely something terribly wrong. all of your plants shouldn't look like that.
They definitely look burnt or dried out.
You are using these black covers. I'm wondering if they are absorbing light and getting hot? Do you have standard AG pods underneath? are the sponges reaching the water level?
You are measuring the pH but are you adjusting the pH with "pH up" and "pH down"?
What is the pH of your tap water? Do you have a water softener?
... just some ideas
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 770
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Post by slw on Dec 2, 2023 22:42:37 GMT -5
For fertilizer I have been using Greenway lettuce fertilizer (for lettuce as they list on their site to include the Brussels sprouts I am growing-also requires a cal/mg addition), Fox Farm fertilizer (for peppers), and Masterblend Tomato formula (for tomatoes). Currently rinse and refill every 7-10 days. You are obviously the superior Aerogardener!! I'm lazy.
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Post by tompepper7 on Dec 2, 2023 23:02:44 GMT -5
Hey, tompepper7 , I've notice for some time now that you use a large variety of fertilizer brands. You seem to have a particular brand (blend) for each of your various species. I've been wondering how you choose which fertilizer to use for each plant? What is your criteria for evaluating a particular nute? It's ongoing trial and error. People on this board will recommend cal/mg and blooming additions if using just Aerogarden nutrients. It did seem to me the Aerogarden nutrients alone were not always up to the job. ...There are so many different and similar products on the market it's really hard to distinguish them...
That is totally true. The truth is that in as much as any product may work fine, one might have good results with any of them. ...I spend way too much time already purifying water with reverse osmosis and adjusting the pH.
I am using Zero Water filters. I don't measure PH or anything like that. Just filtered H2O, add nutrients after rinse with H2O only.
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Post by tompepper7 on Dec 2, 2023 23:16:15 GMT -5
You are obviously the superior Aerogardener!! I'm lazy. Plants generally need to be "tended" some. The Aerogarden should be taking care of part of the "tending". I am still learning my part of the "tending".
Of course it is nice to have fresh food from the Aerogarden, but with no regard to the season is pretty cool too.
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Dec 2, 2023 23:45:41 GMT -5
pfunnyjoy , wow there is definitely something terribly wrong. all of your plants shouldn't look like that.
They definitely look burnt or dried out.
You are using these black covers. I'm wondering if they are absorbing light and getting hot? Do you have standard AG pods underneath? are the sponges reaching the water level?
You are measuring the pH but are you adjusting the pH with "pH up" and "pH down"?
What is the pH of your tap water? Do you have a water softener?
... just some ideas Yeah, this is just driving me wild! I hadn't thought about the black covers getting hot, though I have them on the Classic 7 Tatsoi garden, which, other than a bit of yellow rim to the leaves, looks good and is growing nicely. However, the light on that old garden is NOT as strong as the newer gardens. OTOH, I read the reviews on these covers, and no one was having troubles with them. Standard AG grow baskets. Sponges are older AG "grow anything" sponges. As far as I can tell tonight, everything is damp and getting water. But I'll check closer tomorrow when I can actually see, as the lights are out on the Harvest gardens. Sponges are definitely damp in the Dandelion garden, though a couple look to have a bit of something white growing. So maybe the old AG sponges are not a good plan. My preference is the Park Seed sponges, but I had the AG ones, and thought I might as well use them up. I have checked the nutrient mix PH every time, and if high, adjusted with PH Down. The PH of my tap water is 8.5. I do NOT have a water softener. I do add a teaspoon of food-grade 3% hydrogen peroxide to every garden to prevent algae. Which mostly works, though occasionally I see a touch of it on a sponge.
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Post by lynnee on Dec 2, 2023 23:53:49 GMT -5
pfunnyjoy, I was going to say the same thing as scarfguy: go back to AG nutes, and do R&Rs every two weeks. Something else you might do, is try misting your dried-out-looking leaves and seedlings. I have two Bounties in a spot that gets a draft from a window, and sometimes the leaves on the plants in them get very, very dry and crisp. I just started misting the plants, and the leaves seem to be responding.
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