|
Post by dew on Jan 2, 2024 11:46:22 GMT -5
I was told that collards grow great in AG seed starter trays, so I installed my second one this morning just to start up Georgia Southern collards. My other one is half and half cayenne peppers to go in the greenhouse, and chives to grow in leca netpots in Kratkys. I go back to school in a week so I imagine I will be starting over there, 2.5 weeks without care
|
|
pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
|
Post by pfunnyjoy on Jan 2, 2024 15:44:06 GMT -5
Your tatsoi looks marvelous! Green juice, like everything else, tastes so much better when made with fresh-from-the-Aerogarden ingredients. That's why I usually have some kind of lettuce going. I learned this summer that green juice helps me a lot with inflammation caused by disc degenerative disease. I've got pinched nerves, and anything that helps, I'm up for. I've always loved eating greens, both raw and cooked, now I also juice them. I've put the Tatsoi in salad, cooked it, and juiced it. I need to get a new picture of the Italian Dandelions. ONE plant is doing well and taking off, the others, thanks to their rocky start with MaxiGro then AG nutrients, are still struggling. But the one plant proves it can be grown, because its doing very well indeed! I harvested 4-5 leaves last night, and it looks like I could get more today, though I'm fasting, so I'll leave that until tomorrow. I just have to get the nutrients right in the seedling stage.
|
|
pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
|
Post by pfunnyjoy on Jan 3, 2024 0:44:32 GMT -5
Took my Bounty apart for the first time tonight! The light isn't good, so I plan to inspect it tomorrow for any nutrient residue, then sanitize it and get it ready to replant. I still need to take the pump apart and inspect it, but in general, the roots weren't bad around the sponge, so it's probably fine. There definitely were roots around the water level sensor!
The tank was only half full, so I was able to carry it to the bathroom and dump it, then haul it upstairs for taking it apart. That grow deck is NOT so easy to get apart! I struggled with that, but finally managed it.
The TPU covers around all the overcrowded lettuce pods were warped. This may be an issue with plants that get thick at the base. I plan to try soaking them in warm water to see if they recover their shape again. If not, they may be a bust for long-term use. Might have to try third party stickers, see if I like those better. I just need convenience on the pod cover front!
Have done rinse and refills on 3 gardens so far, and hope to finish a 4th before I go to bed. When I lifted the cherry tomato grow deck, the pump filter sponge was all entangled in the roots! I removed it as carefully as I could. While I was at it, I moved the pod to the rear center hole, so it was less directly over the pump.
|
|
|
Post by lynnee on Jan 3, 2024 11:49:03 GMT -5
I took my haul upstairs, chopped it coarsely, and along with a large stalk of celery, a medium zucchini, half a lime, a bit of ginger root, a few small Italian Dandelion leaves from another AG unit, and one small Fuji apple, made 3 cups worth of fresh green juice with my Sana 727. The "green juice" recipe is something that I need to try! Maybe it will help with "the tingles"--what I call the tingling sensation in my feet that comes from a bulging disc in my spine. I have some AG pods with tatsoi in a closet, along with some dormant Bounties.
|
|
|
Post by lynnee on Jan 3, 2024 11:59:31 GMT -5
pfunnyjoy , congratulations on getting the Bounty deck apart! 🎉 (If you think that was hard, you need to try it with a Farm.) It does get easier with practice. You can get a lot of the fine roots out of the pump sponge by rubbing it between your thumb and fingers. FYI, the rear center hole is farther from the pump, but closer to the water level indicator!
|
|
pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
|
Post by pfunnyjoy on Jan 3, 2024 14:22:17 GMT -5
I took my haul upstairs, chopped it coarsely, and along with a large stalk of celery, a medium zucchini, half a lime, a bit of ginger root, a few small Italian Dandelion leaves from another AG unit, and one small Fuji apple, made 3 cups worth of fresh green juice with my Sana 727. The "green juice" recipe is something that I need to try! Maybe it will help with "the tingles"--what I call the tingling sensation in my feet that comes from a bulging disc in my spine. I have some AG pods with tatsoi in a closet, along with some dormant Bounties. I've got disc degenerative disease, with two discs completely obliterated (my doctor's phrasing), a bulging disc, and spinal stenosis. It's all pinching two nerves in my left leg, so anything that helps with inflammation is good. I was on a powerful prescription anti-inflammatory and may need to go back on it again, but I've been able to function with the green juicing. And I know the prescription anti-inflammatory is not really a good thing for long term use, so.... That's why I have no desire at all for an AG farm, it would be too much for me to easily deal with. I think celery does best. I like a stalk of celery, a heart of romaine, and a quarter to half a lime with peel. However, I think celery has medium oxalates, so I don't do it every day, just to be safe. But I love experimenting with just tossing stuff at the juicer! I suffer from dry eye, and my eyes get irritated easily. I've found that juicing orange things helps a LOT with that! So things like grapefruit, jicama, carrot, ginger, thyme OR orange, sweet potato, red/orange/yellow bell pepper, ginger, turmeric, thyme are nice. Just a couple times a week, because I don't want to overdo it with sugars.
|
|
pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
|
Post by pfunnyjoy on Jan 3, 2024 14:26:00 GMT -5
pfunnyjoy , congratulations on getting the Bounty deck apart! 🎉 (If you think that was hard, you need to try it with a Farm.) It does get easier with practice. You can get a lot of the fine roots out of the pump sponge by rubbing it between your thumb and fingers. FYI, the rear center hole is farther from the pump, but closer to the water level indicator! I took a look at the Bounty, there was a tiny bit of brownish gunk around the pump, so I brushed that off with a toothbrush. Otherwise, no roots. The two parts of the deck have a little bit of whitish nutrient residue on the edges, so I'm giving them a vinegar soak right now. Learned my lesson with the old Classic 7 about not letting this go! There's also a little white residue on one wall of the bowl, I've got a paper towel soaked with vinegar on that. I have peeked at my ground cherry seeds ... and we have germination, so I'm planning to plant the other Bounty Elite today!
|
|
slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
|
Post by slw on Jan 3, 2024 14:48:16 GMT -5
I cleaned out a Bounty yesterday, too. It was really gross from the banana pepper plant that had been in there for a long time. I had to take the pump apart to get the roots and gunk out of it. That was the first time I've taken a pump apart and it was surprisingly easy. Today that Bounty is back in service with half of the broccolini plants moved in. I had them (all 9) in one Bounty but decided that really wasn't a great idea, so now I have two Bounties with broccolini.
I also harvested a big bowlful of Fairy Tale eggplants and pruned that plant. One big limb was basically covering the water filler lid so I snipped that limb off. It had blooms and some small eggplants but it was really in the way. I think I'm going to make eggplant casserole tomorrow. (Today I'm making enchiladas so the eggplant has to wait.)
Next I'm going to terminate the Pickling cuke and clean that Bounty. I think I'm going to try Celebrity tomatoes in that one. I've got a ton of little cukes on the Iznik, but the H19 isn't doing anything. It has a few flowers but is a real slow-starter compared to other varieties. So far I don't recommend H19 cucumbers.
And finally... I'm dehydrating some cilantro today. So far I have jars of sage and dill, and I will be doing parsley next. Currently my parsley plants are just babies.
|
|
|
Post by lynnee on Jan 3, 2024 19:53:18 GMT -5
I cleaned out a Bounty yesterday, too. It was really gross from the banana pepper plant that had been in there for a long time. I had to take the pump apart to get the roots and gunk out of it. That was the first time I've taken a pump apart and it was surprisingly easy. Shawn has posted an excellent video on cleaning the AG pumps. As you say, it's easy! aerogardenaddicts.com/post/52698/thread
|
|
slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
|
Post by slw on Jan 6, 2024 0:04:45 GMT -5
I was just on Reddit and saw a Fairy Tale eggplant in a Sprout, so now I feel vindicated for having 9 broccolini in a Bounty. Ya gotta think BIG.
|
|
|
Post by scarfguy on Jan 9, 2024 11:56:48 GMT -5
TODAY... It's a nasty, windy, snowy, rainy day here in northeast Ohio.
I thought you all might like to see the current state of "Scarfguy Gardens"
To the right of the piano is the main veggie group: tomatoes, peppers, and beans:
This is the homeslice tomato. It's got a lot of tomatoes. Looks like they will of good size and plentiful:
The other tomato is the little yellow roma type called Baby toes. It's ripening small tomatoes at regular intervals. Nice steady additions to salads:
This is a large bell pepper from Park's seeds called simply a Whopper. The green bells are suppose to be 4"x6". Based upon the size of the one pepper that's growing, it looks like it will indeed be big BUT I just don't know how many peppers it will produce:
This is a very large bull's horn sweet pepper from Argentina called Aconcagua. The peppers are really huge but the plant may also be quite large. The third pepper (no photo) is one I've grown before and really like. From Macedonia it's called Ajvarski. 20" plant with very sweet bull horn peppers.
Last of the vegetables is a yellow wax bush bean. I had good success with my first attempt with "green" green beans I thought I'd follow it up with a yellow version:
To the left of the piano is the Italian herb garden on the nice Aerogarden rack. Basil, Parsley, and Oregano. There is a little Marjoram in with the oregano since they are related. These have been growing for about 8 months. I neglect them most of the time and they are always available when I some seasoning:
Now to the melon room! This go round, I'm trying to grow 4 cantaloupes at one time. Striving to get a yield of 2 melons per plant:
They are off to a good start! Grabbing on the everything and climbing quickly!
AND last and totally unrelated to Aerogardens are my ever blooming old orchids. I've had these plants for about 10 years. They bloom faithfully a couple of times a year. A nice addition to raise my spirits on a blustery winter's day!
|
|
slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
|
Post by slw on Jan 9, 2024 12:48:47 GMT -5
Everything looks wonderful, scarfguy! Nothing like puttering in the garden when it's snowing outside!
|
|
slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
|
Post by slw on Jan 9, 2024 12:53:31 GMT -5
Today I'm cleaning the Farm and ditching the H19 cucumbers. They were just too slow and annoying, determined to send vine shoots and tendrils all over the place while not producing any cucumbers. I have two tiny "Celebrity" tomato seedlings that I will move from a Bounty to the Farm. I also got some Home Slice tomato seeds but I'll wait on those till I see how the Celebrities work out.
I have some spinach seeds soaking after spending a week in the refrigerator. I'm pulling out all the stops to get some germinated!!
Right now I'm trying to figure out how to put the Farm back together. I can't remember how the little pump tube goes in... does the flared end go up or down?? Ack.
|
|
mike
The Pepper King
Posts: 3,661
|
Post by mike on Jan 9, 2024 17:37:53 GMT -5
Looks great.
|
|
|
Post by lynnee on Jan 9, 2024 17:46:09 GMT -5
Wow, scarfguy! You and maskedsonnet have the most wonderful setups! All of your plants, including the "neglected" herbs, look incredibly healthy. If the Homeslice tomatoes taste good, they may be the winner in our group quest to find a slicing tomato that thrives in an AG! 🍅 I'm so envious of your laundry rack stands and your melon trellises! And your orchid is beyond beautiful.
|
|
|
Post by lynnee on Jan 9, 2024 17:52:36 GMT -5
Right now I'm trying to figure out how to put the Farm back together. I can't remember how the little pump tube goes in... does the flared end go up or down?? Ack.
Flared end goes up; narrow end fits snugly over pump connector. You probably have this figured out already!
|
|
pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
|
Post by pfunnyjoy on Jan 9, 2024 22:09:08 GMT -5
Everything looks wonderful, scarfguy ! Nothing like puttering in the garden when it's snowing outside! Ditto! I'm jealous of your green thumb!
|
|
|
Post by LoveSalads on Jan 10, 2024 19:03:43 GMT -5
Did 5 bounty R & R's . After reading copious amounts of threads here I figured it can't hurt I used to R & R my farm when it was elevated and , a dwc bucket using the GH Flora 3 bottle series. Never did my salads only a 9 week or so cycle , and my toms go through so much water I figured nah. I shall see if the toms and salads react and have growth spurts or taste different. Did some reading on spinach as one of my 3.5-4 weeks old spinach pods started to seed. Going to start harvesting some with my regular salads. I changed the lighting schedule from salad hours(16-17) to 9.5 hours . I will see if this helps. My temperature is between 67-71 so that is the coolest in the house. Picked a few more Paul Robeson slicer toms and had another BLT. 5.2 oz's not to bad size wise. Seeing a few more flowers on the vines but am not sure. I think 8 or 9 might be what I get. Very goof tasting and slicing tomato. Next grow in the farm I will do R & R's to see if I get more and bigger toms. My cherry falls toms are on there 2nd major lowering with at least 50 fruit and more than 100 flowers, amazing production. Cleaned out underbrush on several cherry tom grows. 20240105_164327 by
|
|
slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
|
Post by slw on Jan 10, 2024 19:28:10 GMT -5
I have some spinach seeds soaking after spending a week in the refrigerator. I'm pulling out all the stops to get some germinated!!
I'm so excited!! I'm seeing spinach seeds sprouting after only 24 hours!! YIPPEE! Maybe spending time in the 'fridge was a good idea.
|
|
|
Post by LoveSalads on Jan 10, 2024 19:44:55 GMT -5
I have some spinach seeds soaking after spending a week in the refrigerator. I'm pulling out all the stops to get some germinated!!
I'm so excited!! I'm seeing spinach seeds sprouting after only 24 hours!! YIPPEE! Maybe spending time in the 'fridge was a good idea. That's awesome and super quick
|
|