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Post by swimmom500 on Feb 14, 2024 15:05:37 GMT -5
It goes in cycles for me. I did just order some new herb seeds. That will fill the last open Farm. I guess it's just my personality; I tend to go overboard with stuff and then get overwhelmed. I have nearly 30 gardens that are active right now so that's a lot of upkeep. I just need to scale things back, especially since it's almost time to plant my outside gardens.
I have a seed order coming today, too. I ordered some potato seeds which I plan to start in grow bags. I have never grown potatoes from seeds!
I grew potatoes in grow bags a few years ago! They were quite a success. I couldn’t believe how many potatoes I had when I dumped them out in the fall. I am hoping to do sweet potatoes in grow bags this year. Haven’t done them in a couple years. Good luck!
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Post by lisatnp on Feb 14, 2024 15:31:35 GMT -5
i have never tired grow bags, but amazon has some on sale right now 5-Pack 15-Gallon Vivosun Heavy Duty Nonwoven Fabric Plant Grow Bags w/ Handles $15.40
and when i grew micro greens, i grew them without any kind of solution. i need to plant some more as a couple months ago i got a ton of micro green seeds.
so far i have tired pea shoots and sunflower ones. they all turned out pretty good.
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Feb 14, 2024 15:53:08 GMT -5
And here's the harvest! Kale (4 large leaves), Tatsoi (could easily have harvested close to this much more), and the prosperous Italian Dandelion, plus a few leaves from the spindly one. I made a big green juice, with additional beet greens and stems, cucumber, bell pepper, a few cherry tomatoes going wrinkly, a hunk of ginger, 3/4 of a lime and 3 apples. Hubby gets half when he gets home. It's actually not a very green looking juice, with all the beet stems in!
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 14, 2024 17:49:24 GMT -5
Has anybody ever considered growing tuber crops (potatoes) or bulbs (tulips) in an AG by removing the pump and the deck and filling the bowl with soil
Basically, you are just using the AG as a pot with a timed grow light.
Clovis Sangrail might find this is a good way to grow a whole bunch of green onions!
(Notice that I used the term "green onions" just to aggravate Clovis!...cause everyone knows by now that: Some people call them green onions, but really, they're scallions. )
SG--potatoes need a rather deep soil to produce tubers. An AG is much too shallow (kind of like me ). It would be easier to plant the potatoes in a tall bucket with good drainage and use a grow light if you are determined to grow them indoors.
And I call them green onions because that's what they are.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 14, 2024 17:56:58 GMT -5
I grew potatoes in grow bags a few years ago! They were quite a success. I couldn’t believe how many potatoes I had when I dumped them out in the fall. I am hoping to do sweet potatoes in grow bags this year. Haven’t done them in a couple years. Good luck! I love grow bags; they are so easy to deal with. Of course they need a lot of water but they are a great way to grow stuff in a small area. I had some pepper plants in bags last summer and they did great. Sweet potatoes sound like a great idea!
I have always bought seed potatoes to grow potatoes; never actual "potato seeds." I'm curious to see how this will go.
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Post by Clovis Sangrail on Feb 14, 2024 19:11:24 GMT -5
(Notice that I used the term "green onions" just to aggravate Clovis!...cause everyone knows by now that: Some people call them green onions, but really, they're scallions. )
"How did you figure that out, Joe." "Just a hunch, Frank. Just a hunch. Some times a hunch pays off; sometimes it doesn't." "So what you're saying, Joe, is that you just played a hunch?" "That's right, Frank. Just a hunch." In other news -- From the Aerogarden Dictionary: Aerosaturation, n. -- The condition in which one has reached the maximum number of Aerogardens that can be shoe-horned in to one's domicile. or the condition in which one just cannot work one more Aerogarden into one's schedule. Example -- "I would really like one more Harvest Elite Slim, but I think I have reached the point of aerosaturation." Aeroennui, n. -- The condition in which one has become jaded by the prospect of maintaining one's Aerogardens, often brought about by having exceeded one's aerosaturation point because 'One more won't make any difference." Example: "I am presently in a minor state of aeroennui as I sit here looking at a packet of tatsoi seeds trying to decide whether I want to plant some tatsoi or some spinach, and I just cannot get excited about either one."
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 14, 2024 20:03:10 GMT -5
So how many people here actually remember Dragnet?
"Just the facts, Ma'am"
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You forgot:
Aerosaturation -
Every time you make toast, you have to unplug a few aerogardens in the kitchen so you don't pop the breaker.
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Post by Clovis Sangrail on Feb 14, 2024 20:30:33 GMT -5
So how many people here actually remember Dragnet?
"Just the facts, Ma'am"
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You forgot:
Aerosaturation -
Every time you make toast, you have to unplug a few aerogardens in the kitchen so you don't pop the breaker.
And if you remember Dragnet, do you remember the one from the '60s where Joe Friday's partner was Officer Bill Gannon, played by Harry Morgan (later Col. Potter on M.A.S.H), or the one from the '50s, where his partner was Officer Frank Smith, played by long-time character actor Ben Alexander. There was a radio show before the '50s television version, also starring Jack Webb, but I cannot remember it. As for making toast, my little toaster oven is apparently on a different circuit than the seven Harvests daisy chained to two switched power bars on the other side of the kitchen bar. And now I think I may go watch the Dragnet movie with Dan Akroyd as Joe Friday, nephew of the original Joe Friday. and Tom Hanks as his partner Pep Streebeck. In this on, Harry Morgan's Bill Gannon has been promoted to Captain.
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Feb 15, 2024 16:18:55 GMT -5
I photographed (with difficulty, as it was hiding) a ground cherry flower. I just saw tiny buds a few days ago, then wasn't watching (as they are under a zillion leaves), and found out it has been BLOOMING without me! I will have to remember to go shake the plants up daily for pollination, because I tried putting a fan on them, and it makes the leaves droop and wilt in a very short time, unlike my cherry tomato plant upstairs. I'm not sure the ground cherry is entirely happy, some leaves look like they have edema. The brown spotted ones are older from when the pH drifted. It also looked to me like it needed feeding last night, so I did that first thing this AM. It's only been 8 days since I last fed it. And boy did it GROW SOME in a week! It's like the plants EXPLODED!
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 15, 2024 18:44:06 GMT -5
I'm giving myself an AG merit badge for lifting my full Farm XL water tank out of the stand, carrying it all the way to the kitchen, and doing a full clean on it today. Then I refilled it and gingerly carried it back and placed it in the stand. I have to say, taking that deck apart is a real challenge. It took a pair of oven gloves and two butter knives to snap that thing open.
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 15, 2024 19:00:05 GMT -5
I'm giving myself an AG merit badge for lifting my full Farm XL water tank out of the stand, carrying it all the way to the kitchen, and doing a full clean on it today. Then I refilled it and gingerly carried it back and placed it in the stand. I have to say, taking that deck apart is a real challenge. It took a pair of oven gloves and two butter knives to snap that thing open.
Don't hurt yourself, slw. Siphon most of the water out, carry it to the sink empty. Clean it, bring it back empty. and fill it in place.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 15, 2024 19:13:01 GMT -5
Don't hurt yourself, slw . Siphon most of the water out, carry it to the sink empty. Clean it, bring it back empty. and fill it in place. That's what I've done the other couple of times I've cleaned it out, SG. It actually wasn't that difficult to carry but getting it in/out of the stand was a little tricky!! I'm very glad I only have the one Farm. (But I must say, it gleams like a showroom model this evening. )
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 15, 2024 19:30:55 GMT -5
The peppers are gorgeous! When you harvest, do they have nice thick walls? It's been years since I did peppers in an Aerogarden, but mine always seemed to have thin walls. Joy--I finally harvested some bell peppers and I remembered to take a quick pic of one of them cut open. It is a nice size and weight; seems a little milder flavored than grocery store bells but it is a good pepper. (Notice the little "baby pepper" also forming inside. Odd that bell peppers seem to do that a lot.)
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Feb 16, 2024 0:53:07 GMT -5
The peppers are gorgeous! When you harvest, do they have nice thick walls? It's been years since I did peppers in an Aerogarden, but mine always seemed to have thin walls. Joy--I finally harvested some bell peppers and I remembered to take a quick pic of one of them cut open. It is a nice size and weight; seems a little milder flavored than grocery store bells but it is a good pepper. (Notice the little "baby pepper" also forming inside. Odd that bell peppers seem to do that a lot.) Many thanks, slw! That looks like a great pepper to me!
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Post by lynnee on Feb 16, 2024 13:54:31 GMT -5
Has anybody ever considered growing tuber crops (potatoes) or bulbs (tulips) in an AG by removing the pump and the deck and filling the bowl with soil Basically, you are just using the AG as a pot with a timed grow light.
That sounds something like the old "grow bowl" that AG promoted for growing its strawberry crowns. The grow bowl was filled with coconut coir or somesuch. I don't remember whether it used the pump--I doubt it, because it replaced the grow deck.
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 16, 2024 14:17:51 GMT -5
Has anybody ever considered growing tuber crops (potatoes) or bulbs (tulips) in an AG by removing the pump and the deck and filling the bowl with soil Basically, you are just using the AG as a pot with a timed grow light.
That sounds something like the old "grow bowl" that AG promoted for growing its strawberry crowns. The grow bowl was filled with coconut coir or somesuch. I don't remember whether it used the pump--I doubt it, because it replaced the reservoir.
Wow, that was before my time. Does any of our members with vintage AGs have one of those?
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Post by lynnee on Feb 16, 2024 14:32:13 GMT -5
scarfguy, the grow bowl replaced the deck, not the reservoir, as I originally said. I just got my old grow bowl out of the garage, and copied the instructions. I'm going to photograph them and post them--give me half an hour or so. The old grow bowl won't fit any of the current Bounty models, but the instructions tell us exactly how they worked.
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 16, 2024 14:37:09 GMT -5
TODAY...
I terminated a Park's whopper green bell pepper.
I'm convinced that certain species just don't do well in an AG. This pepper grew well and very compact. Usually when a pepper is confined by branches, it deforms and grows around the obstacle. These peppers didn't handle that well. I had about a dozen peppers on it. As I started to harvest some, I noticed that many of them were split at the bottom end. Being open to the air, I'm concerned about bacteria entering the pepper. Also, when they encountered a branch, they didn't work around it well and got soft and rotten at the contact point. Although they are suppose to be large peppers, they were not. Perhaps it would work better if I pruned the canopy more and moved the light further away so that the growth wasn't so compact. Basically, there was no room to grow the peppers.
SO, I don't recommend Park's whopper green bell peppers for an AG pepper.
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In its place, I started a "red sweet cheese pepper" Very cute!
This is a pimento type pepper from Spain that is very sweet. They are used in the cheese making to give bits of color and flavor to certain cheeses.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 16, 2024 14:54:18 GMT -5
I cleaned out a Bounty that had a 3-month old Iznik cucumber vine and I'm still thinking about what I want to put in that machine. Also terminated/cleaned my Harvest Elite bok choy garden and got it started fresh with new pods. If I have any energy left after making dinner I will terminate and clean another Harvest Elite that is currently a tatsoi garden. I noticed one plant in that garden has finally bolted so it's time to start over.
I seem to be in a rut with my gardens; not a lot of experimenting going on. I know we will eat tomatoes, lettuce, green onions, cucumbers, peppers, bok choy, tatsoi, and various herbs so those are my focus. All of those do well with regular tap water and normal AG nutes so they are basically a no brainer for a lazy AGer (me).
I need to set up a couple of additional seed starters for my outdoor raised beds but that might wait until tomorrow.
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Post by lynnee on Feb 16, 2024 14:54:23 GMT -5
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