"Vintage" AeroGardens

I started out with a pro 200 which I bought through Ebay not long after it came out. Then I was gifted a Veggie Pro. My next purchase was the Elite 6+ which was new through Aerogarden and came with some extras like the seed starting tray (the styrofoam type). All 3 of these units unfortunately use the 3 bulbs in the hood since they are 24” gardens. I only have a couple sets of bulbs left and cannot find a led retrofit for these bulbs (100633). They are currently up and running and I have peppers growing in all 3 of these units.

I also have the Ultra LED which was my first LED garden and the rare strawberry bowl accessory that was sold at that time. I purchased these direct through Aerogarden. I had the Classic 7 LED which my son now has at his house.

These are all going strong with the exception of the Ultra LED which had a repair done to the lights. Everything else I have are versions of the Harvest and Bounty. I also have a Farm 24XL.

I started with a 6- or 7-pod model that had compact flourescent lights. I had at least 2 of these. Then I bought a LED panel for one when the LED lights first came out. As I recall, the panel cost something like $250, probably at the beginning of the century. It was expensive!

I had one or two Ultras--the ones with 7 pods and a stand-up display controlled by buttons. Maybe that display was on a Bounty? Most or all of these had a central stalk that aerated the water-- there was no pull-apart deck that routed water to individual sponges.

I bought the original 9-pod Bounty--I know it was sometime before 2016, because I lost my AG strawberry crop when I broke a femur and was in rehab for a couple of weeks. By this time, all of my AGs had LED lights.

Through the Amazon Vine program, I got a couple of early wireless Bounties (free or heavily discounted) and two early Harvests (ditto). The Harvests weren't nearly as nice as the present ones, and were smaller.

All of the above have been discarded, for space considerations. I still have one old Bounty or Ultra in the garage, for sentimental reasons, but I should get rid of it.

Now, of course, I have 9 wireless Bounties, 4 Farm 12XLs (one still in box), 1 Farm 12, 1 Farm Plus, 1 Sprout, 1 Harvest (just gave another one away to a friend), and 1 Harvest XL (still in box). All of these have LED lights, and most are wireless.

That’s quite impressive. If you decide to get rid of your Ultra, let me know as I would love to buy the light hood from you. My son fixed the LED lights on mine in the Spring but they seem to be going out again. The last few mornings when the lights come on they flash for several minutes before finally lighting normally. I feel it’s just a matter of time. I hate to give up on this unit since I believe it’s the only unit that the strawberry tray fits.

E for effort. Thanks for trying.
I think that original bounty has a 45 watt light hood making it almost as good as todays Bounty Elite. I do dislike that old trellis style compared to the new one though. But it’s still a solid unit.

Yes, I'm still running a Classic 7-pod model from 2008. And several 6 Elite+ or Veggie Pro tall garden models from 2009.

I like the spacing on the older models a lot, to me, the newer ones seem crowded. It has been a PAIN harvesting lettuce from the Bounty, with every pod planted. Very crowded, leaves get damp, exacerbated no doubt by the fact that AG has multiple seeds in each pod.

I have converted my Classic 7 to LED, and plants seem to be growing fine, but the garden is currently sitting next to a Bounty 40W and the three Tatsoi seedlings I have in the 7 are all leaning towards the Bounty. So I may move the older garden to a different table, as soon as I can make room. Either that, or I'll put a Bounty on the other side of it to balance things.

At some point, I'll probably photograph what I have left of old AG boxes from 2008/2009 and even the gardens too, but it's dark and dreary here, so I don't know when I'll get to that.

WOW! That's really cool!

Nice! Especially that it had the seed kit, so you'll have a set of the grow baskets. 

Enjoy! 

Yes, good idea to test the conversion. 

I put my converted garden next to a Bounty 40W ... all my Classic 7 Tatsoi plants are leaning toward the Bounty! So I may have to move the Classic 7 elsewhere.

Don't the new ones have replaceable light hoods? I'm pretty sure I saw those on the AG site recently.

The replaceable CFL bulb models are both good and bad. They made a lot of tall gardens with 3 CFL bulbs, and *those* gardens can't be adapted to LED. Nor does anyone sell bulbs for them!

I've just had two of my old 3 bulb gardens tell me it's bulb replacement time, sigh. I'm going to just keep running them, I figure old bulbs aren't ideal, but for greens, probably won't be an issue for a while.

Anyway, have fun with the new *old* garden!

You might want to pick up a spare pump while you can. I'm thinking of getting a second set of the LED bulbs for my 7.