Aerogarden – Quick Need

Growing Basil in the Aerogarden Bounty: Update – 1 Month

Before I started my journey into hydroponics I was skeptical about them; did they really have the success that the ads claimed, or were they just expensive toys?

Since the weather outside is too harsh to grow most of my ideal plants most of the year, I decided to dip my toes in the water… and it only took a couple months before I dived head first. This post really shows just why I changed my mine, and so fast.

It’s been one month since I started my Aerogarden Bounty with basil seeds; specifically Genovese Basil, Thai Basil and some “Sweet basil” from Egypt (sweet basil is often the common name for the Genovese variety). And this is the growth:

Aerogarden Bounty Growing Basil, 1 Month Growth

The growth would be much larger, but I have been harvesting from the plants on a regular basis. In fact I had harvested only a day or two before taking these photo.

I’ve harvested about 80g of basil so far. That’s about 4 cups of fresh basil. Last time I grew basil in the Aerogarden Bounty I was much more prolific in harvesting, and the plants easily handled the output without dying. I only destroyed the plants as we had an aphid infestion, bought in from another plant.

This time I want my plants to become much larger than before, so I am purposely harvesting as little as possible (4 cups as little as possible…). Each branch grows three leaves, and if you trim the centre leaf it encourages the other two to become branches (thus doubling the size of output per branch). This process is allowing some of the leaves to grow quite large:

Size of Basil Leaves from Aerogarden Bounty, 1 Month Growth
Size of Basil Leaves from Aerogarden Bounty, 1 Month Growth

I wonder, have you used an Aerogarden (or other brand) hydroponic machine? Or perhaps you have tried the DIY hydroponics made from a mason jar? What have you grown?

Kratky Hydroponic Lavewa and Matador Spinach – Update: Week 1

On the 1st August 2019 I planted several spinach seeds in Jiffy 36mm Peat Pellets. Just after planting I discovered my new grow light arrived faulty, so my plans changed; rather than waste the seeds and peat pellets I started my Aerogarden Bounty; in that batch were three Lavewa Spinach and three Matador Spinach pods.

Matador Spinach, Image Courtesy Botanical Interests
Lavewa Spinach, Image Courtesy Botanical Interests

I also happened to start some San Moranzo Tomatoes. The tomatoes both sprouted three days ago, but so far not a single spinach sprout has emerged!

According to Botanical Interests (the seed supplier) both spinach varieties can take 5-10 day to emerge. So there is still hope. Fingers crossed.

Once replacement grow light arrives I will transplant any seedlings to the Kratky buckets, their final home.

Growing San Marzano Tomatoes in Kratky Hydroponics – Update: Week 1

I’ve heard a lot of people online say that they have had decent success with growing tomatoes in hydroponics, so I wanted to test just how easy it was myself.

This is the growth after 1 week, planted on 1st August 2019:

I planted some seeds into Jiffy 36mm Peat Pellets. Unfortunately just after planting we discovered that our grow light was faulty! Rather than waste the seed and peat pellet, I decided I would just start a new session in my Aerogarden Bounty. Once my replacement grow light arrives I will remove from the peat moss and transplant into a cloning collar.

They began to emerge from the pellet only three days ago, with the smallest white to very pale green sprout showing. They are growing so fast as they reach for the light!

Strange enough the second seedling grew two sprouts. I am pretty sure I only placed one seed in each pellet.

It looks like the two sprouts merge into one stem close the soil. I don’t want to disturb the peat moss yet. If there is more than one seedling in the pot I can seperate them when I transplant; hopefully my new light will arrive soon.

Have you grown hydroponic tomatoes? I would love to know how well they grew for you.