Anyone who already has an Aerogarden knows by now that this little thing pretty much does everything by itself. Many times you forget to even check how everything in the garden is working, because all you see is perfectly growing plants, you can smell the fresh aroma of the herbs and enjoy beautiful flowers. But every garden needs to be cleaned and sanitized regularly. It is now the end of this year and the perfect time to check how your garden is doing – clean it up, and see if its components work well. You have to check how your water pump is functioning, because it can become less effective with time and you might need to replace it. A little advice from us, if you want to keep your pump in good condition longer make sure to clean it after each planting. Another thing you might want to take a look at is the grow lamps. These must be replaced every six months in order to maintain best efficiency. Start the new year fresh and take the time to clean, sanitize, rearrange and accessorize your garden.

The best Herb Garden is the one that is maintained regularly so do this now and order all your accessories today.

Soon you will enjoy a rich a delicious harvest with your Aerogarden!

Ideas for Trellis

 You can use a “P” sized hook. Then adjust the netting according to your needs, but you can start with cotton crochet thread. The suction cups you get must be with hooks. The hooks need to rotate, so that you can adjust the netting in the garden. Place the cups in the middle of your tray and start hooking the net to them. When you are done attaching the net stretch it up and see up to where you will be needing it to reach. Then, adjust the trellis coils. Since your plants will be smaller in the beginning, the lights will be lower. This means that you must keep the excess netting and just put it together with a plastic loop for later use. You will need that extra netting once the plants start growing taller. You will then have to unhook the netting and just stretch it up to the lights. It is not complicated and you can do it within minutes. With this interesting system you can try to grow vines or little white cucumbers. You can do almost anything with our amazing, one of a kind Aerogarden and if you have any suggestions about growing with trellis, please share them with us.

Sanitize your Aerogarden

 recommends that, because this way you will promote the healthy growth of your new plants. It is not enough to just wash the pods under running water. There are some substances that are tough to remove and are unseen to the eye. Such substances might be mould, algae, or just some particles of decaying organic matter – all that poses a possible threat to the new plants and might slow down or ultimately kill the new growth. It is not enough to sanitize the pods only – the grow desk has to be sanitized as well. You can use bleach or vinegar solution to do so. If you are not going to use your garden while on vacation you should also clean it up good so no organic matter sticks and dries out inside the watering system. Always unplug the garden before this process. Remove the grow surface and the bowl and the pods from the surface. Empty them in the sink or the trashcan and then rinse them thoroughly under the water. The pump stand and filter have to be rinsed too. Fill the bowl with vinegar solution and plug in the garden for 2 minutes. After that just throw the solution away and refill with just tap water and plug it in again. After you finish, dry it with a towel. Your indoor garden is set and ready to be stored or used with new seed kits.

The most important thing is proper pruning. Whenever you prune, you are collecting harvest and making space for the new growth. First of all, always begin with the herb that is bushier than the others. Remove the part above the third leaf joint. And the rule is to only harvest one third of the plant. The bushier plants are always the fast growing ones, like basil or mint for example. Harvest the newest growth of the plant and you will encourage it to produce more leaves and less stem. When you are gardening, you need to keep your lights as low as possible to stimulate the growth. That’s why you have to harvest the newest growth, because it is the tallest and keeps your light too high. Keeping the light low is done, but now you have to check if all the plants are getting enough light. Some long leaves may cast a shadow on others and block the light. Harvest those leaves, or when it is possible, just turn the pot around, so you make space for the light.

Remember proper pruning is essential for the good harvest. The rules for the indoor garden are – pruning, low lights and enough light for each plant.

Recently one of your customers shared his little pearl of wisdom, to pollinate his tomatoes he’d modified an electric toothbrush and attached a cotton bud. I was intrigued so I decided to do some research into the science behind this crafty little contraption.

In nature pollination is carried out by bees and the wind. With the Aerogarden being sheltered indoors we need to give the tomato’s a helping hand to ensure a good fruit yield. Using a toothbrush, it appears that this method of self pollination imitates the ultrasonic waves of a buzzing bee and is known as Buzz Pollination.

Here are our recommended steps if you’d like to make your own Buzz Pollinator and give this way a go.

1. Take a standard electric toothbrush
2. Remove brush fitting and fit a cotton bud onto the end. (some people just use the brush head but we’ve found the cotton bud works best)
3. Put the Buzz Pollinators cotton bud on the back side of any open flowers you see (refer to video below)
4. Hold the Buzz Pollinator to the flower until you don’t see any more pollen falling from the flower.
5. Repeat daily

The Flower will not look immediately different after pollination but after several days the yellow blossom will wilt, dry up and fall off. If the entire flower drops off unfortunately that flower wasn’t pollinated.

This is all that is needed to produce a high yielding Aerogarden Tomato crop.
Feel free to leave a comment sharing your experiences!

If you don’t have a toothbrush handy the I’d recommend you use the Shake technique

The most common self pollination technique is to simply grab a branch or stalk and shake gently to help the pollen drop down to the stigma of the flower. You can gently shake the plant 2 to 3 times a day around the time you start to see flowering.

If  you require any other assistance with your tomato plants we’d recommend you check out our Tomato Plant Troubleshooting blog

“1. Bought seedlings from a nursery

For more photos from Mr Kojo’s strawberries please see our customer photos section of our blog.  Many thanks to Mr Kojo for his feedback and photos of his work.

(1) Wait for the last frost
Most of the plants in AeroGarden seed kits are sensitive to freezing weather, so you’ll want to wait until after the average date of your last frost to plant them in the ground. You can also transplant into pots and bring them indoors if a cold snap threatens.
(2) Spread the roots
The roots will eventually be the new support system that anchors your plants to the soil. You can help make a stable base by spreading the roots both wide and deep in the soil. Dig a generous hole at the transplant location, spread the roots downward and outward, fill around the roots with loose soil, and tamp down firmly but lightly. Use stakes to support the plants if needed.
(3) Moisture is important
Plants grown in an AeroGarden have specialized roots that are able to thrive in an aeroponic environment. These roots will transform in a couple of weeks to extract the water and nutrients from the soil. Until that process is complete, the plants need loose, moist soil to mimic the AeroGarden, so keep your plants well-watered. But don’t over do it… the roots need to breathe as well!
(4) Watch the sun
The intensity of mid-day sun can stress new transplants, but you can help ease them into the outdoors in several ways. Set the AeroGarden bowl or newly potted plants in sunlight for an increasing length of time each day. You can check your weather forecast and transplant right before a stretch of cloudy weather. Or, you can use a shade cloth to shield your plants until they’re ready for a full day of sunbathing.

If you have any questions please call us on 0845 170 7555 or email sales@aerogarden.org.uk.

He only bought the aerogarden a few weeks ago, but has already showed the adventurous gardening spirit of a true aerogardener, experimenting with using the aerogarden lights to give some of his potted plants a boost by placing them around the periphery of his aerogarden unit. Here’s the results he’s reported, in his own words

Picture 1 shows the effect on the parsley (foreground) and basil (background). In the case of both, a pale green, sorry-looking plant has been transformed, in seven days, to be a darker green, larger and more ‘plump’ plant.

Picture 2 shows some garlic bulbs, grown from a single clove. When they went under the lamp they were barely above the soil. The stick shows its height at 2 days in, and you can see the current height. Quite remarkable. They are now 16cm and 19cm respectively.

Picture 3 shows how I have arranged the plants around the rim of the Aerogarden, so that they get some of the benefit of the special lighting. The plants in the aerogarden itself are here just one week into growth, and so visible, but very small. The ‘green’ you see, then, is from the soil-based plants on the perimeter.

The message then, that you can get even more out of your aerogarden by using it to boost other plants, by feeding off the power of its energy efficient lamps. Get to it!

Top aerogarden tip of the day – Most problems with aerogarden pumps can be easily prevented or solved by cleaning out your aerogarden pump in between seed kits. Watch the pump cleaning instruction video here.

There is also further details to be found by looking at this pdf document on pump cleaning.

Following these steps should ensure that your plants will produce beautiful tomatoes, and will help improve the quality and quantity of any yield.

First, consider how long your plants been growing.  It can be anywhere between 8 – 12 weeks before the plants produce fruit, and sometimes all that is required is a little patience.

Have you…

Thinned the plants?

When plants are about 1” tall, they should be thinned back to one plant per pod.  If this step has not been done, it should be.  Keep the healthiest plant in the pod and cut the others out at the base of the plant. Too many plants growing from one pod can have negative effects on the plants.

Pruned the plants at the 4-5 week period?

At about 4-5 weeks, the main stem of the plant should be cut in half.  This pruning, along with regular ongoing pruning, will keep the plants short and bushy (like a Christmas tree) instead of tall with leaves just at the top (like a palm tree).  

If the plant has not been pruned, it needs to be.  Cutting the main stem in half is not advisable for larger plants (over 6 weeks) but refer to the Tending and Harvesting Guide for pruning instructions – they still need to be pruned! Photosynthesis will take place even if there are only a few leaves on the plant, so we encourage you to prune even if there is not much there.  If all of the growth is at the top of the plant, pruning is needed to get the plant back down to a bushy size and shape.

Set the lights timer to go off at night?

Fruiting plants need complete darkness for at least 7 hours every night in order to produce fruit – this means that the lights need to be synched up to turn off at night time, and that the plants are not exposed to any artificial light during this dark period.

Instructions for setting the “on” time of your lights:

At the time you want the lights to come on, press the “Lights” button and hold it down until the LED light next to the plant selection flashes, and continue holding it until the LED light blinks faster — about 12 seconds, then immediately release the button. Your lights will now come on at this time each day. (It will take several seconds for the lights to come on.

To view a complete chart of the Timing of the Lights and Pump Cycles for the different Seed Kits, click here

OTHER FACTORS TO CONSIDER:

– Have nutrients been added at regular 2-week intervals?  If you have been adding nutrients every time the light comes on, has it been coming on every 2 weeks?  Pressing reset at any other time than just after adding nutrients will effect the nutrient timer. 

Grow Bulbs

–Tomato production will be significantly better with fresh bulbs – they should be changed roughly every 6 months for optimal plant growth.

Type of water being used

– if you live in a hard tap water area, or have been using high mineral content spring water, the pH levels in your aerogarden may be unsuitable for plant health, and could cause yellowing of the leaves or lack of fruit.

Read more on our blog here

Tobacco Mosaic Virus

– If your plant looks like it is actually dying, it may have Tobacco Mosaic Virus. This causes a mosaic pattern on leaves (and even fruit) and causes the leaves to fall off.   A plant affected by this disease will most likely not produce fruit. 

IF ALL OF THE STEPS ABOVE HAVE BEEN FOLLOWED AND THE PLANTS ARE HEALTHY BUT STILL NOT PRODUCING:

1) Rinse and refill the bowl

A Rinse-and-Refill consists of unplugging the AeroGarden, emptying all the water out of the Bowl, refilling it with fresh water, and putting in two fresh nutrient tablets. This will return nutrient and pH levels to normal if they have gotten outside of optimal range. Please click here for complete instructions on how to do a Rinse-and-Refill.

2) Prune branches back another 1” -2” and drop the lights down, if necessary.

Complete BOTH steps 12 at the same time

So, rinse and refill and prune at the same time.  Then give the plants one week to ‘recover’ and blooms should appear within the next week.  It is fine to prune during the recovery period if necessary.