Aerogarden.org.uk Blog » master gardener

Cilantro (coriander) in the Aerogarden Gourmet Herb kit

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:12:01 +0000

We have had some customers come to us over the past 6 months or so who have purchased a Gourmet Herb seed kit and been disappointed (or pleasantly surprised) to find that the kit didn’t come with a cilantro (coriander) seed pod as they might have expected.

This subject has been due a blog post for a while so we apologise for the tardiness of posting it, but just to clarify, the seed pod in the Gourmet herb kit which used to be cilantro has now been replaced by thyme. The cilantro had a slightly lower rate of germination than the other seeds in the kit, and has been changed to Thyme in order to make it possible for us to continue to honour our germination guarantee on all Aerogarden seed kits.

So our apologies to those whom this change has disappointed. If you do still have your heart set on growing coriander in the Aerogarden, then we recommend that you purchase some coriander seeds from your local garden centre, and plant them in the Aerogarden using the master gardener seed kit, which allows you to grow your own seeds of any practically any variety.

Growing Strawberries in the Aerogarden

admin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:21:44 +0000

We recently received a great set of photos from an Aerogarden user who had grown his own strawberries, in his own words here is how he did it;

“1. Bought seedlings from a nursery

2. Washed all the dirt and soil away from the roots: I was frightened to cause lot of stress for my plants. Miraculously they did not suffer at all.

3. I planted my seedlings to Master Gardener seedpods. I did not use the grow sponge – directly to pods.

4. I trimmed roots drasticly. However, the plants did not suffer at all.

5. I fed my garden with the small nutrient tablets for the initial 3 weeks.

6. I got flowers.

7. One week later I had baby strawberries.

8. Today I began harvesting. They do taste really, really good. Just as they’re supposed to.”

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.

Aerogarden.org.uk: Mastergardener kit at home with Basil and Coriander

admin — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:15:51 +0000

We wanted to try a couple of experiments with the Master Gardener kit – and one was based around the needs of my wife. Although she enjoyed the initial Gourmet Herb kit we rarely cook with dill or chives so these went to waste. In contrast we found that one coriander and a single basil plant was insufficient for our needs. So we took the Master Gardener kit and some of the Sutton Seed kits that we also sell and made up three basil and four coriander seed pods.

The seeds were planted on 05/04/2008 and first signs of life from the Basil were seen on 11/04/2008. The coriander is still not poking up from the sponges – but I checked inside yesterday and the seeds have germinated so it is only a matter of time. It seems to take a little longer for our packet seeds to germinate than the ones supplied within the seed kits – and we have asked the American makers of the Aerogarden if this is always the case (we will let you know).

Unfortunately the picture does not give you much. We will post updated pictures below as the growing continues.

15/04/2008

20/04/2008

As you can see a lot has happened in the last week. All but one of the seed pods have germinated and are showing strong signs of growth. One coriander seed – often one of the hardest seeds to grow – has not germinated. In its place we put some cress seeds in on Monday – they are already the same size as all the other herb plants!

28/04/2008

Another busy week. One of the basil seems to have died and I will replace this with some new seeds this week.

14/05/2008

Apart from my wife deciding to use a load of coriander in a Curry paste on Sunday night the garden is progressing well

How Does the Master Gardener Seed Kit Work?

admin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:52:08 +0000

We encourage our customers to have fun and experiment with their own favorite seeds in the AeroGarden. To facilitate this we offer a Master Gardener seed Kit, which comes with seven reusable baskets, 21 unplanted Grow Sponges and Domes, and a year’s supply of nutrients, as well as an excellent Master Gardener seed guide with directions and general suggestions for planting and growing your own seeds. The Master Gardener seed kit is available from our website at http://www.aerogarden.org.uk/aerogardenmastergardener.html

You cannot say with certainty whether specific plants (other than those in the Seed Kits) will grow well in the AeroGarden. Every plant in each of the Seed Kits has undergone extensive growing trials to determine its water, light and nutrient requirements, as well as its general suitability for aeroponic growing. However, there are still many more plants out there that have not yet been tested.The Master Gardener Deluxe Kit is also a favorite of those customers who want to grow one or two favorite herbs that they use in quantity, rather than having smaller quantities of greater variety. If you have great success, let us know and we’ll publish the photos here.If you wish to download the Master Gardener guide – right click on the link below, choose “save target as” and save to your computer. This is a large file so please take your time.

Pdf for Mastergardener brochure – Mastergardener Brochure - 1.5mb