Garden Update

[Emily]

It's cool you were able to get a tomato plant, Humbled. I hope it produces lots for you.

Oh Overcome. I find it hard to distinguish different varieties as well. Did you get the regular salad greens kit, or the heirloom? I know the regular one comes with red and green leaf, romaine, and butter lettuces. Since romaine and butter both have red varieties, could be anything. lol. If it's the heirloom kit, they come with more varieties, and include things like black seeded simpson and deer tongue and I think paris island. But I'm not sure if all those pods just say salad greens? Mine came labeled with variety, so that helped (though sometimes, they put the wrong seeds in a pod, so you get to wonder what you're growing. lol)

You don't need to change the water every single feeding, only ever other. Some people say they never change it. I can't imagine that though. lol I wonder how the water change went though, in the Harvest? The farm comes with a tube that you attach and you put one end into a bucket, and turn on the pump and it just pumps the water out for you. lol. But I don't think the other units do that, do they? I know you can get a siphon for them, but I know they don't hold as much water either, so maybe not difficult to just dump out?

Roflol. You probably will notice a growth spurt with the feeding. Though not sure you'll notice it if you're staring at it. lmao.

I loved seeing the roots as well. After a while they go crazy, and they'll join together into a giant mass of roots. lol. If I don't forget, when I go back downstairs, I'll see if I can get a pic of my lettuce roots now. It's a little tricker to lift the deck because the trellis system's on to hold the tomatoes up, but I'll try to grab a photo.

[Overcome]

Hahahah it doesn’t say heirloom so I think it’s the plain salad greens?? The labels just say salad greens. Lol. I have a lot of red going on. Hahaha. The water change was very simple. I unplugged the pump and took the whole grow basin to the sink, took the top and the pods out and set the on the sink and used the other side of the sink and the sprayer to dump and spray down the grow basin. Super easy, two minutes total. Then new water in, everything back together, it just slides right on and off the base extremely easy. Just remember to unplug the pump. Hahahaha. I feel like a siphon would complicate the matter greatly. It was pretty grungy so I’m glad I took the time to change it this time, maybe I’ll skip next feeding.

[Emily]

Hehe. Yeah probably so. So You can figure you have a lot of the red varieties...or one red in all of them. lol. I think for those they just put seeds in the pods and you get what you get. lol. So that'll be fun. lol

Ahh yeah. You'll probably find within a couple weeks or so, that your roots are a lot more expansive, and you might not be able to pull the entire pods out without damaging the roots. When you get to that point, you can just lift off the grow deck, and set it so the edges are on your other sink or something to hold it up, while you deal with the water.

Yeah, I've not had to deal with the siphon because the far is set up differently, but I figured with the smaller gardens, like the Sprout and the Harvest, you should be able to just pour them out. So that's cool.

[Emily]

Oh, remembered to get a pic of my lettuce roots. Keep in mind, I haven't trimmed them for about a month. Because of the trellis system holding the tomatoes, it makes it difficult to get the grow deck off without unhooking it because it goes all the way across. And my tomatoes fall over....so I didn't trim them last water change. lol....The skinny one in the middle is my basil plant that I need to get out of there and stick in kratky before it's too late. lol.

[moonflower]

Wow, those roots are so extensive. I think roots are amazing, I start avocado trees from seed in just water, I love to watch their roots too.

My sweet peppers are officially all eaten, my best friend, husband and 3 kiddos came over for holiday dinner and the first thing her oldest says to me. 'Miss K what are those red things in the garden?' I had saved them specifically for her because she loves sweet peppers, they were all picked and washed and cut up a few minutes after they got here and eaten up shortly after. I had a few too they were very good. Then she picked 2 avocados for her mom. Her mom does not have a green thumb at all, but E loves plants, I like being able to do little things like this for her.

[Overcome]

Oh I wasn’t clear , that’s what I did with the grow deck, I only removed the one pod to get a photo of the roots. But look at yours woah!!! Lol so interesting. Have you had issues with the roots getting into the pumps?

aww that’s so sweet that you’re nurturing the green thumb of the little girl mooonflower

[Emily]

Moonflower, that's so cool that you are able to feed E's interest in gardening, with her mother not being a gardener. That's a great connection to build on.

Oh, yeah I see what you mean. lol Yeah they're a bit out of control. I was trimming my roots with every water change (so once a month). But like I said, I didn't do that last time. What I'd do is gently separate as much as I could and trim off about a third (they say that when trimming roots or harvesting, never take more than a third at a time of a plant). But I skipped it last time because of the tomato trellis. I'm going to cut back my tomato a bit, and try to trellis it a little differently probably this week, and I'm hoping to get in there and trim the lettuce roots again then.

Re the roots getting into the pumps, they do try. when I pull off the grow deck, the filter to the pump has pulled off with it a few times, as the roots have grown into the filter and so held on as I lifted the grow deck. I was able to just pull the roots out of the filter and stick it back on, so it wasn't a problem. But they will try. So it's a good reminder to check when you pull off your grow deck to change water, to make sure it didn't pull off your filter. I've seen some people have accidentally tossed their filter or lost it that way. lol. I ordered an extra pack of filters, just in case. lol. I think if you decide not to trim roots, if you just make sure to clear any from the filter when you change the water, you'd probably do just as well.

[Starship]

Cool pic of the roots (((((Em))))!

Guess what? My dear friends (the husband grew up on a farm) got me a lovely raised planter box with gardening gloves and a big bag of dirt. We are going to grow again. LOL - so I’m not giving up. They also got me cat grass seeds to plant decoys so the cat won’t destroy the planter. LOL

I will program an alarm on my iPhone to remind me to water again - theme song is “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey.

Round two of “try not to kill the plants” will begin when the warmer weather returns.

I really, really, really want to successfully grow a tomato.

[Emily]

Yay for the raised planter!

You can do it! I have faith in you.

If you're going to do it on your porch again, and you are worried it's not getting enough light, you could add a grow light. (You can get a grow lightbulb that goes into a lamp or other fixture). The other thing is pollination. A breeze will often do it. Or you can give the branches a little shake when the blossoms open. You will have your tomatoes! hehe.

[Overcome]

Oh star that sounds lovely as a gift. I think you can do it too! And yay for the plan about cats. I’m worried about getting a farm system Emily for that reason the cats! They love plants. But they never get on the counter so my lettuce is safe but a big farm unit on the floor? Lol
I bought extra filters too just because I’m an obsessive filter changer. Lol.

[Emily]

Ahh. yes, I've seen some people say that it's a challenge to keep their cats out of their gardens and always looking for tricks to help. I've not paid a great deal of attention to those as I don't have cats. But I get why it'd be a challenge. Some people put theirs on like raised carts or cabinets, which might help with your cat getting into it if she won't get on the counters. Would have to be nice and sturdy, but I've seen several people mention the ones that they use. I've considered getting a cart for mine. Right now it's on the work bench in the basement. But it makes the control panel so tall that I need to use a step ladder to see it. lol. I think a cart around 24 inches high would be about perfect. Then again, it's not that hard for me to use the step ladder. I'm just thinking that if I move the garden, the work bench would be clear for all my kratky. lol.

[Emily]

Overcome, just thought I'd put a note here about changing the lights. I actually saw verification today that the guidance to change the lights every 6 months was for the earlier systems that used cfl bulbs, rather than the current led panels. Was pretty sure that was the case, but was nice to see verification.

[Overcome]

Aww pshewww that makes me feel better!!! I see today has garden40 as coupon code for the aerogarden at Best Buy. It’s so tempting to order a bigger system, but I haven’t given enough thought to then what? Lol. Where to put it, where can you plug it in, how to keep the kitties out of it. Lol. There will be another sale. I have been hesitating to post a picture of my lettuce which is amazing. It’s day 19 and I’m trying to wait to day 21 to post a picture for you!!! They say you can harvest by day 21! I have some bigger leaves. Nothing like your leaves on the farm system, but for this size system, some good size ones and I’m sure it will continue to get bigger after I take some of the big leaves right? That’s how it works. I’m voting for the big leaf removal harvest vs the haircut harvest. I’ve also been watching video after video on YouTube of this dude that does it in drain spouts! And also this lady who puts everything in mason jars. I wonder if it’s worth it to do more transplanting like that of starting things in aerogarden and moving to jars elsewhere, that’s what you have going right?? I get all into shopping for stuff then cancel the cart, because I haven’t thought it all through of where to put the jars hahaha. But I will begin to try to think those through.

also
I was thinking milk crates might be a perfect stool for the farm to raise it up just a bit but not too high... I often zip tie milk crates together to make benches and shelves and stuff for the classroom. Could do for this too. Just add a bit of plywood on top if you want it to be flat, big washer and a bolt really easy.

If using milk crates then you could put plants or storage in that and that would be nice. I could put some cat grass in there they say if you provide cat grass close they may leave the aerogarden alone. But it’s hard to say.

[Emily]

Giggles....you don't have to wait to post your lettuce pics. I understand so much! lol.

Yep. I generally do the outer leaves harvest method. however, when the lettuce starts getting a bit tall (this may be especially important in the harvest where the lights don't go as high), then I'll do a haircut method to bring it down a bit. It's hard to believe you're nearly to 21 days already, isn't it? So exciting. You can harvest then, or you can wait. Or if you feel you have leaves big enough now, it's ok to take them. Just remember they say the general rule of thumb is no more than a third of the plant in any given harvest.

Lol..I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to buy like 5 or 6 more gardens. lol. I need a bigger house. I'm not using mason jars, but I have been putting my other stuff in buckets that I bought specifically for that purpose. I'm gonna get a few bottles of juice and use those bottles maybe for herbs. There's a brand of juice where the top is the perfect size for AG pods. lol...

That's such a cool idea about the milk crates. if you have the good strong ones that'd work great, particularly if they're strapped together. The farm is heavier, but with the weight distributed, I think that's a really cool solution.

I've seen others say they use cat grass as well. Some put sticky pads around the garden to deter the cats...Some tape the pods down so the cats don't pull them out. lol.

[Overcome]

I’m more worried about the cats eating the produce... oregano is very harmful as well as many other things... and max just can’t help himself. I have to put foil in all my potted plants and even so, we did spend three days in the animal hospital for poisoning last year. It is like that! I’m like oh well I should plant new lettuce in another system a month or so before this lettuce will go bad.... and I need herbs. And I need.... and I need..... to be patient. Lol. What juice is the perfect size for the pods?? I can’t remember the last time I had juice.

I don’t have enough for a salad I don’t think but I think it will be important to harvest the biggest ones, maybe put on a. Sandwich to give the
little ones room to grow.