I started an Aerogarden last week. It is a contraption that grows plants without soil. I am addicted to healthy vegetables, and have trouble finding tomatoes that don't taste like they are made out of styrofoam. So I thought, this device might be good to have around.I first researched this product about a year ago, and I had some reservations about it. I read product reviews, and there were some concerns about the motor being defective. I also had concerns about certain practical matters ~ I read that it puts out a lot of light, and might be noisy, and where am I going to put it, to keep it away from my cats? Also, when I was first considering the product, it came with an herb kit, and used proprietary parts. So if I wanted to grow tomatoes, I would have to order a tomato kit separately. So I didn't buy it.
But now my tomato craving is getting too strong, so I went ahead and bought one. I was pleased to find out that the parts are now re-usable, and you use your own seeds. So I went out immediately and bought various kinds of tomato seeds, and planted them on May 23.
Now, eight days later, my tomato plants are about 4 inches high!
I am happy to report that it is not noisy ~ I hear a little trickle, kind of like a Feng Shui fountain.
It does put out a LOT of light, and the light stays on for 16 hours at a time. I could time it so that it goes off during the 8 hours I might be lucky enough to sleep, but the light is not in a place where it bothers me. (It's on top of the refrigerator).
Another concern is that it uses a lot of energy. I don't want to destroy the planet so that I can have tomatoes. But the booklet assures me that it doesn't take a lot of energy, so I'll take them at their word. The promise of juicy tomatoes makes me easy to convince.
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I'm wondering how your garden is growing now? I love hydroponic gardening as I used to work in a store that sold systems. I've never seen a system so small, and I am completely intrigued!
Thanks for asking! This is my first experiment with hydroponic gardening, and I am not sure how it is going! The plants are growing like crazy, but no blooms yet. I think I made a mistake by not pruning early enough, and they grew tall rather than bushy. Ever since I realized that, I have been lopping off the tops in order to encourage growth down lower. I suspect this has delayed the fruit, but I don't know, because I am a complete novice! I also noticed that the water was extremely cloudy, and I am thinking about changing it out. There were some "burnt edges" on some of the leaves, and the booklet describes this as a sign of over-nourishment, so I reduced the amount of the nutrient tablet last time I fed the plants. So I don't know what all this means. If fast growth is a good sign, then I'd say it's going extremely well! I can hardly keep up with the pruning.
Quuen Sarah - If you still have the boxes that you light bulbs came in, they usually show the how much energy they use. Like on the Classic AeroGarden, each bulb is 26watts, so total of 52watts. The pump uses around 3 watts of energy. So, they are pretty energy efficient to say the least. We've got two classic AeroGardens growing right now and haven't noticed any real jump in our electricity use per month.
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