Aerogarden FAQ

I know there are a lot of questions concerning the Aerogardens, so i have gathered a few together and answered them with my experience of the hydroponics units…

So here is my version of an Aerogarden FAQ…

If your question is not answered then leave me a comment and i will answer it…

Is the Aerogarden worth the money

The aerogarden can appear pricey to start with, but if you realize that it is reusable and will last for many years to come then it is an investment in your health. 

I have aerogarden units going back to 2011 and am still using them, with a few repairs…

You know how the plants are cared for in this self contained hydroponics system…

No herbicides or pesticides used ( unless you get an outbreak)…

You watch the plants germinating and growing on, at any time of year…

You are not restricted to the seasons…

And you are not restricted in where you place it, as long as it can support the weight and is reasonably level….

The different types of plants you can grow fully or start within the aerogarden is amazing…

There are a lot of herbs, salad leaves and flowers you can grow full cycle within the aerogarden…

And you can start seedlings for your garden earlier than most other methods…

So is it worth it….

I would say yes….

Once you are bitten you tend to end up with more than one….

How much does the aerogarden cost to run

The aerogarden is fairly cheap to run….

It does depend on the model you have with the sprout coming in at 13w, the harvest at 23w , the bounty at 48w and the farm at 126w….

The aerogarden lights are programmed to be on a certain amount of time, so taking the average time being 16 hours a day.

With the cost of a unit of electricity being around $0.13 per KWh

The sprout will cost $0.68 per month

The harvest $1.4 per month

The bounty $2.99 per month

And the farm $7.8 per month

Your average fridge will cost you $7 per month to run, so about the same as the aerogarden farm…

How long do the aerogarden pods last

Storage conditions of the pods will determine how long they stay viable, you need to keep them in cool dark dry conditions for the seeds not to be stimulated to start growing….

If the seeds see too much humidity then they may be activated and if the moisture dries up they will then die.

If it becomes too warm the seeds may effectively cook and not be viable for the future…

If there is too much light the seeds may start to think about germinating and not have enough water to carry out the process and not be viable in the future…

But stored in this cool dark dry place the pods will last up to 2 years and still be able to grow without too many issues…

Can you grow anything in an aerogarden

Some would say yes…

I would say almost…

There are certain plants you don’t want to leave in there too long if you start growing them in there…

Root veg can be started in the aerogarden, but will need transplanting before they get stuck in the unit.

Or plants like sunflowers that will grow very tall, again can be started in the aerogarden, but not grown to maturity.

Plants which require a lot of water, more than 3l per day would struggle in the aerogarden, so a fully grown tomato plant…

Physically would be too tall and not benefit from the grow light panel, but would drain the reservoir quickly…

So it is about looking at the growing volume of the unit…

The distance between the grow light and the grow table will determine how tall the plants can grow…

The size of the grow table will determine how spread the plant can become….

I would stick to herbs, salad leaves, some smallish flowers…

The largest thing i would be tempted to grow would be a dwarf tomato like minibel or vilma…

I have grown a chili plant which outgrew the grow light and had to be located next to a window to get enough light, this did survive for a number of years… 

How long does the aerogarden take to sprout

The germinating time will be determined mainly by the species…

But will usually be within two weeks…

I have had lettuce germinating in a little over 24 hours, you see a little green spec at the bottom of the grow sponge and smile…knowing that in a few days you will have the first leaves coming out of the top…

But you will have to wait for some of the herbs for a while, like rosemary up to 4 weeks…

If you are using the grow anything kit, then some seeds may benefit from soaking for 24 hours to soften the outer before planting to reduce the germination period.

How long do aerogarden lights last

The older CFL ( compact flourescent lamps) had an optimum growing time period of around 6 months or about 3000 hours…

Coinsiding with a typical grow cycle of the herbs planted…

The lights would continue to illuminate beyond this time but were a lot less effective, slowing growth….

All of the new aerogardens have now been converted to led lighting….

These more efficient lights havea longer lifespan of up to 50,000 hours…

Even going every day for 16 hours a day these lights will last 8.6 years before they get to 70% of their brightness….

How long do plants last in the aerogarden

A typical grow cycle in the garden would be 6-8 months….

Most of the plants would then either die of cold or be looking to overwinter using the minimum energy…

With the aerogarden being in the same environment as we are then things are a little different…

You can have plants growing all year around and staying alive…

I have grown a basil plant for over 8 years continuously, making sure to pinch out the flowers or it becomes a little bitter.

The other plants i have had good success with is chili, which survived for over 10 years…producing almost all year round and out growing the aerogarden….

And parsley, which stayed alive for well over three years….

So it is a little different when you don’t have the temperature swing of outside… 

And it depends on how much you take off the plant…

If you only take a few leaves a week from a basil plant then you may find it taking over your aerogarden, you need to keep this plant trimmed…

With the volume of the grow bowl to contain the roots the plants can be very happy, but you do need to keep the bowl topped up with water…

I was in the habit of topping it up every night to the max level….

But typically the grow season of a herb plant is 6 months…

Can you grow potatoes in the aerogarden

It would be very tempting to see if these can be grown in the reservoir, but i think they would rot after being in the nutrient constantly…

So you could start your potatoes off in the grow bowl, which is flooded for 5 mins every hour in the more modern aerogardens….

I did have success with a flood and drain system growing potatoes a few years ago….

We had some potatoes go to seed and rather than compost them i pushed them into the clay balls in the flood and drain i was using to grow lettuce and other plants…

And to my surprise i did get a meal or two from them….

Just running my hands through the clay balls to collect potatoes was a weird experience, but exciting to see what had grown…

So in the aerogarden you can start them off, but then have to transplant them to their final growing position before they grow too large…

Can i use regular seeds in the aerogarden

With the grow anything kit you get the baskets, grow sponges, nutrients, covers, paper covers and no seeds…

So yes you can use your own seeds in this kit…

This does mean that there is no guarantee of germination as with the preseeded kits from aerogarden…

But if you have stored your seeds correctly and they are not too much out of date then they should be viable…

Just add two or three seeds per seed pod and cover with the clear plastic grow domes…

Fill the reservoir with water and switch the unit on…

Making sure you either switch it on first thing in the morning or reset the lights first thing will synchronize the aerogarden with your life as the lights are on for 16 hours typically…

To reset the lights press the button to switch the lights on then press and hold the lights button and when the lights flash release the switch… 

What happens if the aerogarden runs out of water 

I think the simple answer is the plants die…

No water or nutrient means the plants are starving….

But the aerogarden lights will be flashing low water when the level in the reservoir reaches about 2/3 down….

Once below this for a long period then the pump will not operate, protecting itself from excessive wear…

For those units with an app this will be warning you that it is low on water.

Can you transfer aerogarden plants to soil 

Growing plants in the aerogarden can give you a headstart on nature…

There is a special starter tray to house multiple seeds to get them going hydroponically…

If you grow plants within the seed pods and find that you want to transplant them to a pot or outside then you need to do this before all the roots get tangled up in the grow basket…

Or you may damage the roots beyond what the plant can survive with…

If the roots have tangled themselves then you may be better off planting the grow basket as well and recovering that after the plant has gone over…

The other problem you may find is that the multiple plants have tangled all their roots together, so separating them may be difficult…

So yes you can transplant them, but be careful of the roots….

And remember they have been pampered in the aerogarden, in the soil they will need to work for their food and oxygen…

So don’t pack the soil too tight and make sure it is the right type of compost or soil to help the plant grow… 

How often should i clean my aerogarden

Cleanliness in hydroponics is paramount to reduce diseases and bugs….

So always be on the lookout for leaves that are going over and remove them…

Anything dropped onto the grow table should be cleaned up…

And if you can carefully wiped down to prevent mold or allow bugs to start eating…

When you change the nutrient solution, typically every two to three weeks when the light flashes or you get a notification, then take the time to tidy up the plants and make sure the pump is free of roots….

The roots will grow through the filter and get into the pump mechanism, reducing its effectiveness and possibly causing problems with low oxygen in the nutrient solution…

After you have cleared a crop out then you need to take a few minutes to clean the whole system down…

And if necessary split the grow table into pieces to make sure all of the old roots are removed…

The roots will grow into the channel for the nutrient to flow, and failure to remove these can cause problems for the next crop…

There are solutions you can add to water to dissolve root mass, these can be pumped through the system if you don’t want to disassemble everything, but you must make sure you rinse the system out at least twice to prevent it from being there for the new seeds and preventing them growing…

I prefer to disassemble so i can see if there is any damage and rectify if necessary…

Cleaning can be carried out with vinegar or bleach…

The vinegar you use a 50:50 solution and run the aerogarden for 30 mins then rinse and you are ready to grow…

The bleach is 1/4 cup to the reservoir full of water ….run for 5 mins then rinse….then leave for 48 hours to get rid of any residual bleach, and you are ready to plant again….

But keep everything as clean as you can and you will have happy plants…

Can i grow strawberries in my aerogarden

You can grow strawberries in your aerogarden….

But ideally you will use the more open grow bowl, although this is no longer available from aerogarden

What you need to remember with strawberries is that the crown doesn’t want to be kept wet…

If you grow strawberries from crowns ( always the best way, but they can be grown from seeds) then you need to clean off all the dirt…

And remember not to get the crown too wet…or dry it off afterwards….

And try not to use water straight from the tap, let it stand and come up to room temperature , ideally filter it first to remove some eof the chemicals added….

If you are growing the strawberries in the seed pods then you need to make room for the crown on top…

Remove and cut in half the grow sponge and replace into the grow basket…

Depending on how long the roots are, feed these around the sponge…but leave the crown at the top of the grow basket…

And you can grow the strawberries along with other plants….

Strawberries will send out runners and can take over the aerogarden….

So you only need one plant which can then quickly spread to populate the whole of your garden…

And make sure you use a paintbrush to pollinate the flowers…

Brush around the outer and over the center to spread the pollen around….

The amount of pollen spread around will determine the quality of your strawberries…

And you will enjoy wonderful strawberries….

Do you need to wash aerogarden lettuce

As your lettuce is grown indoors, it is less likely to get contaminated from soil on have bugs crawling all over the leaves…

But.…you can still have some bugs crawling over them and leaving residues…

So after you have picked the leaves it is worth giving them a quick rinse in cold water…

A shake will get rid of most of the water left on them…

I will always give any food grown a quick rinse to get rid of any little bugs or residues left on them.

You never know what the flies that land on your plants have come from…

Can you grow cucumbers in an aerogarden

I have grown cucumbers hydroponically in a deep water culture, the same as the one i use for tomatoes…

And seeing the leaves of the cucumber plants and their activity climbing all over the tomatoes…..

I would say that you would be restricted to the larger models, like the farm family…

I was growing these in a 6ft greenhouse and they were touching the roof and attaching their tendrils to the roof…

The leaves themselves were over 8 inches long and over 10 inches wide…

So you can imagine one of those covering the whole of the growing area of say a harvest…

Ok they are out on a stem, which can get quite thick, and only have one main stem…

The flowers are either male or female and you will need to pollinate between the male and female to get the cucumbers to develop….

And you will struggle with lighting the plant….

There are miniature varieties like the mini munch, but they still grow to about 6ft or 2m and the cucamelon friuts are small but the plants can grow to be 8ft tall (2.5m).

And the amount of water they will require when fruiting will be more that the reservoir can hold per day….

So for these i would stick to deep water culture in a bucket or in the garden….

Can you replace bulbs in an aerogarden

The older aerogardens growing lights were compact flourescent lamps ( CFL)…

These have a finite lifetime of around 3000 hours, before their light output is almost too low to effectively grow plants…

So they really do need replacing about every 6 months…

I have tried extending their growing life, but have found that the plants do grow a lot slower…

After replacing them the difference is amazing…

The newer aerogardens are fitted with led grow lights…

These operate completely differently….

Their lifetime to 70% output level is around 50,000 hours and if kept cool enough will extend out to 100,000 hours for the leds…

This equates to over 8 years of continuous growth time, or 16 years if kept cool…..

So within reason the leds never really need replacing…

There maybe failures of single leds, so a strip will go out, but it is unlikely that a led failure will take out the whole of the grow light…

How often do you feed an aerogarden

This is one of those questions that is frustrating….

The answer is …it depends…

On at what stage are your plants, if they are very small you will be throwing away good nutrient if you change it every two weeks…

If your plants don’t grow very fast due to the type of plant then you may not need to feed them more often…

If your plants are growing fast and stall then you need to feed them more…

But the aerogarden has a ‘feed me’ light that flashes every two weeks or so, and it is good practice to look at your plants and determine their life age…

If they are very young then maybe cancel the light without feed ( although you should only be feeding at half strength at an early stage)…

If they are going through a vigorous growth period then definitely replace the nutrient very two weeks or when the light flashes…

And i mean add enough water in a clean bucket, leave it to stand to get up to room temperature and if possible leave overnight…

Add the nutrient the next day and replace in the aerogarden reservoir…

The ideal would be to use reverse osmosis water, as this is as clean as you can get…

Or filter through a britta filter….

Both of these will get rid of the chloramine that companies add to give us ‘clean’ drinking water …

It’s not so healthy for the plants, but that is not their goal…

But replace the complete nutrient every two weeks, or if the plants are drinking a lot then even sooner and you will keep them healthy…

Can you put an aerogarden in a window

Even though plants need light…

When they are young they can get overloaded and burn…

So siting your aerogarden is important…

Where it is light is good as this will add to the grow light…

But in a window, there maybe sunlight streaming through….

This may heat up the reservoir and cook the roots…

For small tender plants they also may over heat and die…

The other problem may be a temperature drop at night, with cold air coming off the window…

Plants used to warmer temperatures, or more stable temperatures, may not survive…

So even though it is traditional to put posts of herbs in the window, for a controlled environment agriculture device such as the aerogarden it is not the best place…

Out of direct sunlight for long periods of time, out of cold draughts, is a more ideal siting…

How long can you harvest aerogarden lettuce

You may be used to going to the supermarket and buying a whole lettuce head without roots…

You then peel this day after day to use the leaves and place it in the cool box of your fridge…

With aerogarden lettuce it is slightly different…

If you leave it growing and take a few leaves from each plant, then they will carry on growing…

It does stress the plant when you take leaves and it will temporarily halt its growth, but then it will continue…

So taking the outside leaves a few at a time allows the plant to continue growing from the center…

This can continue for a few weeks, dependant on how many and how often you take leaves…

 How long does aerogarden basil last

This is one of the best plants to grow in your aerogarden….

They are fast germinating, fast growing and have a fantastic flavor…

Picking a few leaves to add to a sauce at the end or ripped up and thrown on top of a pizza, the aroma is amazing along with the taste…

But how long can you keep going like this….

Well if you look on the side of the aerogarden pods it says about 4 months….

If you take my view then ‘how long is a piece of string’

Yeah, yeah, i know ‘twice as long from the middle to the end’ 

But how long is it to the middle….

You can keep basil going as long as you want…

It will get woody on the stem, but that doesn’t affect the flavor…

If it starts flowering then of you don’t want it to get bitter then pinch out those flower…

And keep harvesting those leaves…

And trimming it back…

If you want more plants then just pop one of those cuttings into a grow sponge and hey presto, a new plant….

This is one of those everlasting plants, if you want it to be…

All the crop, well you can blitz it with a bit of oil and keep it in a jar in the fridge, or freeze the leaves flat and dry…

It i one of the most prolific plants for giving i know….

And will last until you terminate it….

Does the aerogarden attract bugs

Growing plants in a concentrated form like in aerogardening will always attract bugs…

It is a bit like a fox seeking out a chicken coop, it is a concentrated form of food…

Once the aroma of your crop gets out then you may bring back visitors from outside who will like to feast on them….

The aerogarden plants are in the best position to defend themselves, they are healthy, want for nothing…so they have the best immune system a plant can have…

But it does happen that you get an outbreak of bugs, i have had them….

And if you don’t keep on top of them then they can very quickly get out of hand…

I had spider mites and didn’t realize it and how fast they could multiply….

The whole crop was destroyed and i am still suffering for not taking quick action now, two years later…

How do you grow cherry tomatoes in an aerogarden

There are two main ways to grow cherry tomatoes in the aerogarden..

The first is to buy the cherry tomato seed pod kit and add them to your aerogarden…

The other is to invest in the grow anything seed pod kit and plant up some cherry tomato seeds…

With the second you really do need to know which variety you are planting…

Anything over the maximum distance between the grow light hood and the grow table will cause you problems…

So any tomato which grows to around 2 ft max will be good…

I have identified at least two, minibel and vilma…both of which are miniature tomato plants…

Once growing you will need to keep an eye on them so they don’t grow too tall…

Pinching out the tips to make the plant more bushy…

Once the flowers appear you will need to tap the stem or use an electric toothbrush ( one not in use any more) to touch each flower to pollinate it….

Each flower contains both the male and female parts, so swiping between flowers is not necessary….

Where it is native there are insects that have very long probiscus that can reach deep within the flower to gather the nectar and pollinate the flowers, but normally we have to do this for the plant…

If you don’t then you will suffer from flower drop ( unpollinated flowers) and get no tomatoes…

When the green tomatoes develop then it will take around 3 weeks for them to turn red and ripen…

How do i start a new aerogarden

If you have just bought an aerogarden and are new to hydroponics then it can be daunting…

But don’t worry…most of the plants will almost grow themselves…

All you really need to do is to add water and food when asked by the unit…the other parts of the growing process are taken care of by the aerogarden unit…

So assemble the unit by adding the light stem and the grow light, place the reservoir and grow table in place…

Place on a level (ish) platform that will stand the weight…remembering 1l of water weighs 1kg or 2.2lbs….so a harvest with 3.5l will weigh 3.5kg or 7.7 lbs plus the weight of the unit and grow light…so…take 10lbs or roughly 5kg….

And fill with water to the ‘fill to here’ mark…

And now you are ready to plant up your aerogarden…

Open the box with the seed pods and nutrient…

Look at what you have in the seed pods, and especially look at the height of the plants in the instruction manual…

Ideally you want to plant the tall pants to the sides with the shorter ones towards the middle…

This way if the outside ones grow too fast then you can push them outside of the grow light , slowing down their growth…

Plug in the aerogarden and make sure that the pump starts pumping water around the systemm and the grow lights come on…

Set the mode to the right one for the seeds you have, most will work except 24 hours as seeds need a rest just like us…

And pop the seed pods into place on the growtable…

Then place the clear domes over the pods….

And go enjoy a cup of coffee or tea as you are finished….

Can i reuse aerogarden sponges

The aerogarden sponges, made of canadian spagnum moss hled together with a binder are where your plants grow their roots through…

So these sponges will be infiltrated with roots….

So you probably will not be able to reuse them….

If a plant was very young when it refused to grow and you cannot see any roots out of the sides or bottom then maybe…

But remember that whatever roots was in there will still be in there and rotting…

So i would say to use a fresh sponge every time you start a crop…

Can you reuse aerogarden grow baskets

The aerogarden baskets are made out of plastic…

And most of the time can be recovered by carefully cutting off the roots of the previous crop…

Then removing the used grow sponge…

And washing the basket in a weak solution of bleach or vinegar and water….

This can be done at the same time as cleaning your whole aerogarden after a crop…

So yes you can reuse the grow basket, as long as it has not been damaged and will support the grow sponge and plant.

Is the aerogarden hydroponics

The definition of hydroponics is growing plants without soil…

So as the aerogarden doesn’t use soil then yes the aerogarden is a hydroponics system…

It works by recirculating the nutrient solution over the grow sponge and root mass….

The return of the solution also oxygenates the solution thereby boosting the effectiveness of the unit…

So having the grow light, support, nutrient, oxygenating method you have a complete garden in one unit…

The test is to place it in a dark cupboard and see if the plants will grow well and if they do then it is a complete growing system giving everything a plants needs….

Should i add an airstone to my aerogarden

If you have a plant that is growing fast then it wants to take up food and oxygen from the nutrient solution…

If the temperature of the nutrient solution goes up it can hold less dissolved oxygen…

One way around this is to bubble air over the root mass…

And the main way to do this within the aerogarden is to add an airstone with an aquarium pump…

So if you see your plants wilting in the heat and there is plenty of nutrient solution in the reservoir, it is worth trying to add the airstone to help your plants…

How long can you leave an aerogarden unattended

You can leave your aerogarden until the nutrient solution runs out in the reservoir…

This is one of those vague answers of ‘it depends’

No-one can tell you how much nutrient solution your plants are going to take up daily and this will differ depending on the air temperature…

But i know when my three basil plants were full size then they were taking about 1l per day….

With the aerogarden classic reservoir containing 3.5l of water then i could possibly leave the plants 3 days without adding more water…

But there is another unit called the aerovoir that extends the size of the reservoir and adds another 1.3 us gallons or 5l…

So with that you are looking at 8 days minimum for the above example…

If you lower the temperature then your plants will be less active as well, make sure you stick well within the growing temperature limits of any plants within your aerogarden….

So before you go away keep an eye on how much water you are replacing in your reservoir and you can guestimate how long it will take to almost empty it…

And then think about adding an aerovoir to it allowing you to extend your holiday…

Can i grow cilantro in an aerogarden

Aerogarden doesn’t have a seed pod kit for cilantro, that’s because it is a little tricky to grow…

But not impossible…

What i would recommend is to start it off outside your aerogarden as it germinates a lot better in complete darkness…

If you have the cilantro seeds then crack them in half ( each round seed contains two seeds)…

Get around 5 -10 round seeds , so you end up with around 20 half seeds ( minus the ones you lose….)

Then get a piece of paper towel and wet it …not saturated but damp, so squeeze it out and flatten it out again..

Place the seed halves on one half of the paper towel and then fold the other side over so enclosing the seeds in a damp towel…

Place this inside a plastic bag and seal it most of the way closed…

Place this somewhere warm and completely dark…

Have a look at the seeds after 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours….

By this time you should see some evidence of root formation…

If the towel is drying out then by all means add some more water….

You will see some discoloration of the towel, but that is normal…

Once you see the roots are around 1 inch long then you can transfer them to the aerogarden…

Presoak the grow sponge for 2 hours…

Cut a slit in the sponge so you can lay the roots along the length of the grow sponge…

Include 4 or 5 of the growing cilantro in each sponge…

You could plant up 2 or 3 sponges and see what they do, then plant the others…

After a few days you should see evidence of the first leaves from the top of the grow sponge…

And the cilantro should go on to grow giving you leaves to harvest after 14 days….

Remember to only take a third of the growing leaves maximum…

And the cilantro will carry on growing….

I have heard that using maxigro plant food will improve the flavor over the standard aerogarden nutrient mix….

So if you find it lacking in flavor then it may be worth giving that a go…

How do you harvest aerogarden lettuce

You watch your lettuce plants start out as two little green leaves and then grow more…

And before you know it the aerogarden is full of leaves….

How to harvest the lettuce is an issue some experience..

We are so used to going to the supermarket and buying a whole lettuce, placing that in a cool place and chopping it up…

You can do this with the aerogarden lettuce, chop it off at the base and sometimes it will regrow…

But a slightly better method is to harvest enough leaves you need, and allow the plant to carry on growing…

You may find over time the leaves get more bitter as it starts to produce a chemical to prevent it from being eaten ( it is the only defense mechanism it has, the ultimate goal of a lettuce is to produce seeds…)

So taking a few leaves off the outside, and making sure you remove any dead ones will ensure the longevity of your aerogarden lettuce plants…

Do you have to change the water in an aerogarden

The aerogarden nutrient solution gives a plant everything it needs for the whole of its life…

So for the seedling it will slowly take up the nutrients it needs, as it will as it matures into a plant and then moves onto the end of its life with flowering or fruiting…

For each of these different cycles of its life it will need slightly different parts of the nutrient…

The minerals that it doesn’t use are left in the solution….

Just adding more concentrated nutrient will increase the concentration of the unused minerals and can get to the point where they interfere with the required nutrients….

So i would change the complete nutrient solution every 3 top ups minimum, and i would go further and say the best is to empty out the solution and refill with tepid water pH balanced to 6.5 for a couple of days then empty that out and refill with nutrient solution…

This will allow the plant to get rid of any excess nutrient buildup.

But the next level would be to replace the used nutrient every time the light tells you to replace nutrient with a freshly created batch…

This will keep your plants healthy and growing well…

I will be adding more questions and answers to theis post so either sign up or bookmark it to come back at a later date and see what else is answered…
As i said at the top, if your question is not here then please leave it in the comments below and i will add it to the list and answer it….

Thank you for reading