Whether you want to grow herbs, chillis, flowers or a mix you are covered with the seed pod kits from Miracle-Gro Aerogarden.
Let’s find out what they have got.
Once you have grown your first crop you are either bitten or fed up.
If you are bitten you will be planning what to grow next.
If you are fed up then you will be cleaning the unit up to pass onto another member of the family.
Whichever it is you will need to think about another seed pod kit.
Aerogarden now have over 180 different ones for you to choose.
Can you grow anything?
Well almost anything – if you decide to try root veg then you may struggle getting it out of an Aerogarden classic and it may bust the pod, but anything that grows above ground pretty much, yes.
And yes cannabis can be and is grown in these units. You will have to use the grow your own seed kit for this – as of today there is no cannabis kit.
You can prepare for a long haul or just go for a standard crop.
As i have said in other posts, i have grown chillis for over 12 years now – ok some will say what’s so special about that – but when i say it is the same plant, and it bears fruit almost all year round then…
If you have a 3 pod unit you can still buy a 7 pod kit as long as the pods fit and i think they are a standard size.
This way you are saving money and are starting to stack up the plants to grow.
Especially with something like the romaine lettuce pods – if you buy the 7 pod kit then plant two, once half grown plant another two and use up the lettuces by picking off the leaves then you will find that you have a continuous supply of leaves. you can then grow two more and carry on that way.
Mix into this a couple of tomato plants and you will be well away- just as long as you can get the light down to the lettuces.
What do you get?
Within the seed pod kits you get the baskets, sponges- preseeded and fitted in most kits, labels fitted, domes to start your seeds off the right way and a bottle of liquid nutrient.
With the grow anything kit the baskets, sponges and labels are supplied separately to allow you easy sowing of the seeds of your choice and then easily fit them together.
The sponges are made of pure Canadian sphagnum moss, so there is no mess , no dirt and maximum growing with these shaped sponges.
There is an instruction leaflet included to take you through the process, it really is not difficult.
The difficulty is to decide what to grow.
There are plants which grow well together and others that do not like each other.
I will put together a post to show which grow well together in the future so sign up to not miss it.
There is enough nutrient for a growing season ( replacing the nutrient and water every two weeks for about three months.)
And this nutrient, i have never been able to replicate the results with another off the shelf nutrient.
I have tried two or three with about the same NPK, but there must be something else in there to turbocharge the plants, as you know they grow very quickly.
In use
Fitting the seed pods into your Aerogarden is simplicity itself, just drop them in.
Make sure to read the label to determine what height the plant will become, and place tall ones at the back with short ones at the front.
This will make the nicest display.
Place the grow domes over the top, till you see the first real leaves – the first leaves you see are like baby teeth, they allow the plant to get enough energy to start growing properly.
Once you see these leaves are growing then remove the domes.
And keep changing the nutrient mix every time the lights tell you too.
It can be left for a couple of days, but make sure you are topping up the water daily if necessary.
I know my Aerogarden Harvest is now drinking about 1 litre of water daily, and it isn’t even summer yet.
When the lights tell you it need more nutrient, the instructions say to add more water and nutrient.
If you do this then the old nutrient the plants don’t want at the moment is left in the bowl.
It really is best to replace the old nutrient mix with fresh water, not softened if possible, and add nutrient to this.
I did add water and nutrient to my harvest the first two times and the plants seemed to stutter in their growth.
After i had replaced the whole mix, it took a couple of days to get them going, but after that they took off.
Are they worth it
if you damage a basket taking the old plant out then you need to support the sponge in something when you grow again.
The easiest way is to get another kit, they do sell the grow baskets and sponges separately so it is something to bear in mind.
The fact that the pods are guaranteed to grow, gives you piece of mind that as long as you place the dome over and use the correct nutrient mix they will replace any pod which does not grow.
I thought i had one in my last batch, it looked like it was going mouldy, but a few days later i saw a spec of green and up came the plant, so dill takes longer than basil to germinate. and mint takes the longest of all.
The nutrient is also available separately, and if you carry your crop on by only harvesting what you need then this is one thing you will need.
And the taste of fresh herbs…well…
I pick some of the basil leaves and tear them to add to cooking and the kitchen is filled with the strong aroma of basil.
This is one of the reasons i grow it like this, flavour.
As the plant is not struggling to get the nutrients then it can create maximum flavour, this along with the nutrient mix gives you the maximum enjoyment.
Dry the excess, or freeze the herbs that can be frozen to keep the freshness.
I would recommend browsing through the range below and selecting the ones you want to grow.