the Aerogarden range of indoor hydroponic units are excellent methods of getting into hydroponics, and they need their water changing frequently – so how much water do you need to get ready for which model, look it up in the table below.
How much water does an aerogarden hold – it does depend on the model with the smaller 3 pod sprout holding 1.1l (1.2quarts or 0.3 U.S. gallons), the 6 pod units holding about 2.6l (2.75 quarts or 0.7 U.S. gallons), the 9 pod models holding 4.1l (4.3 quarts or 1.1 U.S. gallons), and the farm range holding 7.6l (8 quarts or 2 U.S. gallons).
You can gauge the amount of water from the number of pods, with the list of models, past and present listed below.
To increase the Aerogarden water capacity you can use an Aerovoir reservoir.
Aerogarden model water capacity table
| Aerogarden model | water (L) | water (quarts) | water (U.S. gallons) | number of pods | lights |
| Farm | 7.6 | 8 | 2 | 24 | 2X60w |
| Farm plus | 7.6 | 8 | 2 | 24 | 2X60w |
| Bounty elite WIFI | 4.1 | 4.3 | 1.1 | 9 | 45w led |
| bounty WIFI | 4.1 | 4.3 | 1.1 | 9 | 45w led |
| Bounty elite | 4.1 | 4.3 | 1.1 | 9 | 45w led |
| bounty | 4.1 | 4.3 | 1.1 | 9 | 45w led |
| Ultra | 4.1 | 4.3 | 1.1 | 7 | 30w led |
| Extra | 3.2 | 3.5 | 0.88 | 7 | 30w led |
| classic 6 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 6 | 20w led |
| harvest touch | 2.6 | 2.75 | 0.7 | 6 | 20w led |
| harvest elite | 2.6 | 2.75 | 0.7 | 6 | 20w led |
| harvest elite WIFI | 2.6 | 2.75 | 0.7 | 6 | 20w led |
| harvest WIFI | 2.3 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 6 | 20w led |
| harvest | 2.3 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 6 | 20w led |
| sprout | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 3 | 10w led |
| harvest 360 | |||||
| harvest slim | |||||
| pro 100 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 7 | 52w cfl |
What level should you keep the water up to
The water in the Aerogarden mixes with the nutrients and will be taken up by the plants faster than the nutrients.
So as the water level drops the concentration of nutrient to water rises.
This will reach a point that the plants cannot take up any more nutrient and stop growing, called nutrient lockout.
To prevent this from happening I always advise keeping the water topped up.
On the units i have this is carried out daily, when I am looking at the condition of the plants to see if they need any attention.
I keep a 1L pot of tap water under the units, out of the sunlight to prevent algae growth.
This means that it is at room temperature and has stood for a while to allow the chlorine to evaporate off.
So i would always recommend not waiting for the add water light to start flashing, but to top up the reservoir daily to the fill here level and use room temperature water.
What type of water should i use
Plants are sensitive to certain chemicals and can go off their food and stop growing if there is too much of one type.
When you mix the nutrients with water it is assumed it is a certain type of water – not too hard or too soft ( these
have levels of salts at levels not all plants like).
Your water is classified as hard if it is 120 ppm or above, you can check your water quality statement for this level.
And soft if it below 60ppm.
If you use a water softener to make your municipal water more palatable then please don’t feed this to your Aerogarden plants, your softener adds more salts into the water to change its characteristics.
This added salt really does not mix well with the Aerogarden nutrients, so if you can use bottled water or distilled water.
Most of the water in the United states will be ok, except for the south and southwest, where it is known to be hard water.
Other types of water you want to avoid are
- Well water – possible high mineral content
- Softened water – high in sodium
- Rain water – unpredictable in mineral content
- Spring water -high in mineral content
- Dehumidifier water – unknown mineral content
If you are worried about your plant growth speed then do a test of bottled distilled water against your tap water and see which does better.
What about going away
When your plants are just germinating then there is no problem at all leaving them for a week without topping up, they will not use much water at all.
Once your plants start growing then they will consume a lot more water.
If you have too many mature plants within your aerogarden then their requirements for water could outstrip the reservoir capacity.
Or if you want to leave them for a weeks vacation, what then…..
The last thing you want is to come back to wilted plants or even worse…..
But aerogarden have thought about this and have a solution.
The Aerovoir, an external reservoir that automatically tops up your reservoir.
It does need a little setting up, so don’t get this at the last minute – have a couple of run throughs to make sure it is working.
The idea is that the water level gets low enough to allow the external reservoir to fill the aerogarden up and then stops.
There have been reports that it doesn’t and floods have been reported.
If the unit is setup correctly then all will be well.
I created a post in more depth about this Aerovoir .
My aerogarden keeps flashing add water
The aerogarden has a method where a little float with a magnet comes closer to the base and activated a special switch when it comes near enough.
This causes the aerogarden controller to flash the add water light to remind you that your aerogarden needs more water.
If you have added water to the fill here and your aerogarden continues to flash make sure it is not time to add nutrients or change the water.
Pressing the reset button briefly should clear this.
If that doesn’t work then it maybe a stuck float.
The tube for the fill here will twist off revealing the float.
Once the fill here tube is off and the float removed press the reset button briefly and the add water light should go out.
How do you change the water in an aerogarden
This is my main problem with the aerogardens – replacing the water in the grow bowl.
The grow bowl is removable in most model and you are supposed to carry this along with the plants to a sink and pour the old nutrient mix away and refill the bowl.
What if you have mature plants – they tend to be top heavy.
You really risk damaging these doing this.
They also have a hand pump to pump out the nutrient into a bucket, for you to then refill the reservoir.
It would be nice for them to come up with an electric pump, similar to those used for aquariums fitted into a pot, large enough so that it won’t spill the contents, to allow you to empty the grow bowl with ease.
Maybe that is something that will come in the future……
But those are the two ways to change the water in the grow bowl.
Pick up the grow bowl and plants and pour the waste nutrient down the drain ( i tend to save it and add it to my other soil based house plants – they love it, but don’t add too much as they can overdose on it- indicated by white salts on the surface – rinse with water if you get to this stage)
Or use a hand pump to pump the nutrient out of the bowl into a waiting bucket.
Well i hope this article has been of some use in determining how much water you need to store at room temperature to change the water in your aerogarden.
And what type of water to use.
If you have any other hints and tips on changing the water in an aerogarden please leave them in the comments below.
Thanks for reading
Phil
I have been growing plants hydroponically since 2009. For years before that i was reading books and looking at systems and saying ...no way...
But once i had taken the plunge with the tomatoes outside, then there was no stopping me.
I tried out most of the systems and started to refine them, getting the plants to grow more efficiently.
Now I am more interested in indoor hydroponics and the challenges it presents. Being able to control the environment, feeding the correct nutrients and giving the correct length and type of lighting....