What do you do when they get too tall for your Aerogarden?

H

HSA

Well-Known Member
This is a problem I haven't had before and believe me I'm not complaining. I'm just hoping my solution to the problem meets with everyone's approval. I stop pruning when they start blooming. With the 24 inch arms that come with the upgrade kit I usually finish my crop with about two inches of height to spare. But my instructor's new light schedule combined with Technafloras "Recipe for Success," seems to have produced 'miniature monsters' that wanted to outgrow my A/G. When the boys started growing 'balls' I pulled them out and put them in the composter leaving only one large plant in each A/G. At 24 inches arm/light stand height they didn't seem to have any intention to stop growing so I started 'gently bending them over.'

I took clear four pound nylon monofilament fishing line that we use for trout and I tied it off two to three inches below the topical bud. I gently bent the stem over and weighted down the fishing line with a series of crimp on lead weights. Some need only 1/16th of an ounce, some 1/8th and some require close to a quarter of an ounce.

So far so good. Now they're growing horizontally instead of vertically up into the heat of the lamps, and they've still blooming nicely. Has anyone else had this problem? I'd love to take credit for this, if it works, but I'm sure I read about it some where and decided to try it. I just can't remember where I read about it.
 
Junnk

Junnk

Well-Known Member
LOL dude im in the same boat, I did the exact same thing, I used fishing line to bend her and now she is growing to the side but the top always finds its way to the light source, so right now the plant looks hilarious
 
ohnothimagin

ohnothimagin

Well-Known Member
I use twine and gently bend it to the side. Junnk is correct, they always grow towards the light. I'm currently growing white widow and AK-48 and I had to tie both down. I've got another month before harvest.

Happy New Year!!
 
B.COM

B.COM

Member
options :

1. cut the main stem near the top aka "topping" them ...if they are still in veg stage.
2. tie them LOOSELY to a support structure you build around the sides of the garden

...and dont wait so long to swich to 12/12 bud :P
 
H

HSA

Well-Known Member
Junnk: it may look hilarious but you and I know it works. You're right, you bend it over and then it grows some more horizontally and bends up on its own to the light. I have some that look like snakes. I've bent them over two and three times and they still go for the light, but that's a given, they're phototropic.
I just got a new camera and as soon as I can figure out how to use the damn thing I'll post some pictures because this is a real simple solution to a problem that vexes a lot of us. I'll bet there are a lot of people out there who are trying to solve it by pruning.
 
H

HSA

Well-Known Member
Bcom: for the first time I'm 'avoiding topping' my plants if at all possible, which admittedly I've always done in the past without incident. I guess I've had better luck than I deserve because I haven't had any real problems. I've heard of people chopping off too much and having their plants do a sex change on them.

Thanks to Paul James's "Gardening By the Yard" television show and Aerogarden's accompanying instructions I've tried to never prune off more than 1/3 of the new growth, and I've never pruned after the vegetative stage. To me that would be counter productive.

One saving grace I may have always had might have been my habit of giving my victims a good shot of vitamin B-1. That's a constant addition to Technaflora's "Recipe of Success" so I guess my nutes were working for me without me knowing it. Of course now we're not growing basil and oregano in our A/G's.

Recently I started taking classes and an instructor told us that pruning should be avoided if at all possible because it can cause severe shock and that can stunt our plant's growth for as much as a couple of weeks, and that's something I don't want to do. Now I'm sure that there're a couple of clowns out there who will chastise my instructor's well intentioned advice because they didn't think of it first but I have to say that things have gone going along well without my having to prune.

Instead of cutting, when my plants threaten to outgrow my A/G, I gently bend them over and let them grow horizontally, and it works great! I tie them off with 4 pound nylon trout fishing line near the end of the stem before the forming buds and I weigh them down into the shape I want with crimp on fishing weights. It's very simple and it works like a champ.

I just bought a digital camera that's supposed to be good for close up work to replace the SLR they stole with my truck years ago and hopefully a friend is going to show me how to use it. I want to learn how to transfer the photos of what I'm doing to my computer as opposed to taking a roll of film in to be developed. I want to show others in the Forum that there are easier and some times less destructive ways to do things with an Aerogarden.
 
H

HSA

Well-Known Member
GEDC0023.jpgGEDC0022.jpgThe easy thing is to bend and weigh them down. Here are some shots of my grow. Please forgive the photography, I'm just learning.
 
Fuzzbutter

Fuzzbutter

Active Member
Well, you can raise the lid using an external source like by tying it up, but I actually have found that a 150HPS light works AMAZING during flower with an aerogarden. You can see in my grow journal how big my plants are :)
 
H

HSA

Well-Known Member
Pryapsm: no, that's the charm of it. You tie off the stem behind the topical bud that's forming, gently bend it over and start adding weights until they keep it where you want it. At the end of the string of weights you put on a split shot and crimp it into place with your finger tips. It works so well and it's so easy you'll wonder why you didn't think of it.
 
H

HSA

Well-Known Member
PRYAPSM said:
So the weights allow them to grow horizontally? Do you attach the line to anything else?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
PRYAPSM: After I tie off the end of the stem I start slipping on lead bullet weights until I get the bend I want. Then I crimp on a split shot at eh end to keep the bullets in place. If you look at the photos above I think you'll see that. Or you'll have to forgive me for the shitty photography as this is the first camera I've had in about twenty years and the last one had film in it.
 
P

PRYAPSM

Member
Gotcha, I will have to try it when my buds grow that tall. What type of fishing line did you use? Or does that even matter? All I have is some 4 pound test, will cut into the stem and cause damage? thanks
 
H

HSA

Well-Known Member
PRYAPSM said:
So the weights allow them to grow horizontally? Do you attach the line to anything else?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
PRYAPSM: No, you don't need to tie it to anything else. If you have enough free hanging weight it will do the job of redirecting the stem's growth nicely. Just make sure you don't unbalance your plant because it has all the weights on one side. It doesn't have the security of roots in dirt to keep it solid. When I bend and tie off one stem and do the same to another one I hang the weights on the second stem over the opposite side to balance it. Some times you can hold down a second stem by running the line from another one over it.
As far as what line to use: I had a reel full of old 4 pound clear nylon trout fishing line in my tackle box, a bunch of sliding bullet weights and a bag of crimp on weights and they worked great. When a friend had to buy his from Wal-Mart to do the same thing he said it cost him about ten bucks.
 
H

HSA

Well-Known Member
Fuzzbutter: The point is consolidating the plants growth to fit the system you're using. The tall, 24" arm/light stand gives you about all the height the system can stand. You don't have the stability of growing in dirt, with the roots able to hold on, and they're in that little reservoir. Even 24" plants can be hard to keep upright.
 
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