Have you tried aerogarden?
- Thread starter Oblongo
- Start date
I have attempted three grow cycles so far. The 1st one putting the seed in the grow plugs to allow them to germinate. Bad move. Only one plant made it. After five weeks it was looking great with two weeks in the flowering stage lights 12 hrs ON/OFF. Then one day i was adding water and the fan fell flipped to high and blew directly on the plant snapping it in half. My next grow I germinated three seeds and put them in the Aerogarden. All three grew very well put all three where males, Crap!!! Well i recently bought some AK48 feminized seeds from Nirvana in Ansterdam. I am determined to get a female plant. I germinated all five seeds using paper towels and placed all five seeds in five of the six grow plugs of the Aerogarden Elite 6. I placed a glof ball on the other hole to cover it. I am using their lights and have a 14-watt LED Blue/Red on each side. I have a 3' x 3' x 6' H Grow Box which i have the Aerogarden, fan, lights and a seperate pump and 3 Airstone i am using. So far after three weeks i have two plants that made it out of five. I must say they look extremely good. They are small and bushy with small nodes with alot of new leafs on every node. I am using Flora Nova Grow and Bloom for nutrients. I have the lights on the Vegetable setting which has the light set at 16 hrs On and 8 hrs OFF. When i go into the flowering stage i have a timer i use that allows me to go to a 12 hr ON/OFF light cycle. You have to start the flowering stage early as the lights only go so high and some strains take forever to flower. This time i am going to take the Aerogarden lights off when the plants start hitting the lights at there highest setting. I am going to use a 150 watt HPS light for the remainder of the grow. I will post pictures if anyone wants or even reads this post anymore? Peace out. Mike.
If you're growing for personal need in a small space A/G's are great. They possibly require more attention than other forms of cultivation because they have such a small reservoir and water/nutrient quality can change daily. That's one problem. The lighting is marginal if you have the two lamps older version but you can upgrade it to a taller arm/light stand that will go up to twenty-four inches and light up you plants with three high intensity CFL's that won't put you in the poor house eating up electricity like other forms of lighting. A/G's are self contained and you can use it right out of the box. Once you get accustomed to it and with a few modifications you can produce a small crop of buds every three to four months. I love mine.
You probably didn't do anything wrong but it sounds a lot like you had some seed problems. I would plant only three plants and close of the other four holes with A/G's plugs. They prevent the formation of algae and root contamination and they work better than anything I've ever jerry rigged. I like to plant in the center holes of the planting deck. If you have a three CFL hood and taller arm/light stand I think you'll find you don't need the extra lighting. A/G's weren't designed to grow 'our favorite herb' but they're very flexible.
You might want to try A/G's starter tray. It has sixty holes in the Styrofoam base and sixty grow plugs that work real well. You can see it at their web site. If you start them in the starter tray you don't have to handle anything but the grow plugs after they're established and there's less chance of transplant shock. I haven't found a better way to start from seed.
Mine always need more dark time. I have the older model and when I force flower them I use an independent timer and a figure eight cord to adjust to 12/12. With flowering nutrients you'll get buds, little ones, but wonderful buds.
A lot of what I've seen on You Tube was with the old two lamp version that only goes up to twelve inches. The newer models are better for what we want to do and if you get an older one you'll want to upgrade it.
It's great for growing in an apartment or a small house for personal use. It was designed to grow herbs and veggies not M/J but with a few modifications you can grow some sweet buds. If you get one make user you get the one with THREE high intensity flat CFL's not the round ones and the light stand that extends to 24 inches. I love mine but they are a lot of work. With the small reservoir you need to stay on the pH and check it daily. It's a high intensity labor operation if you want good M/J but it's lots of fun.
That depends a lot on what you're trying to do with it. It was designed to grow herbs and veggies at home not M/J. If you have a six or seven hole model with the tall light stand, 24 inches, and the three high intensity CFL's hood you have a very versatile growing system that can produce some sweet buds. If you know how to use it, with a few modifications it can be a lot of fun to grow your own.
