Aerogrow timelapse video

[NitrouStang96]

Click the pic. Just put this together - it is 8 days of growth. In about a month it should be one huge green clump of organic herbs





Click the pic.

 

[ThebrewdawG]

Thats pretty cool. I put eye hooks on the dome of mine and molded an extention out of plastic at work. I just kept raising and raising. I had enough cherrie tomatoes to feed the neighborhood! It got so out of controll, I had to cut em down. I wonder if anyone has grown hops in their aero grow?

 

[NitrouStang96]

I thought it would be a cool idea to grow hops in it, but can you make them bush out instead of growing in a vine?

 

[mrk305]

Sure sign of old age. All of your herbs are growing well, but nothing you can smoke!

 

[Brewing Clamper]

As Colonel Klink said once or twice... "I see nothing!"

Where did it go?

 

[PseudoChef]

Cool, I received one of these for Christmas but haven't put it together yet. I was told the light is almost blinding and I also have a cat who'll eat everything, so I really don't know where to put it.

 

[Brakeman_Brewing]

So those of you who own one, how do you like them? Tried growing any of the peppers or veggies?

Im considering getting one.

 

[Silviakitty]

The purple basil makes an amazingly good aromatic vinegar infusion.

 

[Brew Runner]

Just take a lesson from the potheads and use fluorescent or HID(sodium or metal halide...not mercury vapor)) lights.

Then again, my power bill was $300 last month, so maybe I can wait until March.....

 

[Dude]

That is cool...I want one!!!!!

 

[RichBrewer]

So those of you who own one, how do you like them? Tried growing any of the peppers or veggies?

Im considering getting one.

We got one for Christmas and it is pretty cool. The plants are pretty new so we haven't cut any yet. We are thinking about getting the strawberries and tomatos some time.

 

[volcom579]

hahaha no way, you got one of them things out of sky mall and those infomercials

 

[Soulive]

SWMBO and I put this on our registry. Hopefully someone gets it...

 

[Dude]

I got one for SWMBO for Valentine's Day, WTF.

They have free shipping right now, and are offering 5 bucks off of additional seed kits.

I hope it gets here in time....but I think she'll love it! She's been asking for one for about a year.

 

[bigjohnmilford]

that's pretty cool. how much $ do they go for?

 

[Bedlam]

Awesome!

Was that a beer bottle I saw in one of those frames?!

 

[NitrouStang96]

hahaha no way, you got one of them things out of sky mall and those infomercials

That's where we got the idea - we first heard about it on an infomercial and decided to get one after we saw it again in Sky Mall

Awesome!

Was that a beer bottle I saw in one of those frames?!

Actually, yes, while the camera was taking a timelapse I needed a picture of the beer bottles that I got the ink off of for my starsan thread, lol. I didn't realize it was in the timelapse, though.

 

[zoebisch01]

Then again, my power bill was $300 last month, so maybe I can wait until March.....

LED grow lights look promising.

 

[blacklab]

I happened upon the infomercial for this a week ago or so and actually ended up watching some of it. That thing looks sweet.

 

[pjj2ba]

LED plants lights are coming! Actually they've been around a number of years for use in plant growth chambers. They're not cheap though. Of course these are large units with light, temp. and humidty controls for conducting experiments in.

I did a quick look around the web and there are some plant scientists looking to do this on a budget more friendly to the hobbyist and it looks like there may be some commercial sources of LED arrays for a reasonable price. I may do a little more looking as right now I've got 6 fluorescent fixtures in my basement where I overwinter a bunch of deck plants. It would be nice to have something more compact and not have to replace bulbs all the time, plus use less energy.

 

[NitrouStang96]

How often do you need to replace full daylight spectrum fluorescents before they stop producing the correct amounts of the spectrum? Every year?

 

[mr x]

I used to know that... Maybe those commercials were right.lol

 

[pjj2ba]

How often do you need to replace full daylight spectrum fluorescents before they stop producing the correct amounts of the spectrum? Every year?

The spectrum won't change, but the output will. One "advantage" of incandescent bulbs is the go full tilt until they burn out. Fluorescents will slowly decrease their output before failing, so one might be getting half of the light output compared to new bulbs and not realize it.

I run my lights for about 6 months a year 18 hr/day. I find a bulb lasts me about 2 seasons. I don't buy the expensive gro, etc. lights. Yes, they have a better specturm, but if you look at the lumens they put out it is much less than the standard bulb. I use a equal mix of cool white and warm white bulbs. This gives a decent spectrum and a lot more light intensity.

Depending on the plants, this is plenty. For Arabidopsis (the white rat of the plant sciences) this is plenty of light to thrive. For greens and herbs this should be fine. For typical vegetables you need a LOT of light. For me, I'm not looking for lots of growth in the winter. My basement (aka giant lager chamber) hovers around 50 F for the most of winter so it is merely a resting time time for my plants. The cooler it is, the less light they need. I've got some window boxes of geraniums that I've had continously growing for 10 yrs.

 

[NitrouStang96]

I use a equal mix of cool white and warm white bulbs. This gives a decent spectrum and a lot more light intensity.

Fluorescent or incandescent?

Depending on the plants, this is plenty. For Arabidopsis (the white rat of the plant sciences) this is plenty of light to thrive. For greens and herbs this should be fine. For typical vegetables you need a LOT of light.

When you say a LOT of light, do you mean more lumens, i.e. a cool and warm bulbs? Or do you mean a full spectrum as in a grow light?

 

[Nierika]

I have one of these, and I have to say it's pretty cool. I've been growing/harvesting the herb kit for about 5 months now. The purple basil is really awesome, cilantro and parsely are great, dill was a slow starter but has really taken off (although I havn't found a ton of uses for dill), mint is growing but I don't really use the mint too much, and the chives were a dud from the start I've started experimenting with some flower seeds in the pods that have died (chives and cilantro) and they are sprouting. I think it is about time to start a fresh batch (There is a bit of mold on the base of the plants, and the entire unit could use a good scrubbing) Salad greens are up next. I am going to try and transplant the purple basil to some soil because it is that good.

Overall it is an extremely easy way to grow stuff. It's inspired my to look into some compact fluorescents with full spectrum bulbs (this thing is like the Mr Beer of indoor gardening- good for what it is) It's a bit pricey compared to compact fluorescents, and the seed pods are expensive (they're about $25 per kit)

PseudoChef: I have two cats that will also eat anything. When I first started growing I put some aluminum foil around the area with the plants and gradually removed it. They got used to it after a little while (Although I do have to tape the slot where the water goes in, my one cat has a water fetish)

 

[NitrouStang96]

Do NOT buy the seedpods. I confirmed with their tech support that all you need to do is put about 5 seeds (which is what they do) into that little spongey thing, and let er rip. Spend a few bucks for seeds that will supply you for years instead of $25 every season.

 

[pjj2ba]

Fluorescent or incandescent?

When you say a LOT of light, do you mean more lumens, i.e. a cool and warm bulbs? Or do you mean a full spectrum as in a grow light?

Fluorescents.

Plants need two things, light of the proper waves (a mix of reds and blues), and then the proper light intensity (lumens). If you provide lots of light, but with a poor spectrum of wavelengths (incandescents - very little blue) they may grow, but not real well. Or you can have the right wavelengths, but not enough light intensity. This is the draw back to a lot of fluorescent gro-lights. They are getting much better though. Cool and warm fluorsescents refers to the spectrum of light they put out. By using a mix of warm and cool fluorescents you can get a spectrum that approaches that of a standard fluorescent grow light, but you will have a higher light intensity, and are much cheaper. Add a single incandescent bulb for some extra red light and most plants are quite happy

 

[Dude]

I'm loving ours. We are 2 weeks into it and everything we planted (chives, mint, basil, 2 varities of cherry tomatoes) are growing nicely. This thing is way cool and we haven't even harvested anything yet!!!!!

I'm seriously curious on growing hops in this thing. How could it be done?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

We're always eating fresh herbs, and we had a pretty large herb garden for a while in New Mexico. Now that we're apartment dwelling (at least for a little while), I decided to spring for the AeroGrow. It's only been a few days, and most of the seeds are germinating well ahead of the timetable shown on the labels. I'm about to start a small batch of agave wine, and I'm going to use a blow-off tube into a container that sits right in the middle of the AeroGrow platform. Having read a lot of good things about supplemental CO2 in indoor hydroponic/aeroponic gardens, I figure it can't hurt! I'll post pictures when I get the wine going.

 

[PseudoChef]

Man, mine sucks. Only the two varieties of basil grew. Everything else started, and then died before there was anything worthwhile to use.

 

[NitrouStang96]

Really?! That's weird. We're about to experiment with planting our own seeds from different herbs and some grape and cherry tomato plants into the Aerogrow pods.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Here's mine (4 days growth) with the agave wine supplemental CO2 system:

 

[Zul'jin]

Blame Yuri Rage. I saw a pick of his in the gallery banner. Hmmm, this isn't the first time something of Yuri's has interested me.

Anyone still doing this and how's it going?

I've had some success with starting seedlings indoors in peat plugs using a fluorescent lamp. Never mind any other house plants

 

[dataz722]

I have one of these and love it. I am really wanting to buy a second one.

 

[NJTomatoguy]

Just take a lesson from the potheads and use fluorescent or HID(sodium or metal halide...not mercury vapor)) lights.

Then again, my power bill was $300 last month, so maybe I can wait until March.....

Or shoplights, 3 inches above plants, set on 16 hr cycles, with timers.50/50
Miracle Grow potting mix/peat moss and a room at 76 during day, 67 at night.

I'll have tomatoes before july 4