In the few weeks, we lost two leaves quickly to rot (Rob’s Seduction and Rob’s Shadow Magic). We suspect that the air circulation in the area of the AeroGarden unit is insufficient, leading to the loss of the leaves as well as the additional problems with powdery mildew, surface mold, and rust rot noted below.

At 4 weeks, the back leaves are bleached out from too much light, and Rob’s Seduction is rotting away.

Leaf rot.

Plantlets are beginning to show at the base of Shirl’s Hawaiian Lei leaf.

All the plugs are choked with algae and spotted with white mold.

At 60 days, the situation is worse:

Rob’s Slap Happy is prolific but bleached out and tinged with rust.

Rob’s Boondoggle is very susceptible to powdery mildew.

Shirl’s Hawaiian Lei is succumbing to rust rot.

Rob’s June Bug is choked with algae and not producing plantlets yet.

Our F2 hybrid leaf is bleached out, choked with algae, and spotted with white mold.

Leaf Experiment Unsuccessful

At 60 days, we deem the experiment less than successful. We’ll transplant the growing African violet plantlets, and start the next batch of leaves with better air circulation and less intense light. Stay tuned…

First, we chose seven leaves from our African violet plant collection and prepared them for planting by washing them and then cutting the stems at an angle, leaving as much stem length as possible. Peat plugs were inserted into the plastic AeroGarden baskets and placed in the AeroGarden unit, which had already been filled with water. Plugs were covered with plastic discs (homemade, cut from plastic file folders) to reduce algae growth. Finally, the unit was set to “Herbs” which allows for the longest light cycle and most frequent water cycle.

Preparing AV leaves for planting

Ready for the plugs

Placing the plugs in the AeroGarden unit

Plugs are covered to reduce algae growth

Ready to be labeled:
Back row: Rob’s Slap Happy, F2 hybrid (single red pansy), Rob’s Shadow Magic, Rob’s Seduction
Front row: Rob’s Boon Doggle, Rob’s June Bug, Shirl’s Hawaiian Lei

Rooted Leaves

Twelve days after planting, a tug on each leaf confirms that they are well-rooted. There’s no way to predict when plantlets will emerge. We may have to cut off the tops of the leaves to prevent the leaves themselves from growing instead of producing plantlets. Stay tuned!

Leaves are well-rooted two weeks after planting

See the experiment turned out on the update page.

This successful grow project has been fun and rewarding. We’ve got lots of peppers ripening and more and more flowers opening and being pollinated at the top of the canopy. When the plants run their course we will consider growing grape tomatoes (or currant tomatoes) in the AeroGarden.

The peppers are delicious, by the way

click photos to enlarge

DAY 90:

See also…

• AeroGardens and accessories
• Liquid hydroponics nutrients
• Pepper seeds

Since the seeds came from market-bought peppers, we don’t know the growth habit of the plants: how tall they will grow, whether they will need to be pruned, staked or tied, or if they will produce peppers all season long, all year long, or all at once. What we do know, for sure, is that they are self-pollinating.

Who knew growing vegetables indoors could be so much fun?

click photos to enlarge

DAY 60:

Two months after planting seeds…	…we’ve got a good crop growing!
Many are the size of jalapenos…
Color should be developing soon

» Click to see the first AeroGarden bell pepper crop «

See also…

• AeroGarden indoor units and accessories
• Liquid hydroponic nutrients
• Pepper seeds

Before ordering an AeroGarden we started saving seeds from tomatoes (cherry and grape) and bell peppers. Some particularly delicious miniature bell peppers yielded a good crop of seeds, so they are the first seeds to be sown in the new AeroGarden PRO200.

Red, orange, and yellow baby bell pepper seeds were sown midday immediately after unpacking the AeroGarden. Seeds sprouted on the 5th day – earlier than anticipated. Bumper crop on the way…scroll down for the latest photos.

click photos to enlarge

DAY 1:

Not much to see here yet…

DAY 5:

DAY 6:

DAY 28:

Baby bell peppers at 28 days. A garlic plant grows in a pot to the left, and thunbergia seedlings (black-eyed susan vine) are in plugs to the right. A minimum-maximum hygrometer/thermometer monitors the humidity and temperature.

DAY 31:

31 Days into the growth cycle – flower buds are forming

Buds on AeroGarden pepper plants

(click on images to enlarge)

DAY 40:

The first flowers began to open around 40 days after planting.

DAY 48:

The first mini baby bell pepper!

See how the pepper plants look at 60 days…click here!

See also…

• AeroGarden indoor units and accessories
• Liquid hydroponic nutrients
• Pepper seeds

The AeroGarden Pro200 is sleek and attractive, runs quietly, and took about 10 minutes to unbox and set up.

AeroGrow (the company that makes the AeroGarden line of products) recently dropped the prices on all the AeroGarden models, and with free shipping this purchase was a great deal. Plus, the unit arrived with two freebies that we weren’t expecting:

• The AeroGarden Herb ‘n Serve – a very cool, battery-operated salad dressing and marinade maker. Works like a small blender, just add fresh herbs, oil and vinegar, blend and serve. Comes with a booklet full of recipes for dressings made with your freshly grown AeroGarden crops
• Herb it up! – a 2-inch thick binder full of recipes, tips and techniques for using your AeroGarden herbs, organized by cuisine (Tuscan Italian, Mediterranean, South of the Border etc.) and by food type (Poultry, Seafood, Beef & Pork, Pasta & Rice etc.)

Neither of these items was advertised as bonus gifts when we placed the order, so it was a really nice surprise to find them when the box was opened.

click on photos to enlarge…

Everything that came in the box: AeroGarden PRO200 unit, Herb ‘n Serve, Recipe book, and Aerogarden catalog

Herb ‘n Serve Salad Dressing & Marinade Maker

Herb it Up! Fresh Herb Cooking for Everyone recipe book

Opening the AeroGarden Pro200 box, we find everything well organized and tightly packed for shipping:

• The AeroGarden unit: base, bowl, lamp arm, hood
• three grow light bulbs
• the Master Gardener Kit (to sow your own seeds)
• a Gourmet Herb kit (pre-seeded pods)
• a quick-start guide to setting up the unit

Once everything was out of the box, set up was very quick: Insert the bulbs, assemble the unit, fill it with water, add seeds to the pods and label them, choose the grow setting, drop in the nutrients, and done. The only thing left to do is to set the timer for the lamp at the time you want the lights to go off.

A note about labeling the pods: The set-up guide says to use a dry iron to affix labels to the grow pods. Instead, we used used a little bit of white glue on the rims of the plastic pod baskets. The glue is standing up to plant growth and humidity just fine.

Grow lights inserted into the hood	Unit assembled
Master Gardener kit	Pods inserted
Lights on, and we’re all set to go	Companion plants for the AeroGarden

Other plants will love sitting next to your AeroGarden unit. African violets, in particular, make great companion plants for your AeroGarden.

Read about the seeds planted for the first AeroGarden project, and watch them grow…

click to read about the baby bell peppers…

You may be interested in:

• AeroGardens and accessories
• pH Kits and Hydroponic Nutrients

AeroGarden Classic in Black

At first, I had indoor garden envy. As an indoor grower of herbs and flowering house plants I had to admire the beauty of the thing. After all, most of my grow systems are ‘jerry-rigged’ out of net pots, inexpensive plastic pieces and miscellaneous odds and ends soldered together – efficient and productive, but not very attractive. That’s what you get when experimenting (in soil, soilless, hydroponic, semi-hydro, aeroponic, passive hydro etc.) on a budget.

After observing my mom’s first growing season with the AeroGarden I was already thinking of ways I would reverse engineer the unit (if I had one) to grow the plants that *I* would want to grow, without having to buy the seed kits from AeroGrow. For this primary reason I wasn’t in any hurry to purchase a unit.

Fast forward to December 2009: I decided to get some replacement bulbs and seed kits as stocking stuffers for Mom. I discovered the Master Gardener Kit that allows you to plant whatever seeds you want in your AeroGarden Classic (so, Mom is getting that for Christmas, too). And I discovered all the different models that have come out since the original AeroGarden, from cute and colorful (see below) to space-saving units and the Pro Series. They even have a trellis system for tying tall plants like tomatoes and peppers.

Finally, after three years, I made the commitment – I ordered an AeroGarden Pro200:

To sweeten the deal, I got 20% off and free shipping. Check out unboxing the AeroGarden Pro200.

If you’re interested in a smaller unit, the AeroGarden 3 comes in lots of colors and patterns:

=> See all the AeroGardens available now