I’m planning on growing veg which is why I put this thread here - Mods, if it should be in IMHO please move - thanks! 
So - does anyone have an AeroGarden? Does it work well? I live in a place with a really short growing season and I like having fresh veg which can get expensive in the winter.
I have an idea that I could grow fresh lettuce, herbs and maybe other things if they work well.
Does anyone have an opinion on this gizmo?
I’ve been an Aerogarderner for about two years…
as to “if they’re worth it”, well…
It depends, you can easily build a close approximation of an AG for a quarter of the price, and have something larger and more versatile, but it won’t look as nice or be nearly as “idiot proof”
Aerogarden upsides;
truly plug-and-play, plug it in, fill with water, drop in the fertilizer tabs and seed pods, when you need to add water, or nutes, or change the bulbs, it tells you on the control panel
Stylish and fits in to most any decor
Aerogarden downsides;
water resivoir only holds one gallon of water (6 pod units)
bulbs are a proprietary Aerogarden design, Compact Flourescents with a proprietary pin-base plug
there are two differing designs, a water pump based garden (older design), and an air pump-and-airstone design (newer), both pump systems are less than reliable, but at least the water pump models have user-replaceable pumps
airstone based models have a truly worthless piston-style air pump that loses power after about a year of use (just when the warranty expires) and the pumps are sealed inside the base unit, non-replaceable, and cheap, low quality crap
I have three airstone based units, one three pod and two six podders, both of the pumps on the six podders have failed, I don’t want to spend another $60 each for new base units, so I disassembled the base unit, removed the crappy pump, and tapped into the air-line hose, using a Whisper 60 aquarium pump to drive both gardens and get dramatically better results
Now, if I could only find a non-AG source for replacement bulbs…
They’re a good way to get your…(must…resist…pun…) “feet wet”, as it were, into hydroponic gardening, and they are nice looking, you can just get far better results from a homebrew system;
A water container with tight fitting lid
an aquarium air pump and airstone
some form of lighting system (4’ flourescent shop-lite strips with a warm white and cold white bulb in each strip)
a simple mechanical light timer
I have a 13-pod homebrew rig, I used one of those Sterlite under-bed wide flat totes as the water chamber, drilled 1" holes in so I can use the Aerogarden baskets and peat sponges, put in a couple long flat airstones, and drive it with the Whisper 60, I have two 4’ shop lite strips with the aforementioned bulbs in them (warm/cool white mix) and have lined the back wall of the hydrocorner with a mylar “space blanket” to reflect more light back to the plants
once my bulbs in my tall Aerogarden die, I’ll be switching back to my DIY rig and shutting the AG’s down for good, good learning experience, but I’ve outgrown them, the standard AG’s last set of bulbs has died, and I don’t feel like spending $20 for a pair of proprietary CF bulbs that are only “good” for 6 months (they’ll still work long after that, but AG claims their effectiveness drops off after 6 months, BS, I’ve used bulbs until they died, and only saw a slight slowing of growth, not enough to warrant throwing out functional bulbs, thanks to their proprietary pin base, they can’t even be reused in household fixtures
if you want a simple plug-and-go device and accept the risk of pump failures, they’re a decent home garden, but homebrew rigs are much better and more efficient
Oh, and Aerogrow has also been having financial difficulties recently, the rumors are circulating that they might go out of business, if they do, there goes your source of bulbs…
I have two of 'em, and they’re OK. I bought one for myself, and one as a gift for Mr. Athena because he loooooves cherry tomatoes.
They work pretty well, but they are limited. The herbs, for example, never are quite enough for what I want. I can’t make a good batch of pesto, for example, off the amount of basil that grows in the herb pack. Same with the parsley - were I to trim the full-grown plant and use it for any reasonably sized recipe, it’d be down to the roots.
The herbs aren’t quite as tasty as dirt-grown herbs, either. They seem delicate and light.
Overall, I used it the first year or two I had it, but not so much anymore. Handier to just buy herbs at the grocery store.
The cherry tomatoes turned out pretty good, though. Hubby liked 'em. And then he planted some petunias, which also made him happy. So overall verdict: good for fun, happy things, not so good for “I need 2 cups of basil for pesto.”
I traded mine for a toaster oven. The light doesn’t go high enough, so some of your plants burn and crowd out light while others shrivel and die. It’s cool, I guess, and good for conversation, but not really worth all the trouble.
I adore mine, here is it last spring when I had just set it up …
I know people think I am nuts, but I have seasonal affective disorder, and it is actually my bedside/bedroom lamp. It turns on at 5 am and turns off at 10 pm, and is full spectrum. It is my alarm clock and prompts me to go to bed =) I keep my personal use computer in the bedroom for lack of space [hubby gets my living room desk that I set up when I was working out of the house as he has the job i the household. I frequently end up also gaming on a laptop on a hospital table when my gimpness flares and I have issues moving out of my bed.
I can highly recommend the genovese basil, it is trying to take over the world and it has to be visciously cut back once a week or it gets too tall and bushy for the aerogarden. I also have the one designed for vining plants like tomatoes, which has black Krim heirloom tomatoes with cute little frondy thyme plants in the other spots.
They recently went with liquid fertilizer instead of the tablets, but many people buy some other brand of liquid fertilizer and use that instead.
My mom loves the one I got her (two, actually, long story), in winter. In summer, she doesn’t care so much, but in winter? Fresh herbs, woo.
Humm - so 2 ‘mehs’ 2 ‘they’re delightful!’ and 1 ‘here’s how to build your own!!’
I have to say, the last option is probably a bit beyond my abilities so purchasing would probably be the way to go.
I wonder how difficult it would be to switch out the light source if their bulbs do become unavailable? I’ve never inspected one very closely.
I like mine. Except my cat likes to lay on top of the plants under the lights. I need to put down some duct tape or something. But they’re quite nice.
Do you tend to use it for lettuces and things, or more for flowers?
I think they look quite pretty so having one for flowers might be OK, but it’s really the fresh lettuce that I’m mostly interested in. (Herbs too, but I’ve never been able to grow an adequately large herb pant to actually make a pesto or anything although for sauces and things they do OK).
I was thinking of getting it for my mother, but she pointed out how expensive it was, and that it was cheaper to buy produce in the supermarket.
Herbs - the only herb I can grow indoors otherwise is basil. For some reason I can’t keep dill or mint alive in my kitchen, so this is very convenient for me.
So I’m bumping this thread because mother’s day is rapidly approaching, and the Mr. has requested ideas and this is one that I’m floating around.
Any updates? Anyone have a newer one and have details to share? Anyone who previously liked theirs now decided you hate the thing?
I will note that the price seems to have come down quite a bit. (~20%)
I still love mine, and am prepping to replant, am going with the genovese basil again [I tried a lemon basil and was not happy with it, I want my genovese back!] with a mint on each side, and 3 thyme in the front three spots.
I will note that several people I have spoken with say the chives do not do well, and that you should wrap your pump in a stocking to keep roots from slithering in and infesting the pump. I would also recommend going with a liquid plant food as it wont cause mineral deposits, go with filtered water from a brita or equivalent.
[I got my mom the little ladybug one a few years ago, she likes it still =)]
I’m just about to load mine up for my second round. This time I’m going for chilies, till now I’ve been using the herb pods that came with it. I love it - it’s practically idiot proof, looks really dramatic and produces mounds of herbs for freezing. I like the fact that there’s a range of herbs that are really nice to have constantly available, where I wouldn’t necessarily bother with them if I had to buy them in specially.
I’m a very undisciplined gardener - weeks of virtual neglect, followed by probable over-watering, hence this is perfect for me. It tells me what to do and when, and it’s right there in front of me so I can’t forget it.
Downsides - my chives also didn’t ever take off. They were crowded out and just never caught on. Shame really, as I use a tonne of chives in cooking. There was never enough basil for me to use fresh, and the recipes I like don’t cope with frozen. On the other hand I’m loathe to go for a grow pack that just includes basil, that might be too much.
Next time I’m going to try to repot before I change the contents again - although I’ve researched that and it does seem quite complicated.
Got mine for Christmas so it’s a new model.
