I first heard about AeroGardens a while back but didn’t really pursue it.  An AeroGarden is a self contained hydroponic gardening kit.  It allows you to grow some things year round indoors.

The product consists of a tank, light source, air pump, plant food, power supply, and seed pod starter packs.  Depending on the model there are electronics that keep track of the days since you planted, when to add plant food, and low water reminder.  Most of the units are compact.  Mine was about 18 by 8 inches.

Christmas Present

I finally took the plunge and bought my first kit as a Christmas present for myself.  I used to like to garden, but with a busy life I mostly stopped several years ago.  An AeroGarden seemed like an easy way to get back into it in a limited way. My unit came with an assortment of six varieties of lettuce.  (My unit can accommodate six pods at a time.)

As usual I procrastinated for about a month before opening the box and giving it a try.  Setup was really easy.  It consisted of the following steps:

• Rinsed everything off.
• Filled the tank with water to the indicated mark
• Add two capfuls of the provided plant food
• Pop the seed pods into holes in the top of the tank.
• Plug in the Power supply.
• Set the date and time on the front of the unit

That’s about it.  I heard a little air bubbling and adjusted the bank of lights that provide artificial sunlight for your plants.

Then I just let the unit do its thing.  The light automatically came on at 8:00 AM each morning and stayed on for about 16 hours.  I guess that is the optimum growing time.  It only took a few days until the seeds sprouted and it was fun to check on the progress each day.  Initially I didn’t have to add water very often.  There is a little port on top to check the water level and add when needed.  Every 14 days a red light comes on to remind you to add plant food.  It only takes a very small amount so the bottle lasts a long time.

Soon it was harvest time and I used a pair of scissors to trim off my lettuce.  We’re big salad eaters so it always gets used.  And it tastes great!  Just like you would expect from right out of the garden!

The plants grow big fast and I found I could harvest about once a week.  The amount from my six plants was enough for one day’s salad for my wife and I.  So we had fresh salad all winter and spring.

I’ll probably end up getting another unit and try growing some cherry tomatoes.  It looks like so far you can grow lettuce, herbs, tomatoes and peppers.  I’m sure others will become available over time.

Several Kinds of Units

AeroGarden makes several units from small to very large that would be like having your own indoor farm year round.  You can buy the units on Amazon or directly from the manufacturer.  Sales are common.

Any Cons?

There aren’t too many cons to an AeroGarden after your initial investment.  They do have to be cleaned about once a month.  You do have to be careful not to spill water or plant food while refilling.  And I was a little nervous about leaving the unit plugged in while we were on vacation.  Water and electricity unattended, what can go wrong!  I guess it would be fine as long as someone checked on it once in a while

Great Way to Start A Green Thumb

An AeroGarden is a great way to get that green thumb started.  Give one a try and let me know what you think!