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To have your garden nurtured hydroponically indoors is quite an exciting adventure and this is a summary of aerogarden in this recent years. More so, considering the fact that you are spared the dirt, toil and rigours associated with conventional gardening in the open, such as dealing with pests, weeds, watering and so on, is a plus.
For people who dwell in places where planting is scheduled according to prevailing weather conditions, aerogardening provides a much more desirable alternative since it enables you to plant your crops all year round not minding the season. Furthermore, in such places where planting sessions are dictated by the seasons, vegetables and other plant products are liable to become very expensive sometimes, but with aerogardens, you are spared from this anguish.
In this post, we’ll look carefully at all you need to know as regards aerogardening as a beginner; tips, tricks and hacks you can implement to enjoy it and of course, all you need to give you a successful experience in indoor farming.
The Best Aerogarden For Beginners This Year
In a hurry? Let me share with you a summary of the best (beginners) aerogarden of the year. It is a smart garden that is Wi-Fi-enabled and also compatible with Alexa. It is super easy to use and grows plants a lot faster than most models. Find more details and all its amazing features by clicking here to jump right into the full details, or keep reading to see other interesting things about aerogarden you would love.
How do I start my aerogarden?
Aerogarden is an indoor dirt-free planting system that is quite easy to start especially as the aeroponics circulate oxygen, water and nutrients throughout the plants without your involvement. To start your aerogardening, you need an aerogarden device, to begin with. You also need a ‘Grow Anything Kit’ (be sure to mix seeds before planting or in the alternative) and you need to plant only seeds that you are sure will grow very fine in confinements. The rest of the gardening process is automated and so with these, you are sure to enjoy a seamless indoor garden experience.
How do I use my own aerogarden?
You can use your aerogarden to grow any plant that is known to thrive well in a confined space such as food crops like lettuce, tomatoes, watermelon, peppers or even aesthetic flowers which include cauliflower, rose and many others. Ensure however that you adhere strictly to all the instructions given in the user manual for a successful aerogardening experience.
With that said, let me take you through a step-by-step procedure on how best to use your aerogarden:
Step 1
First, raise up the grow deck of the aerogarden and fill the chamber below it with distilled water. After that, replace the chamber carefully and store it securely.
Step 2
In each pod that you have chosen to plant, put about three seeds and thereafter, set the seedpods into their holes provided in the grow deck as far down as possible.
Step 3
Adjust the Smart Garden System which is situated at the bottom of the aerogarden according to the instructions given in the user guide/manual in the kit. This manual will direct you on how to set it properly for the nutrients and light requirements of the plants. The device will also tell you whenever it is time to add either water or nutrients via LED lights’ colour changes. Ensure you read the manual to correctly interpret the meanings of these colour changes. Usually, though, water and nutrients are added once every two weeks, but requirements may vary from plant to plant and the manual will guide you on such differences.
Step 4
Sit tight, enjoy and watch your plants grow and maintain each one just as you are instructed in the kit.
Useful Aerogarden Tips For Beginners
If you have any plans of establishing your own aerogarden, then with these tips, it is likely you are going to have a successful garden. To ensure that your indoor garden yields dividends, there are steps or measures you must stick to in order to avoid regrets:
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Decide on what you wish to plant:
Before any other thing, you must know what you want to grow and to help you with this, you are advised to study diligently those plants that can develop normally in this method of planting. As a hint, plants like tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and various herbs all do well when grown indoors just like they do in the open. Others may be okra, celery and waterleaf. You can have others if you research these kinds of plants or even when you ask around other indoor gardeners.
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Choose the aerogarden model you want:
The moment your mind is made up on what to grow, then you are likely to have to decide on the type of aerogarden you require for that purpose. If you want to choose one, you need to first know the types that are available. Here are the models of aerogardens in the market and whichever one you pick is a decision only you can make, but the hints given will assist you to make the best possible choice:
– The countertop model
Basically, aerogardens are sorted into the countertop models and the floor models. How are these two models differ from each other? Well, the countertop variety is compact and hence requires much less space, though they have fewer pods; about two to nine pods in total. This means that they may not be very appropriate for larger demands. They also have both wifi and non-wifi models too. For this reason, if you do not need to grow many plants, then the countertop is a good choice. Similarly, where you are constrained by a lack of sufficient space for storage, this countertop is also ideal for you.
– The floor models
With about twenty-four pods in some units, the floor models are your aerogardens of choice, if you plan to grow many plants. Their major difference is the height of the plants eventually. However, it should not be forgotten that the floor models use up a lot of space but are known to be useful in starting up with about eighty seedlings all at once.
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The rate of plant growth:
How fast certain plants grow in the aerogarden compared to how fast they grow on the soil is another consideration any intending aerogardener must pay attention to. There are lots of claims that certain plants grow about five times faster in the aerogardens than they do in the soil. If you want to double confirm this, you can make your own findings as regards the validity of such claims, preferably from fellow aerogardeners who have experienced it. You need to ascertain what you are planting before anything.
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Refrain from using all the available holes:
An aerogarden may have as many holes for planting seedlings as possible, but it’s best that you avoid using all the holes and there are very good reasons for this advice. To start with, when you use all the holes, the plants are overcrowded and thus deprived of sufficient air and light which will affect them in many ways. But if you don’t mind, you can just fill them all.
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Ensure to keep the aerogarden clean always:
The device works best, like almost everything else in life, when it is kept clean. So, always keep it clean. You can do this at least once every fortnight or if possible, once every week. Learn how to clean the aerogarden and do that with as much care as possible. Keep in mind that cleaning the aerogarden is different from doing any maintenance on the plant itself.
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Pruning is essential:
Wherever the aerogarden is situated within the house, time should be created to trim or prune the plants occasionally. This is more so since plants in aerogardens are confined in a limiting environment.
Best Answers To Frequently Asked Questions Aerogarden Beginners May Have
As a beginner in aerogardening, it is totally normal to have questions on your mind that you need answers to. Most good aerogardeners you see today have all been there at some point and we’re able to pull through just the same way you would now. So, let me show you answers to some very common questions beginners ask and which I’m very sure you might have, or would still encounter in the early days of your aerogardening:
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Must pre-seeded pods be used in my aerogarden?
No, you do not necessarily have to use the pre-seeded pods in your aerogarden. This invariably means that you can use any viable seeds you want to plant and you’ll still get very good plant produce.
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How long does it take for my aerogarden to sprout?
The answer to this question has a lot to do with the kind of seeds we are dealing with since different seed types sprout at different rates. Despite these differences, however, seeds may take anything between ten to thirty days before they sprout. To make sure that they do, be certain that the water supply from below the aerogarden device keeps the grow plugs moist and also that there are grow lamps always. With all these taken care of, the seeds are certain to eventually sprout in a few days.
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Do blinking lights affect the aerogarden?
Smaller aerogarden models have about two or more lights on them, one of which tells you when to add water through designated colour changes, like from blue to red, for instance. The second light tells you when to feed the plants with nutrients by changing from green to red or blinking repeatedly. These lights may choose to go off permanently when their services are no longer required. Be very conversant with the meanings of these colour changes by reading the manual that comes with each to know what is expected of you.
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Can I leave my aerogarden light on all day/night?
Yes and no. Yes, your aerogarden light should be turned on and left on all DAY, as long as you have plants growing there. The light serves as the natural light your plant needs for its development and growth. And no because when it is nighttime and you want to start the night circle, you have to turn it off. Most aerogardens have an automatic feature that turns the light back on in the morning. The only time you can turn it off permanently is when there is nothing growing in it. In fact, you can as well disconnect it from the power outlet if there is nothing in it.
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How high should the lights of my aerogarden be kept?
Under normal circumstances, your aerogarden lights should not be kept higher than four to six inches above the plants. The proper positioning of the lights becomes more challenging as the plants grow. However, since they may all grow at different rates depending on what you plant, you are advised to keep the lights about four to six inches above the tallest of them all.
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Is there any specific water that must be used in the aerogarden?
Any clean water can be used in an aerogarden but try to avoid hard water. In the absence of any clean tap water, purified or even distilled water can be used. But unless you can’t help it, avoid using either well water or very softened water. This is because well water may contain too many dissolved solids in it that may not work well with your pump or may even damage it. Softened water, on the other hand, is liable to have a high sodium content which may be injurious to your plants.
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Can I use tap water in my aerogarden?
Water suitable for aerogardening must fall within a certain PH range which is usually affected by the quantity of dissolved minerals in it or even its sodium content. Plants are likely to suffer from stunted growth and yellowing of their leaves when the water supplied to them does not meet their needs. Tap water supplied for use in most cities is usually treated and is adjudged good for aerogardening. However, hard water, well water, spring water or softened water are not good for plants due to the presence of dissolved minerals, which may cause aerogarden pump damage or sodium, which may affect the plants themselves. In a nutshell, tap water can be used in an aerogarden since in most cases it possesses the qualities needed by plants to grow well.
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What is the best aerogarden to buy for beginners?
The best aerogardens for beginners are those ones that are easy to control, are durable and also have features which will alert you whenever something is needed by the plants. They should equally be easy to dismantle and assemble so that cleaning will not constitute any problems. Aerogardens for beginners with these features are readily available and all you may have to do is to look out for those with such and even more amazing features than settle for them.
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Are aerogardens always small?
I know people ask this because most aerogardens in the market are small. But no, aerogardens are not always small. They come in various sizes which are either small, medium or big. It is left for you to make your choice depending on what kind of gardening you plan to undertake. There are aerogardens with as few as six pod kits whereas larger models can have even up to twenty-four pod kits.
There are more questions people may ask but these are the most common ones which can help aerogardeners go a long way. If you have more questions you do not find here, feel free to leave them in the comment below and we’ll provide the best answers to them.
A beginner’s buyer’s guide to choosing the right aerogarden
Beginners are newbies in any enterprise who are yet to master the ropes, so to say, and for that reason, extra precautions should be taken to ensure the proper mastery of basic steps. For a person who wants to start aerogardening, of course, the first thing you need is an aerogarden device itself. Have in mind that getting the best one that is right for you is not all that easy. You need to look out for some things when deciding on which to settle on and I want to put you through that.
Here are 7 very important points to keep in mind if you want to get yourself an aerogarden, especially as a beginner:
- For beginner aerogardeners, it is advised that they should start aerogardening with devices that are fitted with the ‘Grow Anything Kit’. This kit allows you to grow virtually any plant in it so long as the plant is known to survive and grow well in confined spaces.
- Aerogardens of choice for beginners should also have the ‘Smart Garden System’ which can be easily programmed to inform you when water or nutrients should be added.
- Any aerogarden you get should be able to tell you when lighting for the plants should be adjusted at anytime that is necessary.
- Beginner’s aerogardens should also be equipped with touch screen panels for easy control.
- Where the aerogarden happens to be Alexa compatible, it makes aerogardening an experience to remember for the beginner since control is made possible leisurely.
- The aerogarden you choose should be made with very durable materials that will guarantee a long lifespan of the device. The last thing you need is to be buying new ones always.
- An Aerogarden from a brand that offers good customer support and warranty would pay you a lot better.
For an amazing aerogardening experience, it is recommended that beginners should look out for aerogardens with some or all the features mentioned above for a successful take-off in their gardening.
The Best Easy-to-use Aerogarden For Beginners
Having established the fact that the best aerogardens for beginners need to have cool features and also tick some boxes earlier mentioned, here is the very best aerogarden of the year which beginners would find very useful:
AeroGarden Bounty Stainless Steel Elite Indoor Hydroponic Herb Garden:
This aerogarden is a breeze when it comes to taking your indoor gardening to a whole new and fun level. With material and functional quality you can’t easily find elsewhere, you are sure to enjoy every single thing about this aerogarden for as long as possible. It was built to serve any aerogardener at any level with its super amazing features. Best of all, it offers smart gardening which uses the enabled Wi-Fi to be monitored and controlled from the AeroGarden app or your Amazon Echo device. From there you can check your garden’s status or turn its lights on or off no matter where you are.
Features:
- This product is ideal for growing a wide range of plants with varying water and nutritional needs
- This aerogarden makes control quite easy since it has a touch screen panel and is also Alexa-compatible.
- The device is not only Wifi-enabled but also has a three-step water level indicator and infinitely dimmable grow light with sunrise or sunset auto-dimming functions. This simply implies that the gadget can automatically adjust the brightness of its light, according to the radiance of the sun, in order to catalyse plant growth either in the morning or evening. You, therefore, should not bother about your plants when the sun dims both in the mornings and the evenings.
- It is guaranteed to give you the perfect freshness and exquisite flavour of your plants throughout the year. This alone has generated the product’s global acclaim and pride of place among all other aerogardens by scoring a rating of five stars from more than eighty per cent of its users all over the world. It is simply the number one choice and a must-have for lovers of aerogardens anywhere.
- The device operates without the need for soil which invariably removes the possibility of messing up the surrounding since the plants grow in water with a hydroponic growing environment.
- To make matters more appealing, this device can grow up to nine plants at once to a height of about twenty-four inches in any confined space. All you are required to do is to sow the non-GMO, pre-seeded pods in the highly nutritive holes and experience spectacular growth, the sort no other aerogarden can guarantee.
- Your seeds are absolutely assured to sprout in just a matter of days to enable you to harvest in a few weeks.
- Even with all these cool features, the aerogarden can last for a very long time as far as you don’t use it carelessly. The materials it is made from are very durable and it guarantees a long-lasting aerogarden for you.
- This gives you the chance to achieve one hundred per cent germination of your seeds. And this is a feat rarely accomplished until now with this device.
- This device is very energy efficient with its 50 Watt LED grow light that delivers the perfect lighting for speedy growth and subsequent bumper harvests.
- It comes with a smart garden technology that turns the light on or off and by so doing, it reminds you when to add water or replenish plant nutrients and this makes it really unbeatable indeed.
- With nine-pod gourmet herb seed, pod kit and available nutrients, it can grow food throughout the whole year without any dissatisfaction.
- All its six-inch tall trellis are natural and non-GMO which confirms their compatibility with healthy living. With the bounty, you have nothing more to wish for in indoor gardening.
- To put your mind at rest, the device is provided with a one-year warranty which is a testament to its durability, not to talk of timely free maintenance by the suppliers after purchase. You are not likely to have it better anywhere.
- The voltage is 50 Watts and this is perfect to power your device conveniently without consuming much electricity.
- The item weight is 2 pounds, which is ideal to be carried about without much stress.
If the features in this beginner’s aerogarden device are all you need to start off a successful indoor garden, become a pro at it and enjoy every minute of gardening, click this link. The link would take you to the page on Amazon where you can find more details about the product and also reviews of users who have used this. When you are extra convinced that it is what you want, you can go ahead and place your order to get one delivered straight to your home.
Conclusion
I can guarantee that aerogardening can never be undertaken in ignorance after going through this post. By reading thoroughly and taking every point mentioned here seriously, you (as a beginner or professional) are off to successful indoor gardening you will enjoy for a long time.
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